Chapter 10 Cameras for Animation TV and the Computer For many years, television and the computer industry were different worlds. Video was an analog system that used a continuously variable electronic signal to create pictures not unlike the traditional clock with sweep hands or the groove in a phonograph record. Computers did their magic by breaking down the world into the binary language of ones and zeros. Instead of being constantly variable, the computer's signal is made up of discrete components much like a digital clock that tells you in no uncertain terms that it is 12:01 exactly. It has taken a long time, but we are finally in an age where video and the computer can finally talk to each other. The problem is that the camera can talk to the computer in many ways. Let's look at a few solutions. The Computer Industry Makes a Camera