And it still keeps me amazed 10 years later. :) Looking back, I think this was the video which made me invest into microelectronics. But of course, this is some next level shit which I'm never be able to reach. Hats off to LFT.
As someone just starting out with microcontroller programming, this blew me away and is also kind of inspiring. I did my own VGA+Audio project on the Raspberry Pi Pico recently, and it was nowhere near as polished. I really have to try replicating some of the effects, since they are just awesome
Feel free to try. =) Yes, the C64 has a 1 MHz processor, but it also has a dedicated video chip and sound chip. Furthermore, in a VGA signal the pixels have to be generated twice as fast as in a TV signal. Oh, and you've got 64 times as much memory on a C64.
The Julia sets blew me away! All the way through, this is amazingly impressive, and the amount of little details you put into this is staggering. I highly admire your work.
7 years after it's release, and this is still totally mindboggling how he got this going. Such an ace demo beating all the contest with one hand on the back imho.
Awesome. It's actually a really good demo too. Nice graphics routines, nice music, and the fact that it's all being generated by an AVR makes it an epic, epic win.
Still impressive after all those years. : ) I wish I had the time to tinker with random micro-controllers and try to make them output stuff. Maybe when my kid get old enough to learn to code. Which gets me thinking. Is there an open project out there similar to this, other than Arduino ?
hello, great genius work. .well done , i am reading from serial rs232 device and try to display on VGA, i can display my words but can not read (correctly) the VT100 escape code from my external device rs232 to display.. any idea?
Nah, the chip is deisgned mainly for as he said. Its why it has so little storage (8k rom, 1k ram) as you don't need that much. To be honest though, I am AMAZED on how he did that. I mean, he had to write code that outputed the raw pins to the VGA monitor AND sync it with sound.
This guy demonstrates that, just because there's more advanced tech around now, doesn't mean it should be cast off into obsolescence, it's just as useful as it ever was, and sparks the thought, if it's possible to squeeze this much efficiency from that hardware, imagine how much more we could do with modern hardware which isn't being tapped into?
It gonna be 10 years since this demo. And also 10 years since i started programming microcontrollers. Well, 10 years back in the time i was about 13 and i found MCUs very universal. For the first time in my life i was able to design some device that worked. Then i seen this demo and i was amazed by the way you used them to generate 3D graphics, before i seen this i thought they have no enough processing power. I still wonder on how the heck is that possible with just 1 kB of RAM. Even for my simple projects its sometimes quite limiting.
Reminds me of Cellulose by Tapir. Microcontrollers in washing machines are mask rom programmed, which is very fortunate, since the EMI from the motor tends to erase flash occasionally.
Awesome Demo man. I can't wait to look at the source. I have been wanting to do VGA out put on my atmega168 and also to make music with it. You just solved both problems
@lgblgblgblgb ZX81 has 1k of SRAM, not DRAM as I remember :) Also, Z80 has hardware DRAM refresh feature, that was not used in Sinclair macines (both ZX80 and ZX81 had SRAM, and original ZX Spectrum used ULA to refresh it's DRAM)
Hello! Well, this piece of art should be available for sale on your website as superb gift for every demo scene guy. You can create a ready to sell project on pcbway (assembled, via shared project I guess) for example. What you think about it?
Nice. It could be nice to know what you would make using one of those XMOS chips! I did read they are based on concepts from the original Transputer and such :D
Question... How do you avoid the video signal, and the subroutine in the vertical blanking interval, from getting into the sound output? Is there a voltage level detected between those areas and used to switch out or clip the unwanted signals? Since the blanking intervals are so short, is the analog sound output quite low and needs amplification?
well, i did'n mean exactly the same, i was talking about making a device, which is able to perform video output to TV, or PC monitor and show a bouncing dot for example.
The over-exposed monitor recording really doesn't do this demo justice, it's 100% worth building up a replica board if you can.
14 років тому
Cool! Btw, as far as I can remember Sinclair ZX81 also used the bare CPU to generate video signal (though not a VGA signal of course, but TV), but I am not sure if it's a "full CPU only" solution or not. Also good old times, when CPU must refresh the DRAM too by software, so it won't forget the data stored there at least :-D that was the time of 'direct control of the hardware' now we have zillions of abstraction layers behind 'us' and the 'hardware' not the same feeling :(
@GoldenPickaxe No offense, but you didn't really get what this is about. The Chip Linus shows in the beginning is a micro controller. That's kind of a processor. The NES has a completely different CPU. Thus the software generating all that fancy sounds and movement will absolutely not run on a NES
Still humming this tune 15 years later
6 years later, and I'm still impressed
And it still keeps me amazed 10 years later. :)
Looking back, I think this was the video which made me invest into microelectronics. But of course, this is some next level shit which I'm never be able to reach.
Hats off to LFT.
Make it 11.
12 years
12 years later, and I'm still impressed
god-tier ASM skills are timeless!
It's still astonishing in 2022.
I show this video to my students so they knew what hardware is really capable of.
This video is so close to its 13th anniversary. It remains one of my favourite chiptunes ❤
As someone just starting out with microcontroller programming, this blew me away and is also kind of inspiring.
I did my own VGA+Audio project on the Raspberry Pi Pico recently, and it was nowhere near as polished. I really have to try replicating some of the effects, since they are just awesome
Yes, the rendering and the music in parallel AND don't forget the video signal is also being generated by the microprocessor too!
Totally amazing.
5k demos? Child's play. Real men build the hardware from scratch too!
Hats off to you, sir. This is amazing.
Feel free to try. =) Yes, the C64 has a 1 MHz processor, but it also has a dedicated video chip and sound chip. Furthermore, in a VGA signal the pixels have to be generated twice as fast as in a TV signal. Oh, and you've got 64 times as much memory on a C64.
I am from 12 years later good job
Watching this is 2021 and I'm drooling. Kudos!
2024 checking in.
The Julia sets blew me away! All the way through, this is amazingly impressive, and the amount of little details you put into this is staggering. I highly admire your work.
Super impressive to get all that into a micro without DMA or enough RAM for a frame buffer!
11 years later and I'm still intrigued by this.
Many respects, really. This is one of the really few cases when I legitimately hope that UA-cam allowed me to give more than one like.
I really like not only the idea/project but the music too.
Looking back at the live stream of Breakpoint 2008, I don't think I've heard so much cheering for a demo in a long time.
7 years after it's release, and this is still totally mindboggling how he got this going. Such an ace demo beating all the contest with one hand on the back imho.
I really respect this guys attitude towards the actual 8 bit scene! :-)
Still amazing 10 years later!
Awesome. It's actually a really good demo too. Nice graphics routines, nice music, and the fact that it's all being generated by an AVR makes it an epic, epic win.
the music was fantastic, very reminiscent of old school Megaman!
Still impressive after all those years. : )
I wish I had the time to tinker with random micro-controllers and try to make them output stuff.
Maybe when my kid get old enough to learn to code.
Which gets me thinking. Is there an open project out there similar to this, other than Arduino ?
Legendary demo. Genius work.
I also had a "No way! Thats incredible!" jaw dropping reaction. What an eye opener :) That 1st place was well deserved. Wow. Respect.
This is the most brilliant thing I've seen this year. Great work!
Incredible! My jaw literally dropped to the floor while watching this Video. Kudos, this is the coolest Microcontroller application I've *ever* seen.
Source code, video capture, MP3, schematics etc. are now available online. The URL is in the video description.
hello,
great genius work. .well done , i am reading from serial rs232 device and try to display on VGA, i can display my words but can not read (correctly) the VT100 escape code from my external device rs232 to display.. any idea?
I love this music.Turn ON the speakers NOW!:>
Nah, the chip is deisgned mainly for as he said. Its why it has so little storage (8k rom, 1k ram) as you don't need that much.
To be honest though, I am AMAZED on how he did that. I mean, he had to write code that outputed the raw pins to the VGA monitor AND sync it with sound.
This guy demonstrates that, just because there's more advanced tech around now, doesn't mean it should be cast off into obsolescence, it's just as useful as it ever was, and sparks the thought, if it's possible to squeeze this much efficiency from that hardware, imagine how much more we could do with modern hardware which isn't being tapped into?
16 years later - epic tune and demo. Found you through Spotify :)
Nothing is hard when you learned how to do it. But learning it takes time and concentration.
that flame mirror effect is soooo cool :D
awesome work! keep up the good work!
Could make a good screensaver.
13 years later i'm still enjoying this 😁
It gonna be 10 years since this demo. And also 10 years since i started programming microcontrollers. Well, 10 years back in the time i was about 13 and i found MCUs very universal. For the first time in my life i was able to design some device that worked. Then i seen this demo and i was amazed by the way you used them to generate 3D graphics, before i seen this i thought they have no enough processing power. I still wonder on how the heck is that possible with just 1 kB of RAM. Even for my simple projects its sometimes quite limiting.
if i look at this entire piece as a music video it is probably one of the sickest videos i have ever seen. bravo!!!
I will never forget 'Craft', thank you
11 years later, and I'm still impressed
10 years later I'm still entranced by this
Greetings from year 2021 :-) Crafty by LFT still rox!! Merry Christmas and Happy New Year 2022 :-)
Soooo wonderful. I thought I was going to cry for a second there. 8-bit forever!
This is nothing short of amazing! A very impressive demo using such a basic processor.
One of my absolute favorites from BP'08.
Reminds me of Cellulose by Tapir.
Microcontrollers in washing machines are mask rom programmed, which is very fortunate, since the EMI from the motor tends to erase flash occasionally.
great work Linus
linus tech source
Oh my, that was 10 years ago
omg, this is truly awesome, I'm totally in love with this..
and the music is brilliant
Awesome Demo man.
I can't wait to look at the source.
I have been wanting to do VGA out put on my atmega168 and also to make music with it.
You just solved both problems
I fully believe that MCU and FPGA demos are the future of the demoscene
I really really want one of those, how awesome, great programming skills.
YOU sir are a GENIUS!
This is so retro and yet future... thanks a lot!
Thumbs up for breakpoint!
This is simply awesome. I love this chiptune so much!
Du är kungen :) Behövs mer sånt här för att höja intresset för teknik här i Sverige. Hälsningar Dino
@lgblgblgblgb ZX81 has 1k of SRAM, not DRAM as I remember :)
Also, Z80 has hardware DRAM refresh feature, that was not used in Sinclair macines (both ZX80 and ZX81 had SRAM, and original ZX Spectrum used ULA to refresh it's DRAM)
You are a fucking genius. Music, programming, visual art, understanding of language & the world. Greatest respect.
2022 here. Still amazing!
Hello! Well, this piece of art should be available for sale on your website as superb gift for every demo scene guy. You can create a ready to sell project on pcbway (assembled, via shared project I guess) for example. What you think about it?
Unbelievably Brilliant!
Please, do another for next Breakpoint!
This is great stuff!
The music sounds very well, by the way.
Nice. It could be nice to know what you would make using one of those XMOS chips! I did read they are based on concepts from the original Transputer and such :D
Fantastic work!
that just brought tears to my eyes, very impressive.
Question... How do you avoid the video signal, and the subroutine in the vertical blanking interval, from getting into the sound output? Is there a voltage level detected between those areas and used to switch out or clip the unwanted signals? Since the blanking intervals are so short, is the analog sound output quite low and needs amplification?
There is an amplificator. During vblank as during the other frame music is generated in interrupt routine where interrupt source is timer.
Who's still watching it in 2021?
2024
Wowwww. Awesome demo.
this is Awesome. Full respect.
Aww, I found a typo in the demo. Now I can't unsee and/or just ignore it every time I come to watch this.
Wow, that's impressive, I kept on having to remind myself that the whole thing is being rendered by a 20 MHz CPU.
How can anyone dislike this epicness?
Mind blowing, congrats !
Before watching this video I thought I'm good in programming microcontrollers ;)
Awesome! I want one of those. :)
How did you make the music? A custom made composer program?
How did you do the complex 3D graphics?
thats way better than a washing machine or an elevator.
hahaha nice joke
music the best, Linus the best, all the best!
very cool, I didn't think anyone made "demo's" anymore, since like the mid 90's. Ah nostalgia
Awesome
the demo scene salutes you
2021 : Still awesome
well, i did'n mean exactly the same, i was talking about making a device, which is able to perform video output to TV, or PC monitor and show a bouncing dot for example.
he is a 8bit god :D damn he is my idol
that's unbelievable!
im in a state of awe! this is nice...gj.
This guy is absolutely brilliant!
There's impressive, and then there's demoscene impressive.
this is... beautiful...
The over-exposed monitor recording really doesn't do this demo justice, it's 100% worth building up a replica board if you can.
Cool! Btw, as far as I can remember Sinclair ZX81 also used the bare CPU to generate video signal (though not a VGA signal of course, but TV), but I am not sure if it's a "full CPU only" solution or not. Also good old times, when CPU must refresh the DRAM too by software, so it won't forget the data stored there at least :-D that was the time of 'direct control of the hardware' now we have zillions of abstraction layers behind 'us' and the 'hardware' not the same feeling :(
What a impressive demo.
@GoldenPickaxe No offense, but you didn't really get what this is about.
The Chip Linus shows in the beginning is a micro controller. That's kind of a processor. The NES has a completely different CPU. Thus the software generating all that fancy sounds and movement will absolutely not run on a NES
that's ultra cool!:) can ATMega8 handle something like this?
Wow that's insane!! How do you manage to fit so much on the 8.5kB ROM? A text file explaining the answer to that question wouldn't even fit on there!
Wow, awesome, on a 328P
88p* Which means only 8 KiB of flash
I'm digging this tune. Am I detecting some inspiration from Manami Matsumae?
Amazing project, btw who created/composed the music? Don't tell me you composed the music too!?
What are the maximum resolution, colours and audio channels of this thing?
Impressive, nice work
that is amazing! all that in less than 10,000 characters!?
Good work dude.
You take 8bit computing to extreme levels.
Great work ( and demo from breakpoint btw ;) )