Synthematik

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Synthematik titlescreen - note the greebled background cube.

Synthematik is a demo made by the Norwegian demogroup Outracks in 2004. It was first presented at the demoscene party Scene Event, where it won third place, although many critics saw it as the moral winner of the competition. It was nominated for "Breakthrough Performance" in the 2004 Scene.org Awards, and as of 2006, it stays as Outracks' most successful demo to date. [1]

The demo title is a portmanteau of "Synthesis" and either "mathematic" or "automatic".

1 Technical information
2 Credits
3 Synopsis
4 Awards
5 External links

[edit] Technical information

Size: 7.8 megabytes
Running time: 4:16
Platform: Win32
Minimum requirements: Pentium II class CPU, TNT2 class video card

[edit] Credits

Programming and design by Anders "Duckers" Lassen
Modelling by Kjetil "Znork" Åltvedt
Soundtrack by Ivar "Irvin" Kvalvik

[edit] Synopsis

Synthematik is an energetic show of various effects, tightly knit with the uptempo electro soundtrack. The demo utilizes various forms of NPR, visuals are mostly cel-shaded or "cartoon rendered". Visuals are rendered with OpenGL.

One of the most interesting effects in the demo is what the demo calls the "realtime slam", essentially a soft body simulation, somewhat akin to cloth simulation. The effect is demonstrated on a box with its corners pinched out. One of the corners serves as the source of acceleration and drags the rest of the box throughout the field, occasionally hitting the ground with it. (On computers with less processing power, it is occasionally seen that the box turns inside out.)

The soundtrack of the demo can be classified as a crossover of Florida breaks and nu electro. It bears classical demomusic elements, such as the breakdown-crescendo formula and acid sounds. A remix of the soundtrack by Bent "Gloom" Stamnes was used as an announcement jingle at The Gathering demo party.

Synthematik introduced the four slashes symbol (usually in bright red) which is used consistently in the typography and design throughout the demo. This symbol was later adopted as Outracks' logo and can be seen in almost all later demos made by the group.