On Friday, I heard through Roger Jones of Throbbing Media that one of the biggest names from the early days of Director development, Jim Ludtke, had died.
Ludtke was a pioneer in many ways. His work was not only rich and complex, but it was incredibly strange, as well. His association with the band The Residents led to one of the most memorable CD-ROM projects ever, the 1992 3D environment/art gallery/avant-garde rock experience called “Freak Show”. For a couple of years, it was difficult to pick up an issue of “WIRED” or any other multimedia-oriented publication without running into a reference to Jim Ludtke.
He did amazing things with 3D back when that was a far more complex task than it is now. I’m sorry to see him go.