Klanky the Robot's ANALOG Computing People Page

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The People of ANALOG

Where are they now?
As we get them, we'll be adding the biographies of the various personnel involved with the creation of ANALOG Computing.

Lee H. Pappas, Publisher and Co-founder, 1980-1989

After selling ANALOG and ST-Log to LFP, Inc., Lee moved to Marina del Rey, California to continue running the two magazines out of Beverly Hills, CA. While there Lee conceived and founded four additional consumer titles within a year-and-a-half. VideoGames & Computer Entertainment, PC LapTop, TurboPlay, and VISIO. VG&CE was the number one electronic gaming magazine in the U.S. for a time. Lee’s laptop magazine preceded the rise of portable computers to the mainstream acceptance they have today. TurboPlay was the official magazine for the NEW TurboGrafx-16 game console. And VISIO was the first high-quality consumer electronics magazine in existence. (The name of which has nothing to do with the current PC software product which stole our name – VISIO was a combination of Vision, Video and Audio.) Lee also participated in a local LA program with Dr. Timothy Leary and Craig Patchett, and appeared on CNN reporting on consumer electronic trends.

In early 1991 Lee moved back to Massachusetts where he launched Picture This!, a how-to photography magazine for the point-&-shoot market. Lee hired Craig Patchett as Editor; Craig had previously written for ANALOG and was Lee’s Editor-in-Chief on PC LapTop. At that time Lee & Craig also did a number or projects for the Walt Disney Publishing group, including advertorials for Discover magazine, and consulting at EPCOT in Orlando. These projects were under the Pappas Communications Group name.

Following that Lee launched Popular Home Automation for EH Publishing. They had tried for 8 months to get the magazine off the ground – Lee came in and accomplished it in 8 weeks.

After three issues Lee did some consulting work and then founded Flying Cloud Press, where he currently publishes Home Theater Builder magazine and is set to launch a myriad of titles and other projects over the next few years. Stay Tuned!

Lee’s interests include computers and consumer electronics, flying, boating, astronomy, automobiles, sci-fi, and photography. He lives with his wife and two children in Stow, Massachusetts.

Jon A. Bell, Managing Editor, 1982-1985

Jon A. Bell is a writer, 3D computer graphics artist and software consultant. After working 10 years as an editor and writer in the computer magazine industry, Jon changed careers in 1991 to concentrate on the computer graphics industry, and has produced CGI for television, films, computer games, multimedia, and print.

He provided animation for the films “Exorcist III: Legion,” “Terminator 2: Judgment Day,” “Honey, I Blew Up the Kid,” “Soldier” and “Mighty Joe Young.” His video work includes Autodesk’s/Kinetix’s 1991, 1994 and 1997 SIGGRAPH reels, their 1993 and 1996 NAB reels, work for Digital Phenomena and Matte World Digital.

His multimedia and game industry work includes architectural models and animation for the Oracle Systems Athenia CD-ROM, model designs and animation for LucasArt’s Entertainment’s X-Wing and Rebel Assault, Sega of America’s Jurassic Park and Wild Woody CD-ROMS, and Gametek’s Robotech and Wheel of Fortune. He wrote three “3D Studio MAX f/x and design” books for Ventana/Coriolis Press (1996-1999), covering the first 3 releases of 3ds max, and provided 3D artwork for the book “Tripping,” Charles Hayes, published October 2000 by Penguin USA. His latest book is "3ds max 6 Killer Tips," published in February 2004 by New Riders Press.

His most recent full-time job was working as 3rd-Party Developer Relations Manager for Discreet, the multimedia division of Autodesk. He also provides 3D graphics and technical writing as a volunteer for Hawkes Ocean Technologies, Pt. Richmond, CA, the builders of the experimental minisub Deep Flight I, and the Deep Flight 502 Aviator. (For more information, go to http://www.deepflight.com.)

After living in the San Francisco Bay Area for over 16 years, Jon and his wife Joan moved from California to the red rocks of Sedona, Arizona in May 2003. Currently, Jon is working as a freelance 3D computer graphics artist and writer. His hobbies include 3D computer graphics, scuba diving, hiking, travel to exotic places, reading, drawing, sculpture, and writing. Jon and Joan have been married for over 11 years, love to travel around the world, and are the parents of the world’s most spoiled cat, Greystone.

You can contact Jon via email .

Tom Hudson, Programmer/Writer, 1982-1985

After leaving ANALOG in 1985, Tom started writing commercial graphics software for the Atari ST computer series. The first product was DEGAS ("Design & Entertainment Graphic Art System"), a painting program. Next he developed CAD-3D, a 3D graphics package, in conjunction with Antic Software's Gary Yost. Following this, he revisited DEGAS and created an upgraded version for the Mega ST computers called DEGAS Elite. It is believed that this is one of the first programs to use "plugin" technology for added functionality. From there he shifted gears back into the 3D graphics world and created CAD-3D 2.0 and a number of other Cyber Studio packages and plugins.

Unfortunately, Atari did not fulfill some of their promises to develop and market a number of critical technology items for the ST series, such as a math coprocessor unit, and further development on the ST computers became untenable. At this point, Tom and Gary left the Atari world for the IBM PC under the name Yost Group, taking what they learned from the Cyber Studio product line and applying it to the PC. The result was 3D Studio, a low-priced 3D graphics system that was developed in in conjunction with Dan Silva, author of Deluxe Paint.

The 3D Studio product took off and in 1994 the Yost Group added two more programmers to their group, Rolf Berteig and Don Brittain, and developed 3D Studio Max, now more familiar as 3ds Max.

In 2001, the Yost Group sold the rights to 3ds Max to Autodesk and Tom shifted gears again, moving into software plugin development and working on his personal animation projects, including Klanky the Robot.

He currently lives in Port Washington, Wisconsin with his wife Elizabeth and two Siberian huskies.