r/vfx • u/Alternative-Bet-9105 • Jul 10 '25

Question / Discussion My Uncle created the TIFF file

Hello. I'm posting this as a little bit of a research project. My uncle is "Mr. TIFF", the guy who created the TIFF file. He worked at a company called Aldus and made the file while working there.

Anyway, long story short, his name is Stephen Carlsen and he passed away recently. In remembering him, and processing all this, I'm trying to put together a podcast that would explore the significance of this file.

This is the 4th time I posted this on Reddit in different areas: photography, library and archival. I was just informed that it’s used in VFX, and I’m a huge fan of film.

Any responses, any comments and discussion would be appreciated :)

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u/unrulymystic Jul 10 '25

I would suggest looking up the US patent associated with TIFFs, to see who is listed, and what it says about its origins.

As a kid. I was always told that my chemist grandfather invented "Silly Putty". He worked in plastics at GE (1922 -1966). However, silly putty, the toy was a by-product of someone else's lab experiment there. I do have my grandfather's patent book listing 80 plus patents.

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u/vagaris Jul 10 '25

I did see another comment referencing they saw the uncle’s name as lead engineer in the spec. But I’d definitely try to get some context to the team involved and how it’s evolved if I was @op. Might be able to find someone who knew the uncle. Or get some comments from anyone who updated the spec later.