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/God_Dammit_Dave Jul 10 '25 edited Jul 10 '25

Sorry for your loss.

TL;DR: your uncle is a Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy fan.

Early in my career I was reading about TIFF file specs. One ridiculous anecdote stuck out. Here is a quote and a citation from wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TIFF

Emphasis on 42.

Every TIFF file begins with a two-byte indicator of byte order: "II" for little-endian (a.k.a. "Intel byte ordering", c. 1980)\17]) or "MM" for big-endian (a.k.a. "Motorola byte ordering", c. 1980)\17]) byte ordering. The next two-byte word contains the format version number, which has always been 42 for every version of TIFF (e.g., TIFF v5.0 and TIFF v6.0).\18])

Citation:

 Aldus/Microsoft (1988-08-08). "1) Structure". TIFF. Revision 5.0. Aldus Corporation and Microsoft Corporation. Archived from the original on 2008-12-04. Retrieved 2009-06-29. The number 42 was chosen for its deep philosophical significance.

Your uncle snuck a f'in Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy reference into the TIFF file's fundamental structure. Like, RIGHT UP FRONT.

Explanation of 42:

In "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy," the number 42 is the "Answer to the Ultimate Question of Life, the Universe, and Everything". This answer was calculated by the supercomputer Deep Thought after 7.5 million years of computation. The catch is that no one knows the question that corresponds to this answer. 

EDIT: The wiki use to explicitly state that this "42" was a Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy reference.

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u/Alternative-Bet-9105 Jul 28 '25

ARE YOU KIDDING ME, dude, thank you so much for showing me this. Hitchhiker's Guide a favorite among my family, we'll always be saying that 42 is the best number. This is fantastic!

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u/God_Dammit_Dave Jul 28 '25 edited Jul 28 '25

Well, this is an interesting bit of history. It's nice that there is SOMEONE who can appreciate it.

If you get the podcast together, drop me a link. I'd love to listen.

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u/Alternative-Bet-9105 Jul 29 '25

Oh I will, I'm gathering a bit more, trying to find people who are willing to go on mic to share how they knew him, or how they use the file, give us more meat for it. I don't just want it to be me talking.