ED CATMULLPixar’s Pixel Pioneer

Ed Catmull- Finder

Pixar ’s Pixel Pioneer

Invention, Inspiration and Innovation

Childhood dream- to become an animator

Cofounder and President of Pixar Animation

                 

Vision: Feature Films can be made on Computers..

Cutting edge technology at the core of wonderful creations: Toy Story, Monsters’ Inc…

“ When done well , the voices, the story and animation come together in a pure act of creation.”

Ed Catmull- Vision

                       

Amanda Croasmun

Julia Gooding

Brad Van Schouwen

Anoop Veethil

Booma Venkataraman

Malav Vora

ED CATMULL

• In high school days aspired to be an animator.

• Ended up taking Physics and computer Science because he couldn’t draw well.

• Joined pioneering program in computer graphics at University of Utah and graduated with a Ph.d in computer graphics in 1974.

Educational Background

• Joined New York Institute of Technology as the head of computer graphics program.

• Worked mainly on animation, motion blur and rendering techniques.

• Joined Lucas films in 1979

• Joined with Steve Jobs in creating “Pixar” in 1986

Career

• Z-buffer

• Texture mapping

Inventions

• Z-buffer keeps track of depth (or distance from the viewer) of every picture element (pixel) on the screen. The computer then can compare any new objects being displayed with depths of current pixels on display to decide which pixels are visible.

Z-buffer

• This procedure made computer-generated images more realistic, because instead of simply “painting” the picture with simple colors, the colors of real surfaces can be captured and then attached to the appropriate objects

Texture Mapping

What happened after “Pixar” was formed?

Their vision for computer graphics in animated films

Motivating employees

Pixar’s clear goal

Catmull and Jobs

Bonding technical people and artists

Pixar University

The Culture of Pixar

Marionette, Ringmaster and RenderMan

The first to create…

Technological Breakthroughs

Released in 1995, reflecting 9 years of creative and technological achievements

Goes down in history as the first fully computer-animated film.

Highest grossing film of 1995, $360 million

Toy Story

A Bug’s life broke all previous Thanksgiving weekend records..

Highest grossing animated release of 1998

$163 Million domestic and $362 Million Worldwide..

Won four ASIFA Hollywood Annie awards

Bug’s Life

Personal Life Born March 31, 1945 in

Parkersburg, West Virginia Father of four children First job: theater usher Present job: president of Pixar

Animation Studios Favorite Web site:

Amazon.com Leisure Activities: “What

leisure?” Car: Lexus License Plate: PIXAR Greatest Achievement: Coon’s

Award

November 24, 1999

First animated sequel to gross more than its original

Golden Globe Award for best picture-musical or comedy

Two Grammy Awards

Six ASIFA-Hollywood Annie Awards

Toy Story 2

Industry Competitors Dreamworks- Shrek, Ants, Chicken Run

Disney- The Lion King, Beauty and the Beast, Lilo and Stitch

Universal Studios- The Land Before Time, An American Tail, Rocky & Bullwinkle

Sony- Stuart Little, The Chubb Chubbs (Playing with MIB II)

Paramount Pictures- Nickelodeon’s Hey Arnold

Warner Brothers- Looney Tunes

Monster’s Inc.

Second highest grossing animated film of all-time, second only to The Lion King

Grossed over $500 million

Most successful US animated film ever in Japan

Monster’s Inc was nominated for 5 Academy Awards

Sixth largest opening in Industry History

Has a clear organizational goal: to be the best computer graphics company available. Combines the creative and technical employees into a strong team. Cross-trains employees through Pixar University, utilizing the full extent of his employee’s talents Welcomes complaints and suggestions from the team to improve the company’s processes. Motivates his employees by challenging them.

Why is Catmull Inspirational?

Compensates both his technical and creative people similarly. Constant feedback from all levels within the organization. 3 Scientific and Technical Engineering Awards from The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Recipient of the Coons Award (the highest achievement in computer graphics) An Oscar® for significant advancements to the field of motion picture through RenderMan®, a Pixar software program.

Why is Catmull Inspirational?

The End