ED CATMULL Pixar’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 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?

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