ED CATMULL

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ED CATMULL

• Pixars Pixel Pioneer

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Ed Catmull- Finder

• Pixar s Pixel Pioneer
• Invention, Inspiration and Innovation
• Childhood dream- to become an animator
• Cofounder and President of Pixar Animation

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Ed Catmull- Vision

• 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.

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ED CATMULL

• Amanda Croasmun
• Julia Gooding
• Brad Van Schouwen
• Anoop Veethil
• Booma Venkataraman
• Malav Vora

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Educational Background

• In high school days aspired to be an animator.
• Ended up taking Physics and computer Science
  because he couldnt draw well.
• Joined pioneering program in computer graphics at
  University of Utah and graduated with a Ph.d in
  computer graphics in 1974.

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Career

• 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

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Inventions

• Z-buffer
• Texture mapping

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Z-buffer

• 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.

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Texture Mapping

• 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

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• What happened after Pixar was formed?

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Catmull and Jobs

• Their vision for computer graphics in animated
  films
• Motivating employees
• Pixars clear goal

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The Culture of Pixar

• Bonding technical people and artists
• Pixar University

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Technological Breakthroughs

• Marionette, Ringmaster and RenderMan
• The first to create

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Toy Story

• 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

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Bugs Life

• A Bugs 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

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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 Coons Award

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Toy Story 2

• 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

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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- Nickelodeons Hey Arnold
• Warner Brothers- Looney Tunes

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Monsters 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
• Monsters Inc was nominated for 5 Academy Awards
• Sixth largest opening in Industry History

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Why is Catmull Inspirational?
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 employees talents   Welcomes complaints and
suggestions from the team to improve the
companys processes.   Motivates his employees by
challenging them.
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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.
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The End