Interview With Head of Pixar Animation Ed Catmull 85
CowboyRobot writes "Stanford professor Pat Hanrahan discusses graphics with Pixar Animation Studios President Ed Catmull. Hanrahan and Catmull share an Oscar award for developing RenderMan. 'Among the many things that are inspiring about Pixar, and one way you've had a huge impact on the world, is that you changed many people's views of what computing is all about. A lot of people think of computing as number crunching whose main application is business and engineering. Pixar added an artistic side to computing. I've talked to many students who realize that art can be part of computing; that creativity can be part of computing; that they can merge their interests in art and science. They think of computing as a very fulfilling pursuit.'" I liked this, and not just because I spent the last week watching Toy Story 3 multiple times with my kid. Catmull talks a lot about the intersection of science & art and the time before Pixar. Anyone else think Pixar might be the geek Mecca? Do they do tours?
Always been there (Score:5, Insightful)
Old programmers can tell you that software has always been a type of art. An esoteric form of art perhaps, but a piece of well written code is a thing of beauty.
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"what's to research? You turn on the computer, do your word processing or whatever, and turn it off."
Perhaps that's how most folks use computers, but how I use a computer is completely different...
I have an interesting idea. I turn on the computer. My ideas are made "concrete", virtually palpable (literally) and instantly available to millions of other minds.
Note: At this point I have no incentive to "turn it off".
Virtually anything I can imagine I can make appear on the computer screen.
A coder sees a computer as a place where anything is (or will shortly become) possible.
The biggest part of my own "rese
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Step 1: Appeal to liberal arts majors.
Step 2: Increase visual arts programmers pool.
Step 3: Be able to lower initial salaries due to increase in pool of applicable employees.
Step 4: ???
Step 5: Profit!
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An esoteric form of art perhaps, but a piece of well written code is a thing of beauty.
Both are so rare, so they must be valuable.
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Old programmers can tell you that software has always been a type of art. An esoteric form of art perhaps, but a piece of well written code is a thing of beauty.
It's even smaller than Esoteric - a piece of well written code isn't actually MEANT to be seen by anyone. A perfect piece of code would never need to be touched again, were such a thing possible (I know its not). I view good code as something that preforms its function - accounts for a wide variety of input - and is highly maintainable. If you've achieved that, you won't be needing to alter the code that much, if at all.
What Pixar does is actually ART art. It's something that you put on display for the mass
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whens the last time you cried at a piece of code?
When I worked for a large ERP software company, every time I had to do maintenance on a 5,000 line stored procedure...
geek mecca? (Score:5, Interesting)
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Geek Atlas (Score:2)
Check out the geek atlas [geekatlas.com]. There's a lot of places that are very heavy on the geek factor, plus generally interesting to see.
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Toy Story 3. Did you cry at the end? (Score:5, Insightful)
As for science intersecting with arts, it has always been the case. Statues and sculpting advanced metallurgy as much as canons and swords.
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I did have watery eyes near the end.. didn't quite get to the tears stage though.
Re:Toy Story 3. Did you cry at the end? (Score:4, Funny)
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That kind of shit has been creeping into children's television for decades.
Ever watch Sesame Street? All that stuff they say about sharing? Sounds an awful lot like commie pinko propaganda, don't you think? And that green fucker in the garbage can looks a hell of a lot like Stalin.
Man, don't even get me started on the Teletubbies and their Homosexual Socialist agenda.
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I was amused at how the ending of TS3 was received by the audience. Every adult in the theater was crying, every kid (my 4 year old included) was smiling because (to them) it was a happy thing that was happening.
fulfilling to what end? (Score:2)
That SOUNDS nice, but most people won't make the money that Pixar does. Nothing is more fulfilling than having the opportunity to EVEN find a job that pays a decent wage. Pixar might be more of a geek mecca if average geeks could actually get a job there.
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It's common knowledge that one does not go work at Pixar for the money.
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If money was actually fulfilment, I would be working offshore right now, for 10x the amount that I make from coding. I do consider it occasionally to get a bit of a boost to make stuff like buying a house easier, but that's certainly not "fulfilment". It's just security. I already feel relatively secure with the wages I have anyway, and I know I'd have a hard time finding another job where the perks are as good as the one I already have.
Adult movie (Score:1)
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Ratatouille was great, and not necessarily a children movie. Last time i took a plane, it was the in-flight movie, and everyone listened to it, from grandfathers to children. Nobody had anything to say about the fact that it's supposed to be children movie, and, by the reactions during th movie, i guess everyone liked it. The same could be said of The Incredibles which is a really good Super Hero movie in itself.
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Rats in the kitchen. erghhh. Gives me the hebejebes.
Then I guess you wouldn't like a lot of other films from Disney's parent company: the Mickey Mouse shorts, The Rescuers, and a bunch of other films with talking rodents.
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Did you just use Wall-E as an example of "deep writing"? It's the only Pixar movie I don't consider worth buying on DVD. It's visually pretty nice, but I found the plot pretty hard to take seriously. Graphically it was amazing, but other than that I thought it was one of the worst films I've ever seen..
I can suspend disbelief for toys coming to life, but the sentient robots in Wall-E didn't do it for me. Wall-E developing sentience just from being alive for a long time, and on the flip side his gf suddenly
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I love sci-fi. I just remember finding the whole movie annoyingly lame after all the hype that was surrounding it. There were ads for it in the cinema something like 5 months before it even came out. I was excited about it for months, though a little annoyed at how much they drew it out.
I also just remembered part of the reason I disliked it so much: the ads made it look like the whole thing was set in a post apocalyptic wasteland with just Wall-E and his girl, but that part didn't last long in the movie, a
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I love sci-fi. I just remember finding the whole movie annoyingly lame after all the hype that was surrounding it. There were ads for it in the cinema something like 5 months before it even came out.
Five months? These days that's nothing. I remember being shocked when I saw a commercial for Godzilla (1998) in the theater a full twelve months before it came out.
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Subjective opinion, and everyone's is arguably equal, but you are part of a pretty small minority in that one.
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Indeed, though I'm part of a small minority in many cases.. I enjoy minority browsers, operating systems, TV series, music, and sports.
I didn't like the Lord of the Rings books and movies that much either! *runs before he is set aflame*
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All of a sudden, out of nowhere they're being told that, hooray, Earth is growing plants again, we all get to go home... And every single person is totally, completely, enthusiastically on board with changing their entire way of life, to repopulate a deserted (and actually, still pretty polluted and disgusting) planet from scratch when none of them have ever had any sort of experience or exposure to even the outdoors, much less things like farming and the hardships of a largely non-technological existence.
I think you could make the case that almost none of them knew what they were actually getting into (even the videos the captain watched whitewashed the process of farming). Much like, say, Paris Hilton and Nicole Richie might think going to spend the summer on a farm milking cows and such might be "rustic" and "fun," then the realities of hard work and getting dirty set in, things that didn't occur to them since that way of life is so foreign.
They crew seemed kind of disappointed in Earth once they got ther
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Re:Adult movie (Score:4, Insightful)
Huh, I was under the impression that the only reason the robots on the Axiom didn't become sentient is because they were "fixed" when they started showing aberrant behavior, which in Wall-e's case led to him becoming sentient.
Then again there are plenty of things to nitpick about the movie reality-wise (I mean seriously, the Axiom just jettisoned trash into space instead of recycling?) but at least for me the heart of the story overcame all that. And IMO the "dancing in space" scene was one of the most beautiful scenes I've ever seen in a movie.
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Graphically it was amazing, but other than that I thought it was one of the worst films I've ever seen..
Everyone is entitled to their opinion; even if yours is utterly wrong.
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I'm happy for you not to agree with my opinion, as long as I don't have to watch it again :)
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It's funny, the bar for Pixar movies is so high that, for me at least, Wall-E was a "flop" even though I'd have to still give it an 7 or 8/10. If it was one of the worst films ever made, you apparently haven't seen a lot of films, or your tastes differ from most people's to a pretty extraordinary degree.
Honestly, I'm also getting tired of thinly-veiled environmental messages shoved down my throat (see: every other Miyasaki movie), and at this point it just puts me in an off mood for the rest of the movie.
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True, as a general movie I guess it was okay, saying it was one of the worst movies I've ever seen was a bit harsh. Perhaps should have said one of the most disappointing movies I've ever seen.
This conversation has just reminded me of "9" though. Again it was graphically amazing and had a cool soundtrack, but the plot was so incredibly dumb.. it had no logic to it.
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It just seems like there's this stigma about animation being only for children in America.
Which is silly as all getout. Warner Brothers cartoons were meant for adults. Ralph Bakshi tried to make cartoons "not for kids", Fritz the Cat was the only full length animated motion picture ever to be rated X by the MPAA, and Cool World was rated R.
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R, yes. There were several R rated cartoons, but only one was rated X. It was shortly before they changed the rating system.
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I would really, really love to see them produce a movie specifically for adults!
I would argue that Up! was largely a movie for adults. The segment showing Carl and Ellie's married life together (in four minutes, with no dialogue), complete their being told they can't have children, their economic pressures and Elle's death (blah blah blah spoiler alert, live with it) is not a segment for kids... It rings very true for any 'married' grownups. I remember watching it (again) on a flight, and all the adults
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Oaklans Museum Exhibit (Score:5, Informative)
Don't know about tours, but there is currently a big "25 years of Pixar" exhibit at the Oakland Museum of California: http://museumca.org/exhibit/pixar-25-years-animation [museumca.org]
Sorry (Score:2)
When I saw the title "Interview with Head of Pixar Animation", I couldn't help wondering why they only had implemented a head. The Japanese have progressed so much farther [slashdot.org].
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It was a scheduling thing, not technological. All american assholes were in Washington. D.C.
Glory of being a video game programmer! (Score:2)
Anyone else think Pixar might be the geek Mecca? Do they do tours?
Sounds very much like those whom worship the idea of being a game programmer, while knowing nothing of the working conditions.
Not saying the conclusion (run! its a sweatshop!) is identical, just saying it sounds creepily similar.
All we need is a slashvertisement for a 2 year AA degree in "computer animation" "as advertised on cable TV" and the circle will be complete...
young people flee when we talk about punchcards (Score:2)
And how, exactly... (Score:2)
And how, exactly, was the electricity required to transmit YOUR post, of better use?
"I can't remember the last time I read any comment on slashdot that advanced my understanding of technology."
Don't blame slashdot for your learning disorder.
Numbers (Score:2)
I recall in an early ray tracing text the author talking about a college professor who stated that computer graphics were pointless and that computers should be used for nothing but pure number crunching. And people wonder why the title "professor" does not automatically impress me. I could see the potential even as a kid when I saw an early system that just did line drawings on a plotter.
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Pixar are still evil (Score:2)
Pixar were responsible for unirally's [nintendolife.com] production being stopped and any hopes of a sequel dashed.
All because the game used a red unicycle, to me this is like suing someone because they used a tennis ball in a game of tennis.
Then again I should expect such things from a company founded by jobs
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Then again I should expect such things from a company funded by Jobs.
FTFY
Computers & Art (Score:1)
Larry Gritz (Score:2)
so what ever happened to Larry Gritz?
I used to be a big fan of BMRT
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Thanks!
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Thanks,
I knew up to NVidia, but lost track after that.
Pixar killed BMRT (Score:1)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blue_Moon_Rendering_Tools [wikipedia.org]
The article explains most of it. BMRT was a freely available Renderman-compatible renderer. It was available for years until Larry Gritz decided to produce an upgraded commercial version.
It was quite a fun toy to play with, and also probably stopped quite a few aspiring 3D artists from learning RM.
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Ugh, that last sentence makes no sense; I meant:
"its loss probably stopped quite a few aspiring 3D artists from learning RM."
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Not tours exactly, but they do host fundraisers (Score:1)
Tours (Score:2)
Wow, this is the Catmull of Catmull-Rom splines (Score:2)
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Correct URL (Score:1)
Link to google cache (Score:1)
http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:5hQeyIzYvqEJ:queue.acm.org/detail.cfm%3Fid%3D1883592+ed+catmull+acm&cd=1&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=in
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