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As a kid, my favorite movie was Pixar's, Toy Story. I
already believed that my toys were alive and talking so it was amazing seeing
it on screen before my very eyes. Little did I know, Toy Story was a huge
milestone for Pixar and computer-generated imagery (CGI) technology.
Pixar has won numerous awards for the CGI effects and films
they've made. Remember the Pixar movie intro's that has a lamp, bouncing up and
down on the "P" of their logo? Well that was actually a character from a short film that launched Pixar's career. It's called "Luxo Jr."; it was
the first 3D computer animated film to be nominated for the Best Animated Short
Film Oscar. It was praised for the lighting rendering and realism, such as
"limbs" and emotions. The CGI lighting effects were out of this
world, able to cast shadows on different objects as well as the object shining
the light. That was unheard of technology at the time!
Next was my favorite, Toy Story. Released in 1995, Toy Story
was the world's first computer animated feature film. It's was nominated for 3
Academy Awards and producer, John Lasseter, won the Special Achievement Academy
Award for his animation techniques that made the film possible. The fact that
Toy Story could even be made was incredible. Dozens of character models, sets,
and types were huge accomplishments for the film since most animations were in
a fixed location with one or two characters. Toy Story also was able to shorten
render times in half. To do this, they applied different logic based algorithms
that identified which portions of the image would need re-rendering in each
frame. For example, if Buzz Lightyear was in front of Andy's bed, the bed would
be rendered only once and then retained for the next frames to be developed.
A video of the very first 3D rendered movie that was
developed by Ed Catmull, the founder of Pixar, can be viewed here: http://vimeo.com/16292363
This video might not seem very impressive by today's
standard but man oh man, back in the day this was a huge leap in computer
graphics and animation.
Excellent job, Steve. I have seen every Pixar film in theaters since Toy Story, and I like seeing how each new film improves in graphics, aesthetics, and writing. I never gave much thought about what algorithms were used in Toy Story, probably because I was young at the time. I think that it goes to show how smart and efficient algorithms can drastically reduce the workload of the computer and have the computer do things that were previously not possible. I remember Roger Ebert’s review on the film, noting the small details like fingerprints on doorknobs, and details like those can help establish atmosphere.
ReplyDeleteHello there again, Steve. We are in the same generation because Toy Story was also one of my favorite movies at the time. By the way, until recently, I hadn't know that Steve Jobs was credited as an executive producer of the film because he had bought Pixar. I didn't know for a fact that Pixar had won that many awards, but it's understandable given the quality of the animation. I hope they keep making great animation films.
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