Pixar Animation Studios Co-Founder Chosen as a SIGGRAPH 2008 Featured Speaker
(Chicago, IL) – ACM SIGGRAPH announces Ed Catmull, a pioneer in the entertainment and film industry and co-founder of Pixar Animation Studios, as one of the featured speakers at SIGGRAPH 2008, the 35th International Conference and Exhibition on Computer Graphics and Interactive Techniques.Catmull, President of Walt Disney and Pixar Animation Studios, has played a major role throughout the past 30 years in the invention of some of today’s most fundamental computer graphics practices used widely across the motion picture industry. He is one of the original architects of the RenderMan rendering software system, which has been used to create blockbuster animated hits such as Toy Story and Finding Nemo, as well as 44 of the last 47 Visual Effects nominations to the Academy Awards®.
“Dr. Catmull’s innovations and leadership encompass his true passion for the computer graphics industry,” stated Jacquelyn Martino, SIGGRAPH 2008 Conference Chair from IBM T.J. Watson Research Center. “A great deal of what is done today with animation and computer graphics in motion pictures would not be possible without his inventions and contributions. Given that SIGGRAPH is celebrating its 35th conference, we could think of no one individual that could represent the evolution of the industry better than Dr. Catmull.”
Catmull has been honored with numerous industry awards for his contributions including four Academy Awards®; one in Technical Achievement, two in Scientific and Engineering, as well as one Academy Award of Merit. He is a Fellow of ACM, and has been involved with SIGGRAPH conferences for more than 30 years serving as chair of the Papers, Awards, and Technical Program committees. In 1993, he was awarded ACM’s Steven A. Coons Award honoring his lifetime contributions to the computer graphics industry.
In addition to his own professional achievements, Catmull founded three of the most renowned computer graphics research centers in the world including the computer graphics laboratory at the New York Institute of Technology and the computer division of both Lucasfilm, Ltd. and Pixar Animation Studios.
Catmull received a bachelor’s degree in Physics, as well as a bachelor’s and PhD in Computer Science from the University of Utah. He is also holds an honorary PhD in Engineering from the University of Utah.
Based on overwhelming positive feedback provided after the switch from a single keynote speaker format to multiple featured speakers in 2007, SIGGRAPH will once again provide focused content by offering presentations from different prominent industry leaders and technology experts. Each featured speaker will provide key insights on the future of computer graphics and interactive techniques.
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About SIGGRAPH
SIGGRAPH 2008 will bring an estimated 30,000 computer graphics and interactive technology professionals from six continents to Los Angeles, California, USA for the industry’s most respected technical and creative programs focusing on research, science, art, animation, gaming, interactivity, education, and the web from Monday, 11 August through Friday, 15 August 2008 at the Los Angeles Convention Center. Celebrating its 35th year, SIGGRAPH 2008 includes a three-day exhibition of products and services from the computer graphics and interactive marketplace from 12-14 August 2008. More than 250 international exhibiting companies are expected. Registration for the conference and exhibition is open to the public. More details are available at www.siggraph.org/s2008
When i first saw Toy story i was little cooncerned with CGI:P
I’m impress by his achievement .
Just how cool is it to have an algorithm name after you? Let me tell you – it’s DAMN COOL! I’d love to hear this guy live…
That’s great, but I didn’t hear anything Blender specific.
I don’t think that matters Tynach. Without this guy there wouldn’t be a Blender.
without catmull there would be no modern CG 3D at all! But in the end if he didn’t existed, someone other would have invented his algorythm, maybe not that fast but still.
He also invented the Alpha channel, wich meens no Gimp like aplications to :P
Yep, he’s that guy. Nice choice as a featured speaker.
Don’t forget he also invented the zbuffer!
Markus
Yeah, if not for Catmull, someone else probably would’ve made a similar algorithm – but that’s hypothetical.
I bow my head to the inventor of that much stuff.
There’s no way that I’m doing to make it to SIGGRAPH (not this year anyway), but it sounds like a fantastic opportunity. Keep us updated, BN!
Ed Catmull visited our studio last month. It was an honor to meet him in person. He is a legend in the CG industry.
wow, that was off topic.
I remember going to SIGGRAPH back in like 1991 or 92 (the last time it was in Chicago I think) and Pixar was still this very small company and they had this little booth set off in the middle somewhere with little to no fanfare.
Anyway, they were selling a VHS compilation of their short films which consisted only of Luxo Jr, Red’s Dream, Tin Toy and Knick-Knack. Who was manning the booth selling the DVD’s….collecting the money and putting the stuff in a bag? Ed Catmull. Even then, the guy was a major hero to me and I’m standing there like “Ed Catmull is standing here selling me a VHS”. My wife was like “who’s Ed Catmull?”
Thought that was cool.