Co-founder Alvy Ray Smith tells the story behind how Pixar went from being the 'worst hardware company' to being 'the best animated film company in the world.'
The Real Story of Pixar --IEEE Spectrum
https://spectrum.ieee.org/the-real-story-of-pixar
◆ The beginning of everything
Hewlett-Packard in the garage founded to, Facebook is from the university dormitory began as, although the technology-based companies often need to start the story before you become a company, is also 'the beginning' of Pixar, independent of the Lucas film It is in the stage before it is done.
According to Smith, at the time, some computer graphics researchers were arguing that technology could be used to create a new form of art, a 'digital animated film,' and Smith and others were enormous. He said he was discussing making a movie using his computer power. In the mid-1970s, such computational power was expensive, but Moore's Law suggested that within 10 years the cost of computation would be significantly reduced. Until the cost went down, Smith focused on developing software that would enable filmmaking.
At the time, it was not possible to incorporate hand-drawn pictures into animated films, but tools that made it possible were slowly emerging. The first software to appear is software that can create 2D images on a computer. Next up is software that allows you to create virtual 3D objects. And Smith and colleagues learned how to move, render, and shade these objects.
It is said that this method has gradually begun to take root among Mr. Smith and others. In 1975, the New York Institute of Technology hired Edwin Catmull and Malcolm Blanchard, who were involved in the development of software for constructing 3D geometric objects at the University of Utah, and soon afterwards painted software at the Palo Alto Research Center. We added Mr. Smith and Mr. David Di Francesco who were developing. Then, Smith and four others will start the work of incorporating traditional cel animation into computers.
The technique of cel animation was developed in 1915, but it took a lot of talent and a very long time to create animation. Smith and his colleagues thought that this cel animation work could be done easily with a computer, and spent four years developing the technology. Group of the final dozen people gathered Smith et al., 22-minute animated short in 1979, 'Measure for Measure ( Measure for Measure was created)'. But not only was it far from being a movie and too short, many of the cells were still hand-painted.
The following video is the animation 'Sunstone' created by Smith et al. In 1979.
Sunstone (1979) --YouTube
◆ 'Software developer group' to Lucasfilm
In 1980, four people, Mr. Smith, Mr. Catmull, Mr. Blanchard, and Mr. Di Francesco, who were first involved in software development, were hired by Lucasfilm, and Lucasfilm newly established a 'computer department' to which these four people belong. I did. Smith and his colleagues also worked here on editing, sound, special effects, and accounting, which Smith said was 'as difficult as these three.' Catmull, who headed the computer division, also made Smith the head of the 'computer graphics group' responsible for special effects.
Smith continued to develop the software needed to make 'computer-generated 3D movies' on Lucasfilm and designed the special hardware 'Pixar Image Computer.' This computer was a computable alternative that was four times faster than traditional computers intended for general use.
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The first fully computer-generated animation by Smith and colleagues using this Pixar Image Computer appears in the 1982 movie Star Trek II Khan's Counterattack . A one-minute video showed a naked planet burning, melting, and forming mountains, sea, and forests. The next animation created by Smith et al. Was used in the Death Star hologram scene in 'Star Wars Episode 6 / Return of the Jedi'. These less than a few minutes of animation were still far behind 'animated films,' but Smith and colleagues believed in Moore's Law and thought that animated films could be realized in a few years. Smith's computer division has grown to a group of 40 people, but on the other hand, it was also described as 'poor performance.'
◆ Development group is in crisis due to management difficulties of Lucasfilm
Meanwhile, George Lucas , the president of Lucasfilm, divorced in 1983. Since California, where Lucas lives, has a community property system in place, Lucas lost half of his fortune overnight. In this effect, computer department after Lucas Arts will carry to be sold all but a game project to be, in 1985 became the result that only the group of Smith et al remain.
Smith stepped into Catmull's office and said, 'We'll be fired, Ed. George never understands us and George can no longer afford to feed us. It's a sin to disband our world-class group. Let's build a company to support our team. '
However, Mr. Smith recalled the above statement, saying, 'This is a mockery of two computer geeks, and I didn't have more knowledge and sense than middle management could have.' After that, Mr. Smith and Mr. Catmull bought two books about entrepreneurship one by one and started studying.
◆ Independent and software development group becomes 'worst hardware company'
Both Smith and Catmull understand that it's impossible to create an independent film company with computer graphics, with 40 people, whether it's a software company or an advertising production company. I was convinced that it wouldn't generate enough profit to feed. Therefore, the route Smith and others chose was 'hardware.'
Fortunately, Smith and his colleagues had a Pixar Image Computer, and Smith and Catmull created a business plan to manufacture and sell it as a 'pixel supercomputer.' Behind the scenes, Smith said he intended to grow a small team of experts over five years to make an animated film.
First of all, Mr. Smith and his colleagues explained the business plan to the remaining 38 members, emphasizing that 'everyone owns the company regardless of job description'. Then Smith and Catmull started raising money. Smith and his colleagues first
Smith and his colleagues responded to Ross Perot , the founder of Electronic Data Systems , which was merged with General Motors, and a member of General Motors' management team. General Motors was looking to replace Smith's technology with clay modeling , which is made from industrial clay, as a new technology for new car design. Philips, who was supposed to partner with General Motors to share the funding burden, was also interested in rendering technology that uses CAT scans to create 3D structures inside humans.
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Smith and colleagues signed an agreement between General Motors and Philips on November 7, 1985, but the deal was never finalized. Because Mr. Perot criticized General Motors' board of directors for a large deal between General Motors and Hughes Tool Company three days before signing, and the Wall Street Journal immediately reported this. Perot and his colleagues had lost their position at General Motors. Mr. Smith and Mr. Catmull were said to have lost their composure because the contract with the two companies was the last line of reliance of Mr. Smith and others, but Mr. Smith said, 'I got a revelation on the plane back to California. '. It was the presence of Steve Jobs , one of the founders of Apple.
by Andrea Fistetto
◆◆ Encounter with Steve Jobs and activities as a 'Pixar'
On August 4, three months before signing, Smith and Treasury Agit Gil were invited to a mansion in Woodside, California by Jobs, who had just been expelled from Apple, to discuss the acquisition. .. Mr. Smith and others said, 'I refuse the acquisition because I want to run the company myself, and I agree if I contract as a venture investment,' Jobs said that he agreed, but the amount of the contract money is Smith and his colleagues weren't too focused on the deal with Jobs, as it was about one-third that of General Motors and Phillips.
The contract between General Motors and Philips went bankrupt, and Smith and Catmull contacted Jobs to request a contract, which came to fruition. Jobs funded Pixar, Jobs acquired 70% of the capital, and Smith and other employees acquired the remaining 30%. Then, Smith et al. Purchased rights such as Pixar Image Computer from Lucasfilm with the check received from Jobs. And on February 3, 1986, Pixar was officially born in San Rafael, California.
After that, Pixar was nominated for an Academy Award for ' Luxo Jr. ' (1986), ' Red's Dream ' (1987), and won an Academy Award for ' Tin Toy ' (1988) and ' Nicknack ' (1989). I made four works. Smith calls these 'four gems of brilliance' and says 'it has helped us in the years that have been tough for us.'
'Luxo Jr.' and 'Red's Dream' can be viewed on YouTube. The following is 'Luxo Jr.' ...
Pixar Animation- Luxo Jr. --YouTube
The following is 'Reds Dream'.
03 Pixar Red's Dream 1987 --YouTube
In some places, these animations show improvements in the underlying technology of Pixar. Luxo Jr., for example, was the first articulated object to cast shadows from multiple light sources, and the bike shop that appeared as the background for Red's Dream was created by Pixar Image Computer and was the most complex rendered at the time. It was a video.
What Smith calls the 'fifth jewel' is the software 'CAPS (Computer Animation Production System) ' that Smith and his colleagues later created for Disney based on their experience working on cel animation at the New York Institute of Technology. The production of this software deepened his relationship with Disney, and in the years that followed, all 18 Disney feature films featured a complex manufacturing process made by the Disney people, a Pixar Image Computer, and CAPS will be used. 'The Little Mermaid ' released in 1989 was the first work using CAPS, and 'The Rescuers of Bianca ' released in 1990 was the first work using CAPS throughout.
The sixth jewel is ' RenderMan '. RenderMan was developed as a group of software that generalizes the shading language and facilitates rendering from the shading technology cultivated by Pixar employees at the University of Utah, and generated pixels for animation.
However, Mr. Smith said, 'Pixar was still a poor hardware company.' Smith and his colleagues experienced several failures in their first year of business, running out of money and unable to pay their employees. If the person who provided the funding was other than Mr. Jobs, Mr. Smith and others were stuck. Jobs blamed Smith and others for each failure and wrote a check each time. Jobs lent to Pixar many times and eventually poured half of his fortune into Pixar. On March 6, 1991, Jobs acquired Pixar altogether.
by Gary King
Nonetheless, Pixar was in serious financial difficulty. Smith and his colleagues tried to make money in a variety of ways, including creating TV commercials, but none of them were enough to run. Jobs said he was thinking of merging Pixar with his computer company NeXT , but NeXT's co-founder didn't want to merge.
However, Smith and his colleagues finally reach a turning point according to Moore's Law. As computer prices continue to fall, the long-awaited movie has become economically feasible. Smith and his colleagues set out to make a film, and Catmull signed a film contract with Disney in July 1991. For Smith and others, it's finally time for the film, which has been a dream and goal since the 1970s, to come true.
Around this time, a feud was created between Jobs and Smith, who had to leave Pixar. The details of the ' whiteboard case ' that Mr. Jobs slammed Mr. Smith are explained in Walter Isaacson 's book ' Steve Jobs '.
From 1991 to four years, Pixar completed Toy Story and premiered it in 1995. Toy Story was a huge success right after its release and was enthusiastically received by critics.
It is said that Pixar at that time had almost no funds other than the money obtained by selling off a part of the broken hardware, but Jobs went public on November 29, 1995. Then in 2006, Disney acquired Pixar. Looking back at the 1970s, Smith says, 'This is amazing given our initial situation.'
Pixar then made 24 animated films at the time of writing, including 'A Bug's Life ' and ' Monsters, Inc.'
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