Geometry in Hollywood
A topical lecture at the
American Association for the Advancement of Science
Annual Meeting and Science Innovation Exposition
Philadelphia Convention Center, Room 113-A
Friday, 13th February 1998
2:30pm-3:15pm
Dr. Tony DeRose
Pixar Animation Studios
1001 West Cutting Blvd.
Richmond, CA 94804
(510) 412-6019 (ph), (510) 236-0388 (fax)
derose@pixar.com
http://www.pixar.com
http://www.wenet.net/~derose
``Did you ever wonder how the liquid metal terminator effect in Terminator 2 was done? Or how Toy Story was made? This answer is that sophisticated geometric techniques were used, in conjunction with talented art direction and computer technology. This talk will provide an accessible behind-the-scenes glimpse into digitial movie making, paying particular attention to the fundamental role of geometry."
Pixar Animation Studios has been a pioneer in computer animation for many years, first coming to the public's attention with the groundbreaking and Academy Award winning video Tin Toy in 1987, and then collaborating with Walt Disney Studios for the world's first full length computer animated feature Toy Story in 1995.
Dr. DeRose is currently a Senior Scientist at Pixar Animation Studios. He received a BS in Physics in 1981 from the University of California, Davis; in 1985 he received a Ph.D. in Computer Science from the University of California, Berkeley. He received a Presidential Young Investigator award from the National Science Foundation in 1989. In 1995 he was selected as a finalist in the software category of the Discover Awards for Technical Innovation.
After a decade spent as a leader in computer graphics research at the University of Washington in Seattle, Dr. DeRose moved to Pixar two years ago. He has served on various technical program committees including SIGGRAPH, and from 1988 through 1994 was an associate editor of ACM Transactions on Graphics. He is currently associate editor of IEEE Transactions on Vision and Graphics. To date, Dr. DeRose has authored more than 50 scientific papers, 8 patent applications, and one book. His research has focused on mathematical methods for surface modeling, data fitting, and more recently, in the use of multiresolution techniques. Recent projects include object acquisition from laser range data and multiresolution/wavelet methods for high-performance computer graphics, and methods for human character animation.
Geri's Game, the film Dr. DeRose has been working on since he started at Pixar, just received an Academy Award nomination for best animated short.
References:
Eric J. Stollnitz, Tony D. DeRose and David H. Salesin, Wavelets for Computer Graphics: Theory and Applications, Morgan Kaufmann, San Francisco CA, 1996.
Gerald Farin, Curves and Surfaces for Computer Aided Geometric Design, 4th Edition, Academic Press, San Diego CA, 1996.
Wolfgang Boehm and Hartmut Prautzsch, Geometric Concepts for Geometric Design, A.K. Peters, Wellesley MA, 1994.