Chapter 31 The second section of animation duo

Just like Apple's genes come from Jobs and Woz, the genes of Pixar's perfect combination of technology and film art come from the two founders of this small team: one named Alvy Ray Smith (Alvy Ray Smith), the other A man named Edwin Catmull (Edwin Catmull). Mr. Smith holds a Ph.D. in computer science from Stanford University, and was an assistant professor in the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science at New York University after graduation.Judging from this resume alone, Mr. Smith is definitely considered to have a high IQ and a high degree of education. As long as he spends a few years in school, it is not difficult to become a senior professor at New York University.

But Mr. Smith didn't think so.In his bones, he was actually as rebellious as Jobs was when he was young.Smith would rather break a few bones in a skiing fall than stay in school teaching and educating people.He frantically pursues a different way of life and likes everything other than books.He studies art, enjoys psychology, and even astrology.He dressed himself up as a tramp and a hippie, and lived an unruly life.Of course, what he loves most is computer science, but he hasn't figured out what to study in his life. Finally, Mr. Smith was bedridden for 3 months after a skiing accident.During these three months, he thought deeply and decided to resign from his teaching position at New York University and go to Silicon Valley alone.

In the first year in Silicon Valley, the young Smith was completely displaced.Forced to make ends meet, he hung out while teaching part-time at Berkeley. One weekend in 1974, Smith wandered to the Stanford campus to borrow a few books.Here he met an old friend named Dick Shoup.Shoup was doing graphics research at Xerox's Palo Alto Research Center, and he kindly invited Smith to take a look at the research center. That's right, Xerox's Palo Alto Research Center again.Back then, after Jobs was shocked here, he "stealed" the magical GUI technology.Here, all kinds of future technologies are dazzling, but all of them are shelved by Xerox.Xerox is like a local rich man who has a collection of rare treasures in his house but doesn't know how to appreciate and use them. Every time he takes advantage of those discerning and knowledgeable visitors.

Smith was one of those lucky visitors.In the research center, he was attracted by a software developed by Shoup.The name of the software is SuperPaint, and it has several amazing functions: drawing and editing color graphics, directly intercepting TV output and editing it later, making 2D animation and outputting it as a video.This thing is so cool! "Isn't that why I came all the way to California?" Smith said to himself. Shoup persuaded Smith to stay and help develop the SuperPaint software.Smith readily agreed.But there were no vacant positions at Xerox at the time.Shoup thought for a while, and simply came to a secret warehouse and paid Smith with the accounts of equipment purchases. In fact, he solved the problem of remuneration for Smith as a temporary worker in the research center by making false accounts.

The work experience at the Palo Alto Research Center allowed Smith to find his own direction of struggle-computer graphics.He likes programming as well as art, and computer graphics is just the best combination of technology and art. But the good times didn't last long. Xerox soon discovered the fraudulent accounts, and Smith had to stop working illegally. The passion that has been ignited can no longer be extinguished.Smith has no way to stop, he must go on the road of computer graphics.He soon heard that the University of Utah in Salt Lake City also had a high-performance graphics computer, and someone was doing research on computer graphics.Without saying a word, he drove straight to Salt Lake City. His energy was a bit like Jobs' pilgrimage to India.

It’s been a long journey, and Smith, who rushed to the University of Utah, was disappointed to hear that a billionaire from Long Island, New York, Alexander Schure (Alexander Schure) had just arrived here a few days ago and not only bought the graphics computer at a high price, but also bought the graphics computer here. Edwin Catmull, one of the most powerful computer graphics experts, was also poached. New York?Billionaire?Billionaires also engage in computer graphics?Smith gapes from ear to ear in surprise.After inquiring in detail, he had a general understanding of the ins and outs of this billionaire.

It turned out that this is a billionaire who is passionate about education and science.Just like Abramovich, who loves football, spent huge sums of money to buy Chelsea to realize his dream, Shure's favorite thing to do is to invest in education and scientific research institutions. He once personally invested and founded the New York Institute of Technology.Because he is often involved in education and scientific research, Shure is also very interested in future technology. Around 1974, Shure saw the potential of computer animation.In terms of technology, he is a layman, but his business acumen tells him that this may be the direction of the future. In a few years, he may become a new generation of Walt Disney.

In this way, Shure, who dreamed of becoming Disney II, used the New York Institute of Technology as a platform to start investing in computer graphics technology frantically.Between the east and west coasts, as long as there is a place that has something to do with computer graphics, as long as there are people and technology that can be dug, he will fly directly to make a huge check. "Well, since I'm a billionaire who likes computer graphics, I'm going to go to the East Coast anyway," Smith said to himself. This trip was not in vain.Although Shure may not be an investor that Smith really likes, if he does not go to New York once, Smith will not meet his future entrepreneurial partner Catmull in the computer laboratory of the New York Institute of Technology.

The bully Catmull is not as rebellious and hippie as Smith, he just struggled with the contradiction between hobbies and professions since he was a child.When he was a child, Catmull was obsessed with Disney's animated movies, and his mind was full of the animated characters in "Pinocchio".He drew frame by frame on the booklet bound by white paper, and then quickly flipped through the booklet to "show" his short animated film.His dream is to one day also become an outstanding film animator.Unfortunately, he soon discovered that his drawing skills were not particularly good, far from meeting the requirements of an outstanding film animator.

Catmull, who was entangled between ideal and reality, finally found a solution to the problem.He felt that maybe he could reach his goal in a roundabout way.To make animated films, drawing is not necessarily the only means, and high technology may become another fulcrum for animated films.Catmull quickly shifted his interest to mathematics and graphics, and at the University of Utah he chose physics and computer science as majors. Along with Alan Kay, Catmull studied under University of Utah guru Ivan Sutherland, a pioneer in computer graphics, graphical user interfaces, and the Internet, during graduate and Ph.D.Inspired by Sutherland, Catmull further strengthened his determination to use computers to realize three-dimensional graphics and animation.

In 1973, Catmull made an attempt to use a computer to make a three-dimensional animation film, which was probably the first time in human history.In a short shot, he used a computer to model his left hand, and then used 3D animation technology to make the hand move on the screen.Later, this revolutionary lens was discovered by a Hollywood producer and included in the 1976 movie (Future world).As a result, it became the first film in history to use 3D computer animation technology. The hand in it looked ridiculously childish, like a plastic model, not real at all.But that is exactly how history is created.In the following time, computer special effects developed explosively, such as the freely deformed liquid robot in "Terminator 2", the realistic toy material in "Toy Story", the dazzling underwater light and shadow in "Finding Nemo", and of course " The fantasy alien world in Avatar, all of which actually originated from Catmull's left hand. Catmull, who was recruited by Shure, and Smith, who followed his ideals to New York, hit it off.They felt that, with their expertise in computer graphics, the two of them would one day change the way animated films were made. "But this guy Shure is a layman, he doesn't understand anything," Smith said to Catmull. "I know, I know." Catmull smiled, "What the hell? He has plenty of money, that's the point. Not only does he like computer animation, he's willing to invest in it, and he lets us do research. That's enough. Isn't it? Isn't this the research environment you and I want most?" Smith and Catmull led a group of researchers, while spending the money of the rich man Shure, working on their 3D animation technology day and night, while secretly flirting with Disney, which knows more about animation films, hoping that their animation technology can be used Disney fancy.But things backfired. Disney’s management is still indulging in the brilliance of manual animation created by "Snow White" back then, and is not interested in new things like computer animation for the time being. In May 1977, George Lucas' Star Wars was released.Smith and Catmull watched as enthralled as any other audience in the movie theater.Different from ordinary audiences who only know how to marvel at the dazzling pictures, the two knowledgeable experts know very well that although "Star Wars" is unique in the world in terms of special effects production, it does not use any computer 3D animation technology, and it is not a movie representing future technology. of videos. George Lucas, the father of Star Wars, also has a clear understanding of this.In order to produce the special effects in "Star Wars", the method of relying solely on studio shooting and manual post-production is too complicated to cope with the increasingly larger and more complex scenes in the future.Lucas began looking for techniques that would simplify shooting science fiction films.He even got a company called Triple-I to make him a 3D model of the Star Wars X-Men.Although Triple-I's X-Men weren't used in Star Wars, Lucas saw great potential in computer animation. After much twists and turns, Lucas found Smith and Catmull, probably the best computer animation team Lucas could find at the time.The animation duo soon discovered that Lucas was the ideal investor who was proficient in film technology and willing to spend money to support future technology.The two sides hit it off, and in 1979, Smith and Catmull led most of the researchers in the laboratory to "betray" the rich Shure and switch to Lucas's command. This is the graphics working group under Lucasfilm. origin. Not long after the graphics working group was established, it had the opportunity to test its edge.At the time, ILM had been tasked with producing special effects for Paramount Pictures' blockbuster Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan.There is such a special effects shot in the script: a moon-like dead planet called "Genesis" is quickly reorganized after being demolished at the molecular level, and rebuilt into a brand new, vibrant planet.The special effects of more than one minute were too complicated for the special effects at the time.ILM thought of Smith and Catmull, maybe it's time to see what graphics studios can do. The animation duo led their team and devoted all their energy to this one-minute-long shot. When "Star Trek 2" was released, this three-dimensional special effect, although very naive by today's standards, was shocking enough at the time. "It's a great shot," Lucas told Smith and Catmull. "I'm going to use CGI more in future movies." Even Disney, which has always looked down on computer animation, was shaken by "Genesis".In order to avoid being abandoned by new technologies, Disney executives decided to invest resources in computer animation research.Hearing the news, Smith and Catmull tried to get in touch with Disney again.But the result disappointed the two again. For Disney, computer animation still seemed to be a new thing worth trying, but it was not a career worthy of long-term investment. The short films shot by Disney's own computer animation team were also terrible. Still, Smith and Catmull have had their fair share of success at Disney. In 1984, they poached an animation prodigy from Disney, John Lasseter.Lasseter is a master of traditional animation while loving and embracing new technologies.Lasseter's expertise in the arts just made up for the lack of Smith and Catmull, the two founders with technical backgrounds. Coming to Graphics Studios, Lasseter became the core of the animation team, working full-time on animated short films to help promote and sell 3D animation technology.His first 3D animated short film work was The Adventures of Andre and Wally B (The Adventures of Andre and Wally B). In December 1984, this short film caused quite a stir when it was first shown at the computer graphics conference SIGGRAPH.