How Real-Time Graphics Helps Pixar Make Feature Films

Speaker(s):
Pol Jeremias-Vila
Senior Graphics Software Engineer, Pixar Animation Studios
David G Yu
Senior Graphics Software Engineer, Pixar Animation Studios
George ElKoura
Lead Software Engineer, Pixar Animation Studios

Summary: Explore how real-time graphics are used at Pixar Animation Studios. Using examples from famous Pixar movies to illustrate the unique needs of film production, including loading and run-time management of massive movie sets and complex characters, real-time subdivision surfaces, real-time effects particularly useful for technical directors, and how these assets are rendered using the latest hardware features. Don't miss this great opportunity to learn about how real-time graphics help making movies.

Speaker(s) Bio:
Pol Jeremias-Vila, Senior Graphics Software Engineer, Pixar Animation Studios
Pol Jeremias lives for real-time graphics. He grew up in Barcelona, but his desire to research and create real-time graphics brought him to California in 2006. After completing his Master's degree in Computer Science at University of Southern California, he joined LucasArts where he worked on rendering technology for Star Wars 1313, as well as other games. Today, he works at Pixar Animation Studios where he develops rendering algorithms to help the artists make movies. He is credited in multiple movies, including Finding Dory.
In his spare time, Pol is a co-founder at Shadertoy.com, a website that enables graphics enthusiasts to create, learn, and share rendering knowledge. Since 2012, he's been actively involved with SIGGRAPH, directing Real-Time Live! in 2016 and the Computer Animation Festival in 2017. When he is not programming, you will find him running, watching movies, or drinking coffee.

David G Yu, Senior Graphics Software Engineer, Pixar Animation Studios
David G Yu has been with Pixar Animation Studios since 2000 working on the Presto animation system (and its predecessor Marionette) with a focus on advancing the use of real-time graphics technology.
Recently, David has been a key contributor to OpenSubdiv and to the Hydra render-engine component of Pixar's Universal Scene Description open source project. Previously, David was at Silicon Graphics Inc (SGI) developing system hardware and software for OpenGL and visual simulation.

George ElKoura, Lead Software Engineer, Pixar Animation Studios
George ElKoura is a Lead Engineer at Pixar Animation Studios. He has over 17 years of animation industry experience, first as an Engineer at Side Effects Software, working on Houdini, and later joining Pixar where he has been for the past 11 years. At Pixar, his current responsibilities include overseeing the development of several of Pixar's core technologies like Presto's Core, USD, Hydra and OpenSubdiv.

Presentation Language: English