History of Computers - Renderman

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Introduction Renderman, created in 1984 by computer scientists at Pixar, is a computer animation program which has been used in films and commercials ever since its start. The program has been used in 279 full length feature films so far, and is still creating more today.[1]

Overview

Pixar Studios, created by a group of people who came from the New York Institution of Technology and Disney and first collaborated at LucasFilms for the Star Wars series, was started in order to pave the way into computer animation. Having already been dabbled in by Disney and other studios with systems such as CAPS, Genesis and the Pixar Image Computer, these studios lacked the confidence and money to pursue such an innovative whim. [2] It was only thanks to the contribution of Steve Jobs's funding that Pixar itself was able to pursue the subject.

Significance

Pixar's Renderman was the first widely successful computer animation system developed and led the way changing the looks of everything around us, from movies to commercials and ads in magazines. It is due to the success of this system that our movies can appear as realistic as they do. From the very first computer animated shapes, demonstrated by Pixar in John Lassesster's Andre and Wally B., to the incredible animation of fur in "Monsters Inc." and hair in "The Incredibles", Renderman has thrown the animated world miles ahead of where it would have been without the dedication of Pixar.

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