Students in Fresno State animation, interior design and video courses are getting a helping hand from Hollywood in the form of a $150,500 software gift from Pixar Animation Studios. The studio has donated computer software programs that will dramatically shorten the amount of time it takes to create videos and film.
Typically, projects can take up to 40 hours to render – the process of converting a single frame of film from its rough form into a finished product. Rendering can involve adding textures or lighting to an image, for example. The time requirements make it difficult for students to do their work because of the limited number of computer stations available.
But the new software – Renderman Pro Server 13.5.3 and Renderman Studio 1.01 – will allow students to complete a film image in less than an hour.
“Pixar’s RenderMan product is by all accounts a strong industry standard used by many – if not most – of the largest studios in the world,” said David Gaines, the Fresno State information technology consultant/manager who secured the gift. “Studios such as Industrial Light and Magic, Weta Digital, Jim Henson Studios and Manex VFX are just a few that incorporate Pixar’s products into their production flow.”
The software has been used in at least 41 of the last 44 films nominated for a best visual effects Oscar, Gaines noted. In addition to being used in all of Pixar’s animated features, including the Academy Award-winning “Ratatouille” (produced by Oscar-winning Fresno State alumnus Brad Lewis), the technology was used in other blockbusters such as “Pirates of the Caribbean,” and the “Harry Potter” and “Lord of the Rings” series.
The donation to Fresno State came after Gaines approached Pixar to discuss how he would like to use their products in courses. The studio, in turn, made the donation.
“The support they were willing to offer was beyond anything I could have hoped for,” Gaines said. “The opportunities this opens to students are phenomenal. They now have at their disposal a professional industry standard suite of applications.”
The software is now being tested so it can be included in courses starting this summer, he added.
“The only real limitation for our students is their own imagination and their investment of time learning and using these new tools,” Gaines said. “What they will be able to take with them beyond Fresno State is a portfolio of work that used the same tools that their potential employers use. That is going to give them a great advantage in the job market.”
