CGIStudio: thirty years, one renderer

Abstract

In February 2017, the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences honored Carl Ludwig, Eugene Troubetzkoy, and Maurice van Swaaij with a Sci-Tech Award "for the pioneering development of theCGIStudio renderer at Blue Sky Studios." It's in the same year that Blue Sky celebrates the 30 year anniversary of CGIStudio. Its early charge into ray tracing and global illumination demonstrated their feasibility for visual effects and animation - Blue Sky Studios' Ice Age (2002) was the first ray-traced animated feature film. For this panel we gather a few of the pioneers for a moderated discussion on how Blue Sky managed, in the early days, to challenge the industry's conventional practice of CG production. Joining this panel will be CTO and visionary behind CGIStudio Carl Ludwig, Academy Award winning Directors Chris Wedge and John Kahrs and Academy Sci-Tech Award recipient Hilmar Koch.