THE MAGIC OF PIXAR
The 2008 RenderMan Speaker Schedule
Includes a free WALL-E poster giveaway!

This year at Annecy, special guest speakers from Pixar will reveal a bit of the creative and technical magic behind Pixar's feature films, with a focus on the rendering techniques that make Pixar's films so visually appealing.

These presentations are open to everyone and are perfect for anyone interested in learning more about creating high quality 3D animation and special effects ... and who are interested in implementing Pixar's rendering technology in their own pipelines. These talks are sponsored by RenderMan, Pixar's award-winning rendering software.

And as a bonus for those who attend these special presentations, Pixar will be giving away a collectable poster of the upcoming Disney/Pixar animated feature film, WALL-E..

Seating for the presentations is limited. First come, first seated. 

Schedule of Presentations
Talks are located at the Imperial Palace on the 5th floor, Ravel B. 

Wednesday, June 11th

11:00 - 12:15
Part 1 - Working the Pixar Way
Doug Sweetland, Director and Supervising Animator 
During this presentation, director and animator Doug Sweetland will explore how Pixar approaches the challenges involved in creating outstanding character animation for Pixar's complex CG environments. With a focus on story, animation, and visual development Doug will talk about some the more ingenious creative and technical innovations developed during real Pixar productions.
Part 2 - RenderMan in Action
Dylan Sisson, RenderMan Technical Artist 
In this presentation, Dylan will continue by exploring Pixar's key rendering technology, RenderMan. Celebrating its 20th Anniversary, Pixar's RenderMan has a long history of technical innovation. You'll also learn in what ways you can enhance your own 3D projects with a live demonstration of Pixar's RenderMan for Maya. From feature-length films to small independent animation, you'll see how your own projects can benefit from using RenderMan.  

15:00 - 16:15
Part 1 - The Invisible Pixar
Richard Hollander, Feature Producer 
What’s behind that perfect Pixar publicity photo? A whole host of practices and philosophy form a foundation to support the creative output of Pixar.  Richard Hollander offers a perspective on the unique culture and processes of Pixar as a newcomer from the motion picture visual effects world.
Part 2 - RenderMan in Action
Dylan Sisson, RenderMan Technical Artist 
In this presentation, Dylan will continue by exploring Pixar's key rendering technology, RenderMan. Celebrating its 20th Anniversary, Pixar's RenderMan has a long history of technical innovation. You'll also learn in what ways you can enhance your own 3D projects with a live demonstration of Pixar's RenderMan for Maya. From feature-length films to small independent animation, you'll see how your own projects can benefit from using RenderMan. 

Thursday, June 12th

11:00 - 12:15
Part 1 - Working the Pixar Way
Doug Sweetland, Director and Supervising Animator 
During this presentation, director and animator Doug Sweetland will explore how Pixar approaches the challenges involved in creating outstanding character animation for Pixar's complex CG environments. With a focus on story, animation, and visual development Doug will talk about some the more ingenious creative and technical innovations developed during real Pixar productions.
Part 2 - RenderMan in Action
Dylan Sisson, RenderMan Technical Artist 
In this presentation, Dylan will continue by exploring Pixar's key rendering technology, RenderMan. Celebrating its 20th Anniversary, Pixar's RenderMan has a long history of technical innovation. You'll also learn in what ways you can enhance your own 3D projects with a live demonstration of Pixar's RenderMan for Maya. From feature-length films to small independent animation, you'll see how your own projects can benefit from using RenderMan. 

15:00 - 16:15
Part 1 - Ratatouille | Ingredients we left out
Simon Allen, Animator 
In the first presentation we'll see the development of characters through animation tests. We'll take a look at examples of inspiration that went into making Ratatouille. And he'll show some deleted scenes and how animators cope with their lose.
Part 2 - RenderMan in Action
Dylan Sisson, RenderMan Technical Artist 
In this presentation, Dylan will continue by exploring Pixar's key rendering technology, RenderMan. Celebrating its 20th Anniversary, Pixar's RenderMan has a long history of technical innovation. You'll also learn in what ways you can enhance your own 3D projects with a live demonstration of Pixar's RenderMan for Maya. From feature-length films to small independent animation, you'll see how your own projects can benefit from using RenderMan. 

Friday, June 13th

11:00 - 12:15
Part 1 - The Invisible Pixar
Richard Hollander, Feature Producer 
What’s behind that perfect Pixar publicity photo? A whole host of practices and philosophy form a foundation to support the creative output of Pixar.  Richard Hollander offers a perspective on the unique culture and processes of Pixar as a newcomer from the motion picture visual effects world.
Part 2 - RenderMan in Action
Dylan Sisson, RenderMan Technical Artist 
In this presentation, Dylan will continue by exploring Pixar's key rendering technology, RenderMan. Celebrating its 20th Anniversary, Pixar's RenderMan has a long history of technical innovation. You'll also learn in what ways you can enhance your own 3D projects with a live demonstration of Pixar's RenderMan for Maya. From feature-length films to small independent animation, you'll see how your own projects can benefit from using RenderMan. 

15:00 - 16:15
Part 1 - Ratatouille | Some added ingredients
Simon Allen, Animator 
In the second presentation Simon Allen will take you for a tour of Pixar and the Animation Department. He'll touch on the different stages of production and talk about the layering of detail for a scene. Simon will also talk about his love of France as well as the challenges of animating rats and making them compelling characters.
RenderMan in Action
Dylan Sisson, RenderMan Technical Artist 
In this presentation, Dylan will continue by exploring Pixar's key rendering technology, RenderMan. Celebrating its 20th Anniversary, Pixar's RenderMan has a long history of technical innovation. You'll also learn in what ways you can enhance your own 3D projects with a live demonstration of Pixar's RenderMan for Maya. From feature-length films to small independent animation, you'll see how your own projects can benefit from using RenderMan. 

Simon Allen, Pixar Animator 
Simon Allen joined Pixar Animation Studios in March 2006 as an animator for the Academy Award-winning feature, Ratatouille.  Allen worked with the crowds team to produce crowd animation, and worked specifically on the rats and chefs cooking in the kitchen for Ratatouille.  Allen has recently completed work on Disney•Pixar’s WALL•E, scheduled for release on June 27, 2008. 

In the animation industry for over 17 years, Allen has worked on 14 feature films.  Prior to coming to Pixar, Allen worked at Animal Logic as an animator on Happy Feet.  He began his career as an animator working at WETA on Peter Jackson’s feature film, The Frighteners in 1995.  Allen has also worked as an animation supervisor on The Matrix: Revolutions and Constantine, and at LucasArts as an animator for three different games. 

Born in Australia, Allen grew up in New Zealand.  After finishing high school, he returned to Australia and attended Film School at Perth Tafe.  He has taught animation both at Perth Tafe and the Academy of Art University in San Francisco. 

Allen currently resides in Northern California with his wife Ashleigh and their two daughters. 

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Richard Hollander, Pixar Feature Producer 
Richard Hollander has been a recognized leader in the effects industry for over 25 years.  His began film career working on The China Syndrome, Star Trek, The Motion Picture and Blade Runner.  As President of the Film Division at Rhythm and Hues, Hollander oversaw the production of visual effects for a multitude of features including Titanic, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, The Lion The Witch and The Wardrobe, Superman Returns and The Golden Compass. 

In February 2007, Hollander joined Pixar Animation Studios as a producer.  Hollander worked with director Doug Sweetland to produce Pixar’s latest short film Presto, scheduled to release with Disney•Pixar’s WALL•E on June 27, 2008 and is currently working on a future feature film.  

Hollander began his education at Cal Arts (California Institute of the Arts) transferring to UC Berkeley and graduating with a B.S. in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science.  He was active in the early adoption of computer graphics in the film industry, actively participating in ACM SIGGRAPH conference panels and courses. Hollander has been awarded a Scientific and Technical Achievement Award from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and a CLIO for his pioneering work in CG animation. He is an active member of the Academy of Motion Pictures of Arts and Sciences and was a founding member of the Visual Effects Society.

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Dylan Sisson, Pixar's RenderMan Technical Artist 
A passionate interest in art and technology at an early age led Dylan Sisson to join the RenderMan Products Group at Pixar Animation Studios. Since his arrival at the studio in 1999, Dylan has been engaged in the development of the RenderMan Artist Tools and RenderMan for Maya which are used to render CG imagery for film and animation. He is also the creator of RenderMan's infamous walking teapot. Currently, Dylan is working on the next generation of RenderMan Studio 2.0.

Prior to Pixar, Dylan began his career writing and illustrating comic books, before beginning a career in 2D animation. From there it was a short step into 3D production for games and commercials, including work for Wil Vinton Studios.

An active artist, Dylan's digital artwork has been shown at industry events such as SIGGRAPH, and he is also the creator of several award-winning independent animated shorts, one of which received a rather cold screening at the South Pole, Antarctica.

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Doug Sweetland, Pixar Director and Supervising Animator 
Doug Sweetland joined Pixar Animation Studios in the spring of 1994 to work on Toy Story as an animator. He worked on each subsequent Pixar feature film up to and including Cars. In addition to animating Pixar's timeless characters, Sweetland served as a directing animator on Monsters, Inc., and enjoyed a stint as a storyboard artist for the Academy Award -winning feature, The Incredibles.

Besides his feature film work, Sweetland served as supervising animator for the Academy Award®-nominated short film Boundin'. Using his vast knowledge from working on these features and short films, Sweetland was able to apply his story and animation skills in the creation of a new Pixar short of his own and served as writer and director for Presto.

Sweetland admits that not even all his years of experience being an animator prepared him for the challenges of writing a story from scratch, but with extraordinary Pixar talent on his side, the story came to life. Presto releases with the next DisneyoPixar feature film, WALLoE, on June 27th, 2008.

Born and raised in State College, Pennsylvania, Sweetland grew up watching Disney films and classic Saturday morning cartoons. With a life-long love and passion for animation, he attended California Institute of the Arts (CalArts) for three semesters before coming to Pixar. Sweetland currently resides in San Francisco with his wife and son.