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From: tim@cit-vax.Caltech.Edu (Timothy L. Kay)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga
Subject: Re: There's No Fun At Pixar
Message-ID: <3546@cit-vax.Caltech.Edu>
Date: Mon, 10-Aug-87 17:10:16 EDT
Article-I.D.: cit-vax.3546
Posted: Mon Aug 10 17:10:16 1987
Date-Received: Tue, 11-Aug-87 05:46:17 EDT
References: <1681@cadovax.UUCP> <921@hp-sdd.HP.COM> <354@sccc0.teknek.UUCP> <941@omepd>
Reply-To: tim@cit-vax.UUCP (Timothy L. Kay)
Distribution: world
Organization: California Institute of Technology
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In article <941@omepd> hah@mipon3.UUCP (Hans Hansen) writes:
>
>I think that you have just hit the nail on the head, i.e. a $2K computer
>and a $200 program displaying a 3D animation that PIXAR created on their
>$20K-$200K graphics engine and are probably asking 10s of thousands of
>dollars for their 3D programming package.  Not only that but Leo did it
>in less than a week!!  Absolutly astounding!!!  And with a 3D package
>that he wasn't familiar with to boot!!!

Let's get some perspective on the situation.  While Leo's demo is very
pretty and a superb effort, the quality of the presentation falls far
short compared to the Pixar piece.  I hope nobody out there is willing
to claim that the rendering quality of the "$200 program" is in any way
comparable to the quality of that produced by Pixar.  Furthermore, the
actual act of juggling was only a very small part of the Pixar flick.
Let's see the Amiga just described create the opening scene with the
rain.  How about the spot lights and the diffuse shadows?

I am not trying to detract from Leo's demo in any way.  However, it is
a completely different level of sophistication compared to what Pixar
tried to do.  What Leo did in three days is impressive.  What Pixar did
in six months is even more impressive.