Pixar Undergraduate Program
Over the summer of 2024, I was fortunate enough to be selected for the Pixar Undergraduate Program (PUP). Over the twelve weeks, I learned how each department functions within the studio. I also made it a personal goal to learn as much about the infrastructure and pipeline that the studio employs for every production. This quest led to a lot of lunches and walks with amazing Pixarians around the campus.
The summer began with a sprint through Pixar's pipeline. This included a quick crash course on Linux and their pipeline tools. Following that, we studied a specific area of the pipeline for ~ 1 week at a time. The training for each department consisted of software demos, presentations on theory, and an individual project related to that part of the pipeline (ex. modeling a prop). Throughout the first couple of weeks, we learned the software and methodologies that the following departments use.
Set Dressing
Layout (Previz)
Modeling
Shading
FX
Lighting
Compositing
Group Project
Interspersed between our department specific training, all of the PUP interns ideated on what story we wanted to tell in our group project. We eventually landed on a story about anxiety and letting go. Though constant feedback and iterations, we polished our visuals and created a short in 3 weeks. Upstream utilized a frankensteined version of the Pixar pipeline for some scenes, and Blender for the rest. I helped to create the water ribbons in the final project. I also helped to resolve USD related pipeline issues in Blender and Houdini.
Individual Project
After we completed our group project, we were able to explore our own interests in an individual project. I decided that to make a short utilizing the pyro tools in Houdini. After storyboarding, I created a set using buildings from Luca and a truck from Coco. I then quickly modeled a gas canister to place in my shots. To achieve the correct timing, I animated the camera and props in Presto (proprietary software) and published them into the rest of the pipeline. After refining my shots, I simulated and refined my explosion with help from my individual project mentor (Thanks Kristof!). All of my shots were then rendered out of Katana and composited in Nuke before final assembly.
Extras
Overall I really enjoyed the summer and everyone that I met and learned from (including my fellow interns). Along with the technical training, I also learned a lot (if not more) about storytelling and creativity. Re-learning that technology shouldn't limit the story was my largest takeaway from the experience. Thank you to everyone that made the summer great!
Tools used: Houdini, Maya, Blender, Katana, Nuke, Presto, Flow, Linux, USD, and Procreate