View Full Version : PIXAR meshes
04-04-2003, 08:25 AM
I know PIXAR works with its own propietary soft (Mationette)
But, what kind of 3d meshes do you think are they using (Polys, Splines, ...) ?
04-04-2003, 08:35 AM
I believe they use true Sub-division surfaces. These work like subD in Lightwave etc, but instead of the cage being ruduced to polygons they form a true curved surface, like the patch surfaces in AM. Best of both worlds?
04-04-2003, 03:50 PM
From what I've heard, they use Marionette for animating, and A|W Maya for modeling.
04-06-2003, 02:22 PM
I assume they use their Pixar Subdivision surface, which is part of the Renderman Artist Tools package for Maya (I'm guessing Catmul-Clark subdivs). These are normal subdivision surfaces, with edge and vertex hardness and they render fast. They also have subpixel tesselation, which means you won't see hard poly edges anywhere. You can create an ocean with detailed waves from a single poly, using procedural textures and displacement mapping, very nice.
I aslo suspect they use NURBS for other things, because of the UV.
I don't think AM renders the actual surface anymore (did in the old days), now they simply convert the splines to poly for rendering with more details where needed. If you try to make a displacement map on a single patch in AM, you'll see the polys.
01-14-2006, 08:00 PM
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