Oscar-winning computer graphics pioneer reveals tricks in new course
|
Kivolowitz’s creation a lock for another Oscar All the nominees – “Titanic,” “Starship Troopers” and “The Lost World: Jurassic Park”- used Kivolowitz’s software to great … effect. In “Titanic,” for example, ER handled all the time morphs; in one scene, the female lead’s dewy 1912 eye gently time-travels 85 years to its 1997 incarnation (still sequence above). That effect was achieved through the subtle digital manipulation of lighting, eye shape and tissue texture. And was Kivolowitz pleased with the way the film’s SFX designers employed his software? “I believe the ‘time morphs’ in “Titanic” were the most artfully crafted and tastefully executed I have ever seen,” he says. “Typically, morphs are either entirely invisible or all too obvious. In Titanic, they fit into and advanced the story in a perfectly natural way.” For the last three years the Academy has chosen an ER picture for Best Visual Effects. Nevertheless, “I’ll be thrilled to see another win,” Kivolowitz says. “It is a reflection on my work, but keep in mind that Elastic Reality is only one tool that talented visual effects artists employ. Credit belongs to the artists directly involved, but the honor also can be felt by all those, like myself, who created the tools.” |
Many computer science students dream of creating the Next Big Thing, a killer application that changes the way we use computers.
A few dozen select students this spring are learning the ropes from a guy who invented one of Today’s Big Things: A software program that helps movie-makers bend the laws of nature.
Madisonian Perry Kivolowitz co-invented “Elastic Reality” a decade ago, and the image-morphing software has been embraced by Hollywood special-effects wizards. More than 200 Hollywood films and countless television shows and commercials have used Elastic Reality. In 1997, the software earned him an Academy Award in scientific and technical achievement.
His transformation to adjunct professor this spring has students and faculty entertaining big ideas for the department. The introductory computer graphics course may be the start of a larger program on the field.
Elastic Reality’s cool factor is simple: It blends together two distinct scenes in one seamless transition, making unlikely effects look believable. It’s currently at work in the movie “Titanic,” in the scenes that segue from 1912 to the present, in which characters age 80 years before our very eyes.
It helped freak-show aliens come to life in the movie “Men in Black.” It makes “Odo,” the alien from the TV series “Star Trek: Deep Space Nine,” transform from a human-like being to a liquid blob. It made totem poles talk and dogs speak French in the television series “Northern Exposure.” It even color-corrected a Polar Bear in the movie “Alaska,” changing the beast from a dingy yellow to a bone-white coat.
Kivolowitz, it seems, also was ready for a change last year. He recently sold his Madison company, called Elastic Reality, that successfully produced his software for years. His close friend, computer science professor Barton Miller, knew he was looking for new challenges and encouraged him to give university-level teaching a try.
“This course has been tremendously valuable to me already,” Kivolowitz says. “The best way to learn something is to teach it. These students are very sharp and they ask tough questions.”
Although an introductory course, one-third of its 35 students are graduate students. Kivolowitz made the class very hands-on, where students master the tools well enough to create their own programs. The lessons explore the full range of the computer graphics palette, such as coloring, lighting, texturing and special effects.
The course complements another computer graphics course taught by mechanical engineering Professor John Uicker by focusing more on the latest techniques in creating and manipulating quality images.
Computer graphics as a science is experiencing a golden era, Kivolowitz says. “If you get out of bed in the morning, you are going to see computer-generated images at some point in the day,” he says. “They’re on print ads, on billboards, on TV commercials, everywhere.
“It is absolutely stunning how far the science has come in a very short time, but there’s much further to go,” he adds. “I don’t think the science will stop progressing until computer images are indistinguishable from real life.”
Kivolowitz, who served as technical adviser for many films, will have some computer-biz colleagues popping in for guest lectures. Peter Moyer, a three-time Emmy winner from Los Angeles, will talk about computer graphics applications in movies. Also lecturing will be Paul Haeberli, one of the original software developers for Silicon Graphics; and John Foust, one of the nation’s top authorities on three-dimensional file formats.
Kivolowitz’s own special-effects lectures will show students how to simulate natural phenomena and create “in-your-face” effects, such as wacky transitions. That segment of the class will end with a high-tech show-and-tell of favorite special effects.
 Elastic Reality inventor Perry Kivolowitz, left, helps student Nick Rasmussen with a computer graphics assignment. Students say Kivolowitz has attracted a formidable pool of talent to this class. Rasmussen, a junior majoring in computer science, math and physics, is a prime example. |
Students ran a gauntlet of tough credentials to be eligible; each was required to have earned an AB grade or better in a 500-level course. Even so, more than 150 students wanted in only two days after the course was posted.
Oguz Yetkin, a senior in the course, says the talent level is noticeable. “It’s a lot more hard-core than any computer science classes I’ve been in. I don’t think there are any slackers in this class.”
Learning the ropes from an Oscar-winning graphics pro “added a lot more enthusiasm coming into the lecture,” Yetkin says. “You learn a lot of great things in computer science, but you don’t always learn the fun things.”
In addition to computer science, Yetkin has a second major in molecular biology, a field where computer-graphics talent proves valuable. Visualization is taking the science world by storm, and research now often involves building 3-D models of organisms, molecules, weather patterns and other phenomena.
The department plans to build on the foundation Kivolowitz sets. Miller says computer graphics is one of the target fields for faculty hiring in the department, and Kivolowitz’s presence here will be a powerful draw.
“There are literally only two people in the world capable of teaching the course Perry’s teaching right now,” Miller says. (The other is teaching at Stanford University.) What makes them so unique is not just the technical know-how, but the ability to apply the tools in ingenious new ways.
James Goodman, chair of the computer science department, says innovative talents like Kivolowitz are very hard for computer science programs to attract, since every school wants to carve their niche in the field.
“With computer graphics, we’re literally looking at the world changing out from under us,” Goodman says. “We see this as an opportunity, not just for Perry but for the department. We’ve got big plans for him, big hopes.”
Tags: learning