PIXAR STUDIOS

Pixar, known professionally as Pixar Animation Studios is an American computer animation film studio based in Emeryville, California that is a subsidiary of The Walt Disney Company. Pixar began in 1979 as the Graphics Group, part of the Lucasfilm computer division, before its spin-out as a corporation in 1986, with funding by Apple Inc. co-founder Steve Jobs, who became the majority shareholder. Disney purchased Pixar in 2006 at a valuation of $7.4 billion, a transaction that resulted in Jobs becoming Disney's largest single shareholder at the time. Pixar is best known for CGI-animated feature films created with RenderMan, Pixar's own implementation of the industry-standard RenderMan image-rendering application programming interface, used to generate high-quality images. Pixar has produced 17 feature films, beginning with Toy Story (1995)—which was the first-ever computer-animated feature film—and its most recent being Finding Dory (2016). All 17 of its films have debuted with CinemaScore ratings of at least an "A−," indicating positive receptions with audiences. The studio has also produced several short films.

The studio has earned sixteen Academy Awards, seven Golden Globe Awards, and eleven Grammy Awards, among many other awards and acknowledgments. Many of Pixar's films have been nominated for the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature since its inauguration in 2001, with eight winning; this includes Finding Nemo and Toy Story 3, along with The Incredibles (2004), Ratatouille (2007), WALL-E (2008), Up (2009), Brave (2012), and Inside Out (2015). Monsters, Inc. (2001) and Cars (2006) are the only two films that were nominated for the award without winning it, while Cars 2 (2011), Monsters University (2013), and The Good Dinosaur (2015) are the only three not to be nominated. Up and Toy Story 3 were also the respective second and third animated films to be nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture, the first being Walt Disney Animation Studios' Beauty and the Beast (1991). Luxo Jr., a character from the studio's 1986 short film of the same name, is the studio's mascotAs of October 2016, its feature films have earned approximately $10.8 billion at the box office worldwide, with an average worldwide gross of $634 million per film. Finding Dory, along with its predecessor Finding Nemo (2003), as well as Toy Story 3 (2010) are among the 50 highest-grossing films of all time, with the lattermost film being the third all-time highest-grossing animated film with a gross of $1.063 billion. Fourteen of Pixar's films are also among the 50 highest-grossing animated films of all time. On September 6, 2009, Pixar executives John Lasseter, Brad Bird, Pete Docter, Andrew Stanton, and Lee Unkrich were presented with the Golden Lion award for Lifetime Achievement by the biennial Venice Film Festival. This award was presented by Lucasfilm's founder George Lucas.using CMS (Content Management System). Scrolling down from the opening full-screen splash page you will see an “Administration” button; clicking on this takes you to a login screen, allowing for the modification of selected material on this or as a comparison any other CMS associated website.

Advertising is an audio or visual form of marketing communication that employs an openly sponsored, nonpersonal message to promote or sell a product, service or idea. Sponsors of advertising are often businesses who wish to promote their products or services. Advertising is differentiated from public relations in that an advertiser usually pays for and has control over the message. It is differentiated from personal selling in that the message is nonpersonal, i.e., not directed to a particular individual. Advertising is communicated through various mass media, including old media such as newspapers, magazines, Television, Radio, outdoor advertising or direct mail; or new media such as search results, blogs, websites or text messages. The actual presentation of the message in a medium is referred to as an advertisement or "ad". Commercial ads often seek to generate increased consumption of their products or services through "branding," which associates a product name or image with certain qualities in the minds of consumers. On the other hand, ads that intend to elicit an immediate sale are known as direct response advertising. Non-commercial advertisers who spend money to advertise items other than a consumer product or service include political parties, interest groups, religious organizations and governmental agencies. Non-profit organizations may use free modes of persuasion, such as a public service announcement.

Pixar RenderMan (formerly PhotoRealistic RenderMan), is proprietary photorealistic 3D rendering software produced by Pixar Animation Studios. Pixar uses RenderMan to render their in-house 3D animated movie productions and it is also available as a commercial product licensed to third parties. On May 30, 2014, Pixar announced it would offer a free non-commercial version of RenderMan that would be available to download in August 2014. The product's release was postponed to early 2015. As of March 23, 2015, RenderMan is available for non-commercial use. RenderMan defines cameras, geometry, materials, and lights using the RenderMan Interface Specification. This specification facilitates communication between 3D modeling and animation applications and the render engine that generates high quality images. Additionally RenderMan supports Open Shading Language to define textural patterns. Update...

Historically, RenderMan used the Reyes algorithm to render images with added support for advanced effects such as ray tracing and global illumination. Support for Reyes rendering and the RenderMan Shading Language were removed from RenderMan in 2016. RenderMan currently uses Monte Carlo path tracing to generate images. RenderMan has been used to create digital visual effects for Hollywood blockbuster movies such as Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin, The Lion King, Terminator 2: Judgment Day, Toy Story, Jurassic Park, Avatar, Titanic, the Star Wars prequels, and The Lord of the Rings. As part of the 73rd Scientific and Technical Academy Awards ceremony presentation on March 3, 2001, The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences’ Board of Governors honored Ed Catmull, Loren Carpenter and Rob Cook with an Academy Award of Merit "for significant advancements to the field of motion picture rendering as exemplified in Pixar’s RenderMan". It was the first Oscar awarded for a software product.