Rob Cook,
Vice President of Advanced Technology

Contact: rob@pixar.com

Rob Cook was the co-architect and primary author of Pixar's RenderMan software, which creates photo-realistic computer images. In 2001, he and two colleagues received Oscars for their contributions, the first ever given for software. In the last 10 years, all but one film nominated for a Visual Effects Academy Award has used RenderMan. He has a Bachelors degree in physics from Duke University and a Masters degree in Computer Graphics from Cornell University. At Cornell, he worked on simulating realistic surfaces, taking computer-generated images beyond the distinctive plastic look they had at the time. In 1981, he joined Lucasfilm/Pixar, where he developed the first programmable shader; programmable shading is now an essential part of GPUs and game engines as well as high-end renderers. He was the first to use Monte Carlo techniques in computer graphics, which was essential for simulation of complex, realistic lights and camera effects. The camera effects were especially important in the visual effects industry, because they allowed computer-generated imagery to match the motion blur and depth of field of live-action footage when the two were combined. In 1987, he received the ACM SIGGRAPH Achievement Award in recognition of these contributions. He is a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and the National Academy of Engineering.