Pixar has contributed the RenderMan licenses to the Kobe Studio Seminar. On this page, we would like to express our gratitude to Pixar and address our action plan.
Kobe Studio Seminar (KSS in short) is organized to achieve the purpose that several sorts of specialists (e.g. mathematics, computer sciences, mathematical sciences, and so on) easily attend and have long discussions by which they can recognize their own issues and enrich their considerations on the issues, with the smallest possible number of participants. "Kobe Studio Seminar for Studies with Renderman" is a special seminar series organized by KSS since 2013, for discussions about practical and theoretical techniques and research in computer graphics. Especially, this special seminar series has been supported by the Pixar's RenderMan Team that gives us useful comments and 3 temporary licenses for the participants to try RenderMan on-site at the seminar. We express our deep gratitude to the team for their supports to our academic cooperation project between industry and academia.
Studying traditional topics and also recent ones in computer graphics, and their relations to mathematics, enriches the understandings of students studying mathematics and computer sciences, how the acquired knowledge is applied to industry and be valuable for several sorts of basic research. We have broadened the understandings of participants (students and researchers) to computer graphics since this special seminar series began in 2013, especially with the language and mechanism of Pixar's RenderMan because they are developed with a perspective from the academic viewpoint. We keenly feel the need to be involved in some education and research on the cross over issues between academia and real society (e.g. industry).
On May 2014, based on the above background, Pixar has contributed 60 RenderMan licenses for the computers for students of Division of Mathematics and Informatics (Department of Human Environmental Science, Faculty of Human Development and Graduate School of Human Development and Environment, Kobe University) and relevant faculty members and researchers, to enrich the education, research and discussions in this special seminar series. We express our deep gratitude and appreciation for expanding the support. With this expanded support by Pixar as a start, we will make use these licenses not only for the discussions in the special seminar series, but also for lectures in mathematics and computer sciences, and by these actions we would like to foster a better understanding of the relations between the knowledge in mathematics and computer sciences and industry, and nurture new ideas of participants in the special seminar series.
To achieve some deeper discussions from the viewpoint of research, we had decided and changed our organizational system on April 2014: from the solo organization by the division of mathematics and informatics, to the cooperation between academia and industry (Studio Phones). By this change, we have started to organize the seminars with several external coordinators and supporters outside our university, and also we have launched a new project framework "KSS Projects for Communication".
Now we have organized the seminars with Studio Phones hence it becomes possible that the organizer from Studio Phones (i.e. Yusuke Kiriu) is appointed to the main planner of KSS for Studies with Renderman. By this appointment, we have been working for several sorts of new schemes for deep discussions in research to gain a better practical viewpoint, which include a practical discussion like the Studio Phones Fellowship Program contributed by Studio Phones for researchers in the past.
Specifically, we have tried to apply the various process of film making in Studio Phones (e.g. story development, shader writing, pipeline development and so on) to our seminar planning as possible as we can. Especially, to achieve this framework of planning, Studio Phones has contributed 60 licenses of a special program that are recomposed from a part of the program which is accomplished and in use internally in Studio Phones for their film making. By this program, we think it is possible that several sorts of specialists (e.g. mathematics, computer sciences, mathematical sciences, and so on) can foster their sense in theoretical and practical computer graphics with the knowledge sense accumulated in their fields and have discussions on a new development in KSS for Studies with Renderman.
We continue to do the actions to deepen the relationship between industry and the knowledge in mathematics and computer sciences, by these organizational systems with the RenderMan licenses contributed by Pixar and the special program contributed by Studio Phones.