David DiFrancesco
David DiFrancesco | |
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David DiFrancesco, (born Nutley, New Jersey, 1949), is a photoscientist, inventor, cinematographer, and photographer. He is a founding member of three organizations which pioneered computer graphics for digital special effects and film[1] with Edwin Catmull and Alvy Ray Smith, including; New York Institute of Technology Computer Graphics Lab, Lucasfilm Computer Division, and Pixar, financed by Steve Jobs.[2][3]
Life and career
Raised in Nutley, New Jersey, DiFrancesco graduated from Nutley High School in 1967.[4]
As director of the Pixar Photoscience Team at Pixar, DiFrancesco and his team were responsible for the task of accurately transferring high resolution digital images to film. In this role, he developed the world's first laser scanning and recording devices for 35mm motion picture film [5] and established reliable, commercially successful methods for this process, called PixarVision.[6][7] This pioneering work earned him two Scientific and Engineering Technical Academy Awards and 16 patents.[8][9] In 1996 the Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers adopted his recommended practices for governing output of digital images to film.
Before that DiFrancesco worked at Computer Image Corp., working on
In 2004, DiFrancesco designed a custom LED-based stroboscopic lighting system to sync the animation of physical Pixar Toy Story characters in the Pixar Zoetrope, first shown at the Museum of Modern Art in collaboration with [Pixar's 20th Anniversary exhibit].[12] The original Pixar Zoetrope has travelled the world to various museums and several other zoetropes are on display at Disneyland's California Adventure theme park in Southern California and other Disney theme parks.
DiFrancesco's technical knowledge with zoetropes was put into use on a two-minute film entitled “Forza/Filmspeed,” directed by Jeff Zwart. The film revealed the world's fastest Zoetrope in the form of a high resolution still images taken from the Xbox game Forza Motorsport 5. Stills from the game were printed onto panels and staged at key intervals around a Barber Motorsports Park race track to recreate the illusion of movement known as the persistence of vision.[13] On November 19, 2017, he was inducted into the Nutley Hall of Fame.[14]
As a photographer, DiFrancesco's work has been displayed at the
Motorsports
DiFrancesco's early career in motorsports included road rallies, Ice Racing and Gymkhana's driving
Filmography
- Young Sherlock Holmes, (1985) Paramount
- Universal
- The Hunt for Red October, (1990) Paramount
- Universal
- Ghost, (1990) Paramount
- Disney/Pixar
- Disney/Pixar
- Disney/Pixar
- Disney/Pixar
- Disney/Pixar
- Disney/Pixar
- Disney/Pixar
- Disney/Pixar
- Disney/Pixar
- Disney/Pixar
- Disney/Pixar
References
- ^ "Disney Research Article on David DiFrancesco". Archived from the original on 2015-09-23. Retrieved 2014-03-02.
- ^ ^ "Pixar Founding Documents". Alvyray.com. Archived from the original on 2012-09-16. Retrieved 2010-04-19
- ^ Pixar Business Plan Document from 1985 from Alvy Ray Smith's website
- NorthJersey.com, November 7, 2017. Accessed April 4, 2023. "David Difrancesco, a 1967 graduate of Nutley High School, is a photo scientist, inventor, cinematographer and photographer, making technical contributions to film."
- ^ Daily Variety, Pixar Develops Laser Recording System by Marc Graser, February 9, 1999, page 6 (on line)
- ^ "Pixar Develops "PIXARVISION" Laser Recording System for Film; David DiFrancesco wins Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Award". Archived from the original on 2016-10-27. Retrieved 2013-10-20.
- ^ "Pixar Develops 'Pixarvision' Laser Recording System for Film". Archived from the original on 2016-03-24. Retrieved 2014-03-02.
- ^ "Pixar's "Our Story" website". Archived from the original on 2015-09-05. Retrieved 2013-10-20.
- ^ Daily Variety, January 4, 1995, "Tech Oscars go to...," page 1 and 44.
- ^ Plenoptic
- ^ FXGuide Article on Alvy Ray Smith
- ^ Pixar: 20 Years of Animation
- ^ Forza/Filmspeed Zoetrope
- ^ "2017 Nutley Hall of Fame Ceremony Nov. 19 at Nutley Public Library".
- ^ "Minutes of the Board of Regents Meeting of February 2000". Board of Regents of the University of Wisconsin System. Archived from the original on 9 December 2013. Retrieved 7 April 2014.
- ^ Jack Reuter photos on ferrariexperts.com
- ^ "AC ACE BRISTOL - gallery". Archived from the original on 2013-10-30. Retrieved 2013-10-28.
- ^ "AutoWeek Magazine Article on the Pixar Motorama". Archived from the original on 2014-07-03. Retrieved 2014-03-02.
External links
- David DiFrancesco at IMDb
- New York Times Bio List
- The Pixar Story: Dick Shoup, Alex Schure, George Lucas, Steve Jobs, and Disney
- VSynths: Lee Harrison III's - ANIMAC Archived 2016-04-01 at the Wayback Machine
- SIGGRAPH Computer Graphics Newsletter - SIGGRAPH 98 History Project - August 98 Archived 2013-11-15 at the Wayback Machine
- David DiFrancesco's Linkedin page
- Pixar History