At Taarna I expanded the scope of my work to include development of hair and clothing systems, both important for character animation. — At Taarna I expanded the scope of my work to include development of hair and clothing systems, both important for character animation. I went back to my mass-spring simulation models from my Symbolics Lisp Machine days at the MIT Media Lab. Armed with much beefier processing power — five years…

While I enjoyed prototyping my 3D software in Common Lisp using AKCL, my work would eventually need to be integrated into the rest of the… — While I enjoyed prototyping my 3D software in Common Lisp using AKCL, my work would eventually need to be integrated into the rest of the shared memory architecture. Especially as artists were brought on board to put our tools through their paces. So I ported my software to C and…

Systeme Taarna was a tight Montreal-based, research-oriented, 3D graphics company founded by Pierre Lachapelle, one of the creators of… — Systeme Taarna was a tight Montreal-based, research-oriented, 3D graphics company founded by Pierre Lachapelle, one of the creators of “Tony de Peltrie.” I approached Pierre about joining the team and he was receptive to the idea. I don't know what possessed me to do so, but I asked if I…

I decided to stay in Montreal. It was an exciting city, and I spoke French from my high school days in Europe. — I decided to stay in Montreal. It was an exciting city, and I spoke French from my high school days in Europe. I spent a year working at a company called Visual Edge. We were developing a system called UIMX, which was a user interface builder for Motif. Motif was…

I would usually have lunch by myself at a small restaurant in Chinatown, which was a few blocks away from the office. I’d carry a copy of… — I would usually have lunch by myself at a small restaurant in Chinatown, which was a few blocks away from the office. I’d carry a copy of “The C++ Programming Language” by Bjarne Stroustrup with me and read it over lunch. I wasn’t convinced by the book’s premise. To me…

We spent the night before the show sandpapering black vinyl tiles we had glued to the plywood wall of Softimage’s 10x20 foot Siggraph… — We spent the night before the show sandpapering black vinyl tiles we had glued to the plywood wall of Softimage’s 10x20 foot Siggraph booth. Our booth certainly looked different, decked out with two large round coffee tables made of glass placed on wagon wheels. Each table held an SGI demo…

In June of 1988, when I visited the company, Softimage consisted of Daniel Langlois, Mike Sweeney, and another developer. I was given a… — In June of 1988, when I visited the company, Softimage consisted of Daniel Langlois, Mike Sweeney, and another developer. I was given a demo of the software, and we spoke at length about the future direction and goals of the company during an after-lunch stroll on St. Laurent street, where…

I had, at some point, crossed paths in Toronto with a very bright software developer out of the University of Waterloo. Mike Sweeney… — I had, at some point, crossed paths in Toronto with a very bright software developer out of the University of Waterloo. Mike Sweeney specialized in developing rendering software, especially ray tracing. That was his thing, and he was good at it. Mike had made an impressive short film called “Crater…

When will I know why I am developing this software? Do I need to back it up with a purpose? They say the purpose of life is to live. I… — When will I know why I am developing this software? Do I need to back it up with a purpose? They say the purpose of life is to live. I don’t know whether I should hope for a eureka moment when everything snaps into place, or just wake up one…