BYU center to develop animation creations

PROVO — After announcing it would create a new Center for Animation, Brigham Young University celebrated with the president of Pixar Thursday and presented a five-minute animated short created by BYU students.

The animation center will be housed within the Fulton College of Engineering and Technology. The animation major will remain within the College of Fine Arts and Communications.

Brent Adams, faculty member in the BYU School of Technology, will serve as the animation center director. He said the center will "allow us to develop more product, have a better experience for students and faculty, and explore other areas in animation and visualization that we haven't been able to do before."

For Thursday's announcement, Ed Catmull, president of Pixar Animation Studios and Walt Disney Animation Studios, spoke about teamwork and how to rise above challenges that occur during a project. He detailed the work on "Toy Story" and "A Bug's Life."

Pixar hires three to four animation students and graduates each year and has a cooperative agreement with the BYU program, sending employees to Provo regularly to mentor students on projects. There is also an intern program.

"All of a sudden, in the last few years, we have found BYU has risen to the top," Catmull said. "BYU has an extraordinary program here."

BYU's animation program was created in fall 2001.

The films produced by each graduating class have been shown at some of the world's most prestigious festivals and garnered high-level awards and recognition from competitions and organizations such as the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences.

The short shown Thursday, "Pajama Gladiator," took a team of BYU students and graduates two years to complete, with each student generally working 40 hours or more per week, said film project director Glenn Harmon, 27. He graduated from BYU with a bachelor's degree in animation in 2007.

There were plenty of challenges. Team members remember one panicky day when the entire film disappeared from the computer. It was later found, placed in a wrong folder, Harmon said.

His wife, Kristen Harmon, 27, said Glenn got some ideas and expressions for the film from their own son, Max, who is 3. The tot even carries a blanket just like the boy on the film. "And Max loves the film," she said.

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E-mail: astewart@desnews.com

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