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SINCE CO-FOUNDING BLUE SKY STUDIOS IN 1987, SCIENTISTS CARL Ludwig and Eugene Troubetzkoy have devoted themselves to developing computer applications that simulate natural light in computer graphics and animation. Their efforts were recognized internationally last year when the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences awarded the studio's film Bunny the Oscar for Best Animated Short Film of 1998, in part due to its employment of a new lighting technology called "radiosity.'
In its work on films and television commercials alike, Blue Sky's attention to virtual lighting has distinguished it from more-famous Nest Coast computer animation houses like Pixar and Industrial Light & Magic. Since its earliest productions, New York-based Blue Sky has employed its trademarked computer rendering software CGI Studio to simulate the way light behaves on real objects and in a natural environment. The studio's goal is to make computergenerated characters completely believable, suspending reality and luring viewers flawlessly into a virtual world where inanimate objects live: where scrubbing bubbles frolic around a bathtub, and where "Small Soldiers" action figurines play out their aggressions from the shelves of a Target department store.
Senior animator Jim Bresnahan explains that in its computer renderings, Blue Sky seeks to capture the way light bounces off and is reflected in all...