Animation is a second career for Chris Landreth. Chris was an engineer for several years after receiving his MS degree in Theoretical and Applied Mechanics from the University of Illinois in 1986 where worked for three years in experimental research in Fluid Mechanics. He then made the transition into the netherworlds of computer animation.

In 1994, Chris joined Alias where his job was to define, test and abuse animation software before it was released. In addition to raising well-mannered software, this rigor resulted in the production of animated short films, including the end (1995) and Bingo (1998). Both films have won recognition and awards worldwide. In 1996 the end was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film.

Chris is currently in pre-production on Ryan, his latest short film, which will be an animated documentary on the strange life of Canadian animator Ryan Larkin.

Animation Credits
1998: Bingo, 5m 00s
Premiered as the Finale at the SIGGRAPH 98 Electronic Theatre, July 1998, Orlando, FL.

Ottawa International Animation Festival, October 1998: Media Prize for Best Computer Animation.

Chicago International Film Festival, October 1998: Silver Plaque for Animated Short Films

Sundance Film Festival, January 1999, Invited Short Film

Imagina 99, Monaco, January 1999: Prix SACD for Most Innovative Narrative and Production

Acadamy of Canadian Film and Television: 1999 Genie Award for Best Animated Short Film

Aspen Short Film Festival, April 1999: Best Animated Film

Los Angeles Independent Film Festival, April 1999: Best Short Film

Computer Animaton Festival, Geneva, June 1999; Grand Prix du Ville Geneve, Best Computer Animation

1995: the end, 6m 11s.
Nominee for 1995 Academy Award, "Best Animated Short Film."

Premiered at the SIGGRAPH 95 Electronic Theatre, Los Angeles, CA. Selected as top animated piece by the SIGGRAPH Electronic Theatre jury.

Imagina 96, Monaco: Prix-Pixel INA, Best 3D Animation.

Imagina 96, Monaco: Prix SACD for Most Innovative Narrative and Production

1996 Atlanta Film and Video Festival, Winner, Best Animated Video.

Computer Animation 96, City of Geneva Award for Best Computer Animation

Zagreb Internation Animation Festival 1996: Special Recognition (Original Video Production),

1997 World Animation Celebration: Winner, Best Professional Computer-Assisted Animation

1993: Data Driven: The Story of Franz K., 3m 15s.

Premiered at the SIGGRAPH 93 Electronic Theatre, Anaheim, CA. Featured at the
Revue Virtuelle, Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris.

1991: The Listener, 2m 05s.

Premiered at the SIGGRAPH 91 Electronic Theatre, Las Vegas, NV.
Featured on worldwide broadcast of MTV's Liquid Television, September 1992

"Ryan"

Golden Nica
Computer Animation/Visual Effects category
PRIX ARS Electronica 2004 - International Competition for Cyber Arts
Linz, Austria, September 2-7, 2004

2005: Oscar® Nomination for Best Animated Short Film

Genie Award
Best Animated Short
Meilleur court m?trage d'animation Ryan
Toronto, Canada, March 2005

Q. How did you get involved in the 3D computer graphics industry?
A. I wasn't involved with computer graphics (CG) until I was about 30. Before that I was a Mechanical Engineer. I was fishing around for a second career, originally because fluid mechanics, my particular specialty, was becoming more and more militarily oriented – researching the dynamics of nuclear explosions and the like; my world outlook is more pacifist. So, in the early '90's I fell in with a crowd of people who were starting up a Computer Graphics lab at the University of Illinois, and I basically squatted in this lab for a year, teaching myself how to use Wavefront V2.9. It's been all downhill from then...

Q. How do you use Maya software?
A. I use Maya for self-contained projects, which means that I have to know a pretty broad base of the package, for example, the modeling, animation, rendering, particle effects, and Paint Effects.

Q. What projects have you worked on?
A. I used Maya as it was first being developed at V1.0, to produce the animated short film Bingo. Later, I used Maya in house at Alias, to test and help design new features such as Paint Effects, Maya Cloth in A Trip To Rene's House, and subdivision surfaces as applied to facial motion capture. Last year, while working with the development group at Nelvana, I created a short pilot for an adult science fiction piece written by the Canadian author Robert Sawyer, entitled Mars Exodus.

This year, I am using Maya to create an ambitious animated short film entitled Ryan, which will be an animated portrait/biography of Ryan Larkin, a Canadian animator/artist/sculptor who currently lives on the streets and panhandles for spare change in downtown Montreal. (see images)

Q. What makes this industry so exciting to you?
A. This is what I call a renaissance field, meaning that it brings people together who are not only artists but programmers, musicians, engineers–people who use both sides of their brains. The result is a kind of artistry which I think has enormous potential to move people through new imagery, new storytelling.

Q. Where do you see the industry going in the next five years?
A. The direction I'm particularly interested is one in which CG technology becomes more cheap, more 'democratized'. The result will be that individuals, not just large studios, will soon be able to develop huge works of art, such as CG feature films, on their own. In non-CG animation you see this already with people such as Bill Plympton producing one-person film projects. I look forward to seeing similar projects from inspired individuals using tools such as Maya, in the next few years.

Q. What words of wisdom do you have for anyone interested in entering the world of 3D computer graphics?
A. Be true to yourself. Know yourself. Do it for the love of it.