Theodore Kim, a computer scientist from Yale University, won the Academy Award for Animation in the 2022 Academy Awards. A computer scientist winning an Oscar isn’t something that happens all the time, but for a Yale associate professor, it wasn’t his first appearance on the Oscars red carpet. This is the second Academy Award for Theodore Kim, and even though he is not an animator or an actor, his algorithms have made animated films look much more realistic and alive. According to Theodore Kim’s latest interview, the Fizt 2 simulator system is an animation simulator for modeling the physical properties of soft materials such as cloth during motion.
This is Theodore Kim’s second Oscar. Winning this award is an honor because he is not an animator or an actor, but his advanced algorithms have caused a big change in the animation industry. This algorithm is designed to make animated movies look more realistic and alive.
According to Theodore Kim’s latest interview, the Fizt2 simulator system is an animation simulator for modeling the physical properties of soft materials such as cloth during motion.
He said in his speech: “When I went to Cornell College, I wanted to participate in computer graphics classes. Usually, this course is taken in the following years, but I was very eager to do this and I studied it in my second year of study.” “They also had a senior level class, so I took that as well.”
Kim continued, “This course accidentally led me to my first film project. I applied for a summer internship at the special effects studio Rhythm & Hues, and because I had taken a master’s class, they matched me with a student. Ph.D. got it wrong. In the end, my work ended up in the first Harry Potter movie.”
Theodore Kim became a senior research scientist at Pixar after earning his PhD at the University of North Carolina and receiving his first Oscar. He finally joined the Yale faculty in 2019.
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