Gourt Home::Gourt :: Pacific Data Images
Pacific Data Images was a computer animation production company that was bought by DreamWorks SKG. It is now known as PDI/DreamWorks and is half of DreamWorks Animation, the public company formed by merging PDI and the feature animation division of DreamWorks SKG.
History
PDI was founded in 1980 by Carl Rosendahl with a small loan from his father. In 1982, he was joined by Richard Chuang and Glenn Entis, who wrote the foundation of the in-house computer animation software that was to be used for the next two decades. Most of the 1980s were spent creating broadcast graphics for the major networks around the world.
In the early-1990s, Thaddeus Beier and Shawn Neely developed a method for morphing that resulted in a much more natural and expressive morph. PDI used this technology to create various well-known sequences, including the Exxon car-into-tiger morph and the extended morph at the end of the Black or White music video from Michael Jackson.
In the mid-1990s, PDI created The Simpsons episode Homer3, which eventually led to a movie deal with Dreamworks SKG to make the movie Antz. PDI was later bought by Dreamworks and is now known as PDI/Dreamworks.
PDI Shorts
All throughout it's history, PDI animator made a many short films which were shown in festivals around the world. These films were made to test new technology or fufill the creative ambitions of the animators. The following list gives the title, year, and priniciple animator/director on the short:
- Teddy Bear Maelstrom (1983, Glen Entis)
- Chromosaurus (1984, Don Venhaus)
- Max's Place (1984, Adam Chin)
- Cosmic Zoom (1985, PDI Staff)
- Burning Love (1987, PDI Staff)
- Opera Inustriel (1987, Adam Chin, Rich Cohen)
- Locomotion (1989, Steve Goldberg)
- Slide Show (1991, Glen McQueen)
- Frankie & Johnny (1991, PDI Staff)
- Happy Dog (1992, PDI Character Animation Group)
- Gas Planet (1992, Eric Darnell)
- Big Smoke (1993, Eric Darnell)
- Sleepy Guy (1994, Raman Hui)
- Bric-a-Brac (1995, Cassidy Curtis)
- Gabola The Great (1997, Tim Cheung)
- Basic Insect (1998, Marty Sixkiller)
- Millennium Bug (1998, Lee Lainer)
- Fat Cat On a Diet (1999, Raman Hui)
- Fishing (1999, David Gainey)
- Metropopular (2000, Jonah Hall)
- Sprout (2002, Scott Peterson)
Animated Films
Films made at PDI:
- Antz (1998)
- Shrek (2001)
- Shrek 2 (2004)
- Madagascar (2005)
- Shrek The Third (In Producion) (2007)
As PDI is now a part of DreamWorks Animation, the animators also do a significant amount of work on some of the films made primarily at DreamWorks Animation's Glendale campus:
- Over the Hedge (2006)
References
"Pacific Data Images"