Topic summary
Ed Catmull
Extracted from the Wikipedia article Edwin Catmull.
Lucasfilm
Lucas approached Catmull in 1979 and asked him to lead a group to bring computer graphics, video editing, and digital sound into the entertainment field. Lucas had already made a deal with a computer company called Triple-I, and asked them to create a digital model of an X-wing fighter from Star Wars, which they did. In 1979, Catmull became the Vice President at Lucasfilm, set up to launch a "computer division" inside the company. By 1980 he had established three projects and recruited experts to lead them: the graphics group led by Alvy Ray Smith; the audio project led by Andy Moorer; the nonlinear editing project, led by Ralph Guggenheim.