Editing Edwin Catmull (section)

==Early life==
Edwin Catmull was born on March 31, 1945, in [[Parkersburg, West Virginia]].<ref name=":0">{{Cite book|last=Avery|first=Laura|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FmhmAAAAMAAJ&q=Parkersburg|title=Newsmakers|date=2004|publisher=Gale Research|pages=61|isbn=978-0-7876-6806-8|language=en|issn=0899-0417|oclc=17977680}}</ref> His family later moved to [[Salt Lake City]], [[Utah]], where his father first served as principal of [[Granite High School (Utah)|Granite High School]] and then of [[Taylorsville High School]].<ref>{{cite news|last1=Katie|first1=Harmer|title=Pixar ties to Utah run deep|url=http://www.deseretnews.com/article/865581972/Pixar-ties-to-Utah-run-deep.html?pg=all|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130627220532/http://www.deseretnews.com/article/865581972/Pixar-ties-to-Utah-run-deep.html?pg=all|url-status=dead|archive-date=June 27, 2013|access-date=October 9, 2014|newspaper=Deseret News|date=June 20, 2013}}</ref><ref name=":2">{{cite book | author=David A. Price | title=The Pixar Touch: The Making of a Company | publisher=[[Alfred A. Knopf]] | year=2008 | pages=[https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780307265753/page/12 12]–13, 21 | isbn=978-0-307-26950-8 | url=https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780307265753 | url-access=registration | access-date=January 4, 2016}}</ref> Born in a Mormon family, Catmull was the eldest of five brothers and, as a young man, served as a missionary in the New York City area of the 1960s.

Early in his life, Catmull found inspiration in [[Walt Disney Pictures|Disney]] movies, including ''[[Peter Pan (1953 film)|Peter Pan]]'' and ''[[Pinocchio (1940 film)|Pinocchio]]'', and wanted to be an animator; however, after finishing high school, he had no idea how to get there as there were no animation schools around that time. Because he also liked math and physics, he chose a scientific career instead.<ref>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ffixfwt654I&t=279s Ed Catmull: Creativity, Inc.]</ref> He also made animation using [[Flip book|flip-books]]. Catmull graduated in 1969, with a B.S. in physics and computer science from the [[University of Utah]].<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":2" /> Initially interested in designing [[programming language]]s, Catmull encountered [[Ivan Sutherland]], who had designed the computer drawing program [[Sketchpad]], and changed{{vague|reason= is that about boredom, discovering an opportunity-field, inspiration about a more useful, prestigious, prosperous, or exciting interest, or admitting a prior dream was illusory...? Or a really bad grade or review?|date=March 2020}} his interest to [[digital imaging]].{{sfn|Catmull|Wallace|p=11|ps=none}} As a student of Sutherland, he was part of the university's [[DARPA]] program,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://queue.acm.org/detail.cfm?id=1859224|title=A conversation with Ed Catmull - ACM Queue|work=acm.org}}</ref> sharing classes with [[James H. Clark]], [[John Warnock]] and [[Alan Kay]].<ref name=":2" />

From that point, his main goal was to make feature films using advanced computer graphics, an unheard-of concept at the time.<ref>[http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-xtYH1_89TtE/Tjr0G8nTFgI/AAAAAAAAALo/GSRiNlfbp3g/s1600/Innerview+-+Edwin+Catmull+pg1.jpg Innerview - Edwin Catmull]  {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304212449/http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-xtYH1_89TtE/Tjr0G8nTFgI/AAAAAAAAALo/GSRiNlfbp3g/s1600/Innerview%2B-%2BEdwin%2BCatmull%2Bpg1.jpg |date=March 4, 2016 }}</ref> During his time at the university, he made two new fundamental computer-graphics discoveries: [[texture mapping]] and [[B-spline|bicubic patches]]; and invented [[algorithm]]s for [[spatial anti-aliasing]] and refining [[subdivision surface]]s. Catmull says the idea for subdivision surfaces came from mathematical structures in his mind when he applied [[B-spline]]s to non-four sided objects.<ref>[http://archive.computerhistory.org/resources/access/text/2014/05/102746614-05-01-acc.pdf Oral History of Edwin "Ed" Catmull; 2013-03-01]</ref> He also independently discovered [[Z-buffering]],<ref>{{Cite web |title=Edwin Catmull |url=https://awards.acm.org/award-recipients/catmull_1244219 |access-date=2023-04-11 |website=awards.acm.org |language=en}}</ref> which had been described eight months before by Wolfgang Straßer in his PhD thesis.<ref>Straßer, Wolfgang. Schnelle Kurven- und Flächendarstellung auf graphischen Sichtgeräten, Dissertation, TU Berlin, submitted April 26, 1974</ref>

In 1972, Catmull made his earliest contribution to the film industry: a one-minute animated version of his left hand, titled ''[[A Computer Animated Hand]]'', created with [[Fred Parke]] at the University of Utah. This short sequence was eventually picked up by a Hollywood producer and incorporated in the 1976 film ''[[Futureworld]]'',<ref name=":2" /><ref name=":1">{{cite web|url=https://www.loc.gov/today/pr/2011/11-240.html|title=2011 National Film Registry More Than a Box of Chocolates|date=December 28, 2011|work=Library of Congress|access-date=December 28, 2011}}</ref> which was the first film to use [[3D computer graphics]] and a science-fiction sequel to the 1973 film ''[[Westworld (film)|Westworld]]'', itself being the first to use a [[pixel]]ated image generated by a computer.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.cnet.com/news/westworld-twists-were-hidden-in-futureworld-all-along-hbo/|title=Westworld's twists were hidden in Futureworld all along|last=Trenholm|first=Richard|website=CNET|language=en|access-date=2020-03-19}}</ref> ''A Computer Animated Hand'' was selected for preservation in the [[National Film Registry]] of the [[Library of Congress]] in December 2011.<ref name=":1" /><ref>{{cite news|last=Itzkoff|first=Dave|url=http://artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/12/27/silence-of-the-lambs-bambi-and-forrest-gump-added-to-national-film-registry/|title='Silence of the Lambs', 'Bambi' and 'Forrest Gump' added to National Film Registry|date=December 27, 2011|work=New York Times: Artsbeat|access-date=December 28, 2011}}</ref>