Chapter 375: RenderLess
Oh-so-special projects of September indeed.
Which was why Alexander went directly to the Creed Games building as he said.
It wasn't that far from HQ as it was just a manner of expansion via occupation of the nearest building on the block.
Then again, by the time he got to this supposed Creed Games building, Alexander only asked for updates.
Since all was good on a landmark RPG and back-to-back run-and-gunners, that was all he needed to know.
Hence, he headed up.
To the upper floor.
To a humble Pixar.
Where animation takes precedence.
It just so happens that Alexander's oh-so-special projects fall in line with that.
-------
New Project 1.
That was his tentative title for it. A rather default title actually.
Just like the default sphere he willed to appear.
It was dull and gray which was why he made use of a tool to quickly paint it white.
From there, he stretched the sphere out into quite the pointy extremes.
As if it were clay, he continued to shape it out as he wanted.
At some point, it became somewhat oblong with the pointy ends dulled out.
White and blimp-like, if that's how one wants to put it.
Of course, Alexander's goal wasn't to make a blimp.
Hence, he popped up a rectangular prism to the side.
Like the sphere, it was default gray, so Alexander made it red.
Then he stretched its planar dimensions like the length to be lengthy and the width to be quite wide.
As for the prism's height, it seemed non-existent but it's there.
It became a weird sight but not for long.
With the proper tools and crafty magic, the weird prism became a prism no more.
Red and shark-fin-y for some. Bloodied blade for others.
Alexander simply multiplied said creation to three, re-sized it a bit, then attached it to the blimp shape from earlier.
By the end, with its colors and shapes, a distinct rocket was formed.
CTRL+S to save and that was about it.
[New Project 1] was then renamed to [Pizza Planet Rocket].
Alexander actually wanted to imprint said rocket with the proper font and logo. Layering text is applicable, after all.
However, the font choices are abysmal and the lettering is rather special for logos, so that should be more than enough.
When one has done what he's done on a Pixar computer and made use of Pixar's monumental 3D animation software... he should be more than satisfied.
Anyone else should be but Edwin Catmull, who saw the whole process, still had to ask. "What do you think, little boss? Using your advice, we've streamlined some of the processes. Introduced new functionalities in the arsenal. And made it far more optimal than how it had been."
"Well, it's good but I'd like to try some other stuff out." Alexander was still on the fence and had a goal. There's still a couple more projects he wanted to get done, after all.
"Mind if I test it out some more and I'll get back to you when I've thoroughly assessed all that it could do?."
"No problem at all." How could Catmull have a problem?
The boy is his boss and perhaps a far greater authority on codes and software than he is.
The idea of an 11-year-old overtaking his skills and expertise on said subjects was nothing but a fantasy. Yet that was the situation they're in.
It was a rather mystifying status quo but it's one that Catmull and his team had come to accept.
Of course, they've acquiesced but that doesn't mean that they'll stop being in disbelief of it.
Especially as they all squeezed together to observe the whole process.
They can't help but watch as their little boss tested their little 3D imaging software and be in awe at how good he was at it.
Whilst he was doing so, he even encountered some of the bugs that they weren't able to work out just yet and easily smoothed it out, right then and there.
In no time, he was back to work on his project, as if that bug didn't exist at all.
It was something that stumped them but he just straightforwardly stomped at it.
Suffice to say, this little boss of theirs was much of a natural with computers and codes that it was freakin' unnatural!
All of Pixar and the video game fellows from downstairs can attest to that.
-------
Regardless...
Alexander opened up another New Project 1 and made sure to test out what this 3D software can do.
It just so happens that his next in-computer project was no flimsy rocket.
It was much more complex than that. It's a vehicle, after all.
A shapely reconfiguration of it.
First, was the wheel.
All the bolts, ridges, and bumps of it weren't so important but he still detailed it up to see what the software can do.
After he was satisfied with one, he copied it to make two. Inevitably, he bumped it up to four, by copying those two wheels and flipping it to the other side.
As if that wasn't enough, he still had to detail up the body and a whole lot of prisms, ridges, curves, bumps, and other whatnots had to be applied to that.
And yeah... colors and color scheme, too.
By the end, with the wheels and the body, the result was somewhat aesthetically-pleasing, to say the least
It's actually just a hearse but still...
To add as a cherry on top, he opened [Pizza Planet Rocket] and kitted it with a hearse.
A cherry on top? Rocket on top seemed more fitting.
With that, the ensemble was complete and Alexander just renamed the [New Project 1] file to [Pizza Planet Hearse].
-------
As if that wasn't crazy enough, Alexander still went on as he straightforwardly renamed [New Project 1] right away to [Pizza Planet Building].
He wanted to mold the eternally-grateful aliens but it's best he left that as computer-training for professionals. He had considered Design Heads and Engine Heads for that.
So yeah... since he had no architect and whatnot in his employ, he just mocked up the idea. Far different from the Tomorrowland, Disneyland restaurant.
The computer, the 3D program, and the onlookers could only assent as he shaped up a building.
He even considered the parking lot as he opened up his Pizza Planet Hearse project and combined it to make one hell of a restaurant, pizzeria, arcade, comic book store, and others stuff that it could be.
Anyways, he tested out the software's capabilities, did he not?
------
He really did test it but Catmull could only grimace at that. "Little boss, didn't you go a bit overboard?"
Alexander just shrugged and said. "Just think of it as me considering its viability for engineering and architecture."
With the inclusion of measurement, scaling, and a proper "physics" engine... it may as well knock systems like CAD's Computer-Aided Designs out of contention.
"Hahaha..." Catmull laughed to humor the idea while the rest of Pixar could only smile bitterly at it.
The idea was bold and feasible but just how much would it jump from their feature-length initiative?
"Anyways..." Alexander just moved on. "The system is quite great as it is. I have only tested shaping, colors, and lighting though. I'll just leave the real animation and rendering to you guys."
"On the topic of animation and rendering..." He added with seriousness. "I take it that there's no more hassle on render farms, storage, processing, and production, right?"
"None at all, little boss." Catmull was abuzz with that. "I don't know how you've done it since the core of the technology is hidden by chaotic red and greens, however, what you did is a miracle in of itself! It pretty much broke my understanding of computer progression as well!"
"We've also considered changing the RenderMan name to RenderLess to further accentuate the point!" Catmull was really hyper with that one.
"Well, don't look too much into it and don't go bragging about it either. Just improve on tools and utilization on your part." Alexander ordered as he's already gotten flack with the ChaosNet and the ChaosWall... a third transcendental coding mystery like the new RenderLess would just add to that.
Then again, he wasn't stopping any time soon.
This was a prodigious aid to cut-cost and not be near-bankrupted like Jobs had been, after all.
If anything, Alexander had Pixar utilizing it already.
"How's progress on The Cybertronian Chronicles by the way? All those transforming parts and details should prove enough of a challenge to push your innovations on the 3D field."
"It's hard to work but it's coming along." As usual, Catmull spoke for the team. "In time, a fully 3D animation show should be ready. Although it's not a movie as we hoped, the chance we've been given is hard to pass up on as it is."
It's not film art that Pixar is known for but it is what it is.
Alexander already sped up their progress by a hundred and "Transformers" is actually good technical practice for them.
Besides, hadn't he laid ground for their movie dreams as well?
He wasn't just multi-tasking software tests with Pizza Planet plans for nothing.
Notable Pixar employees like the not-so-touchy-yet Lasseter were already looking at those Pizza Planet project files with fervor, after all.
Although their magnum opus and an idea surrounding it were plundered, the glory of Toy Story should still be theirs.