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Check out Pixar's free online lessons for students of all ages
Disney’s Pixar has teamed up with educational website Khan Academy to present students of all ages with a look into what it means to work on a Pixar film, all for free.
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In this image released by Disney-Pixar, characters, (from left), Anger, voiced by Lewis Black, Disgust, voiced by Mindy Kaling, Joy, voiced by Amy Poehler, Fear, voiced by Bill Hader, and Sadness, voiced by Phyllis Smith appear in a scene from "Inside Out". With 15 lessons ranging from animation to storytelling and more still to be released, "Pixar in a Box" strives to give everyone an educational look into the animation studio. (Disney-Pixar via AP/-)
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isney’s Pixar has teamed up with educational website Khan Academy to present students of all ages with a look into what it means to work on a Pixar film, all for free.
Titled “Pixar in a Box”, lessons are sourced from Pixar directors and story artists. The most recent installment include Inside Out and Up director Pete Docter, Brave director Mark Andrews, Inside Out story artist Domee Shi, and Ratatouille animator Sanjay Patel.
With 15 lessons ranging from animation to storytelling and more still to be released, "Pixar in a Box" strives to give everyone an educational look into the animation studio.
On the website, Pixar invites you to “animate bouncing balls, build a swarm of robots, and make virtual fireworks explode. The subjects you learn in school — math, science, computer science, and humanities — are used every day to create amazing movies at Pixar.”
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The series starts off with this walkthrough of the Pixar Animation Studios, led by two of Pixar’s own, Fran and Alex. Viewers are led through the studio and introduced to each of the departments in production order, starting off in the story department before finally ending in the Renderfarm.
This section also includes introductory guides for both the student and the educator, if needed, and transcripts and subtitles are included for every video.
The animation sections intertwine math and art, and the introduction takes around an hour to finish. It introduces concepts like animating with Bezier curves and squash and stretch animation. There are videos, quizzes, and practical tools that use Pixar’s signature ball, Luxo Jr. Its second section, “mathematics of animation curves”, is recommended for high schoolers, and allows a deeper look for older students.
The color module is even more extensive, and both the introduction and “color spaces” section include more quizzes and videos featuring Pixar employees like production designer Bill Cone. There is also a color correction suite that allows students to tinker with the color properties of still images from the film Ratatouille.
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Similar to the animation lesson, the character modeling section introduces both the basics as well as a more in-depth option involving mathematics for older students. Here, you can learn what it means to model with subdivision surfaces through videos and practice tools, while the second section involves learning about weighted subdivision.
The most recent section of Pixar in a Box looks less at technical aspects of the process and instead focuses on what it means to be a good storyteller. This section contains plenty of brainstorming activities as well as opportunities to interact with other Khan Academy users in the comments.
This module’s next section, Character, is coming soon. Additional lessons are scheduled to be released throughout the course of the year. (sul/kes)
