Name Jim Blinn Fields Computer Science | Books Jim Blinn's corner Awards MacArthur Fellowship | |
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Alma mater University of UtahUniversity of Michigan Notable awards Macarthur fellowship (1991)NASA Exceptional Service Medal Role Computer Graphics Animator Similar People Andrew Glassner, Bill Gates, Steve Ballmer | ||
How hollywood discovered computer graphics jim blinn with computer graphics pioneers at siggraph
James F. Blinn (born 1949) is an American computer scientist who first became widely known for his work as a computer graphics expert at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), particularly his work on the pre-encounter animations for the Voyager project, his work on the Carl Sagan documentary series Cosmos, and the research of the Blinn–Phong shading model.
Contents
- How hollywood discovered computer graphics jim blinn with computer graphics pioneers at siggraph
- Siggraph 1984 The Mechanical Universe Demo
- Biography
- Publications
- Awards
- References
Siggraph 1984 - The Mechanical Universe Demo
Biography
In 1970, he received his bachelor's degree in physics and communications science, and later a master's degree in engineering from the University of Michigan. In 1978 he received a Ph.D. in computer science from the College of Engineering at the University of Utah.
Blinn devised new methods to represent how objects and light interact in a three-dimensional virtual world, like environment mapping and bump mapping. He is well known for creating animation for three television series: Carl Sagan's Cosmos: A Personal Voyage; Project MATHEMATICS!; and the pioneering instructional graphics in The Mechanical Universe. His simulations of the Voyager spacecraft visiting Jupiter and Saturn have been seen widely.
Blinn was affiliated with the Jet Propulsion Laboratory at the California Institute of Technology until 1995. Thereafter, he joined Microsoft Research, where he was a graphics fellow until his retirement in 2009. Blinn also worked at the New York Institute of Technology during the summer of 1976.
Publications
From 1987 to 2007, Blinn wrote a column for IEEE Computer Graphics & Applications called "Jim Blinn's Corner". He wrote a total of 83 columns, most of which were reprinted in these books: