Domi Piturro
- Visual Effects
- Additional Crew
Domi Piturro, company president of Icon Imaging, was also the co-founder of Paraform and inventor of the original 3D scan data surfacing technology. In 1994, Domi was one of the first team members to be brought on to do R&D and help create 3D graphics pipelines for both Sony's Playstation and Imageworks divisions. Having started his artistic career originally in sculpture and architecture, Domi began studying and teaching at Pratt Institute in the late 1980's.
During this period he started working in collaboration with Cyberware, one of the first 3D scanner manufacturers. In the early 1990's, he helped develop the first 3D scan based, animation ready, digital human. With his systems, Domi's first body scans were of Arnold Schwarzenegger and Star Trek cast in 1995. He then oversaw R&D projects using his human model systems for Cyberware, Motion Analysis, and Maya. This ground breaking development became the basis for human character modeling and animation in Maya 1.0. It was shown at SIGGRAPH 1998 as the Maya Dancer Cloth Demo.
Domi then joined with Stanford University developing his process further. This research and process ultimately developed into 3D scan data "Surfacing" also known as "Retopology" technology. Paul Allen co-founder of Microsoft became aware of Domi and his revolutionary work and wanted to invest in the team and the company behind the pioneering technology, in 1996 Paraform was then founded. The technology and systems were used on films such as: Harry Potter, Spiderman, Star Wars, X-Men and Hollow Man. In 2000 the work for Paraform won an Academy Award for Technical Achievement for this groundbreaking work in film. Surfacing and Retopology technology are still the core of the industry and fully in use today.
After Paraform Domi was invited to again join Stanford for a historic project. This was to produce High Resolution 3D scans of Michelangelo's David and other classic statues in Florence. These works were presented at SIGGRAPH 2000.
After this massive project and many years of doing research and technology development, Domi returned to his roots in artistic production. In 2000 he formed Icon Imaging Studio. He has worked on projects such as: I am Legend, Superman Returns, Madden NFL, Guitar Hero, Fantastic Four, Fight Night, Def Jam, X-Men, Batman vs. Superman, Battlefield Hardline, Dead Space as well as many others.
Currently Icon imaging is working in collaboration with the USC-ICT Graphics Research Lab doing R&D on new advanced human imaging systems. The collaborative research project is involved with both academic and applied production projects.
During this period he started working in collaboration with Cyberware, one of the first 3D scanner manufacturers. In the early 1990's, he helped develop the first 3D scan based, animation ready, digital human. With his systems, Domi's first body scans were of Arnold Schwarzenegger and Star Trek cast in 1995. He then oversaw R&D projects using his human model systems for Cyberware, Motion Analysis, and Maya. This ground breaking development became the basis for human character modeling and animation in Maya 1.0. It was shown at SIGGRAPH 1998 as the Maya Dancer Cloth Demo.
Domi then joined with Stanford University developing his process further. This research and process ultimately developed into 3D scan data "Surfacing" also known as "Retopology" technology. Paul Allen co-founder of Microsoft became aware of Domi and his revolutionary work and wanted to invest in the team and the company behind the pioneering technology, in 1996 Paraform was then founded. The technology and systems were used on films such as: Harry Potter, Spiderman, Star Wars, X-Men and Hollow Man. In 2000 the work for Paraform won an Academy Award for Technical Achievement for this groundbreaking work in film. Surfacing and Retopology technology are still the core of the industry and fully in use today.
After Paraform Domi was invited to again join Stanford for a historic project. This was to produce High Resolution 3D scans of Michelangelo's David and other classic statues in Florence. These works were presented at SIGGRAPH 2000.
After this massive project and many years of doing research and technology development, Domi returned to his roots in artistic production. In 2000 he formed Icon Imaging Studio. He has worked on projects such as: I am Legend, Superman Returns, Madden NFL, Guitar Hero, Fantastic Four, Fight Night, Def Jam, X-Men, Batman vs. Superman, Battlefield Hardline, Dead Space as well as many others.
Currently Icon imaging is working in collaboration with the USC-ICT Graphics Research Lab doing R&D on new advanced human imaging systems. The collaborative research project is involved with both academic and applied production projects.