Scopio is currently working on Disney’s next two films simultaneously – “Zootopia,” due out March 4 and “Moana,” due out Nov. We were blown away by the response in a very positive way,” Scopio said. We didn’t anticipate the amazing success it had. “We knew it was a good film, but didn’t realize it would become the film it became. Scopio also worked on the recent hit “Frozen.” We were breaking new ground in computer graphics, (and it) was an enjoyable film to work on.” We had a huge story change in the middle. It was my first exposure to what it was like to make a film,” Scopio said. ‘Hunchback of Notre Dame’ has a special place in my heart. “The one I contributed most to was ‘Tangled,’ the one I put the most energy into. “Tangled,” “The Hunchback of Notre Dame” and “Tarzan,” are among his favorites. Scopio has worked on numerous Disney films.
Instead, I write the tools that the artists use to do this,” Scopio explained. I don’t personally add characters to shots, create lights or perform final renders. “My job is to write and support tools that are used by artists on all productions. – and can manage how each stockroom asset is used for a shot or sequence. Scene Navigator is responsible for managing the stockroom of assets – characters, environment, props, etc. DLight then takes all of the geometry, materials, lights and lots of other artist data and translates and packages it into a “scene file” for a final “renderer,” Scopio said. He said he uses tools known as DLight and Scene Navigator.ĭLight is used to create surface materials on the geometry, and to create and manipulate all lighting used on a production. Scopio admits it is hard to describe what he does in layman’s terms. He didn’t like management and was allowed to return to more “hands-on” work.
#DLIGHT SKATE SOFTWARE#
He started as a technology software engineer during the production of “The Hunchback of Notre Dame.” He remained in that position for five years before being promoted to manager of the software department. “I thought, ‘This is Disney Animation, the division that does the movies, things you grew up with going to the movies and seeing.’ This was during ‘Pocahontas,’ ‘The Little Mermaid,’ ‘Aladdin’ and ‘Beauty and the Beast.’ Disney was in the golden age, and they were hiring,” Scopio said. In January 1996, a coworker, who had moved on to Disney Animation, told him the company was hiring. “My projects were focused on signal processing research and development, utilizing state of the art massively parallel processors in embedded real-time systems.” “I was a technical manager, and then I was promoted to manager of the software group,” Scopio said. Scopio said he packed his car with no job and drove across the country, and in the spring of 1989, he landed a job at XonTech, a defense industry company in Van Nuys, Calif. For the kind of career I wanted, there was nothing in this area,” he said. “While at Penn State, I set my sights on a defense industry job. He knew he would have to leave Altoona to achieve his career goals.