Computer animation pioneer Bill Kovacs dies

Posted:
Jun 2, 2006

Bill Kovacs, whose work in computer animation led to a 1997 Academy Award for science and engineering contributions to motion pictures, has died at 56.

He was found dead Tuesday at his Camarillo, California home after a stroke brought on by a cerebral hemorrhage suffered in his sleep.

In 1984, Kovacs co-founded software company Wavefront Technologies in Santa Barbara, California, where he was then a resident. He was the company's chief technical officer until he left in 1994, when the company went public.

In 1997, Kovacs shared the Scientific and Engineering Academy Award with Roy Hall. The two were recognized for their work in developing Wavefront's Advanced Visualizer computer graphics system.

As technical leader of the Hollywood studio of Robert Abel & Associates, Kovacs was a programmer for Disney's 1982 feature film Tron, which incorporated early computer animation.

"He was a brilliant man, I mean totally creative, the absent-minded professor type, a lot of brain power," longtime domestic partner Kathy Salyer told the Santa Barbara News-Press. "His love of learning and exploration was contagious."

Larry Barels, who co-founded Wavefront with Kovacs and Mark Sylvester, said Thursday that Kovacs was the first person to utilize the power of computers to create theatrics.

"There's no question about it: Bill was a technical genius and the technical magnet that drew to the company an incredible amount of talent," said Barels, the former CEO of Wavefront. "The whole complexion of modern computer animation... was created by the early efforts of Bill Kovacs.

"He was always a visionary. Bill was the kind of guy who could go up in outer space, look up there and solve differential equations in his head."

Born in Pittsburgh, Kovacs studied architecture at Carnegie Mellon University, where he graduated in 1971 with a bachelor's degree with honors. He received a master's degree in environmental design at Yale University in 1973.

Joining giant architecture firm Skidmore, Owings & Merrill LLP, he collaborated on a computer-aided design system. That's where he recognized that computers could create art.

At Robert Abel & Associates, Kovacs made art by harnessing the power of computers previously used as military flight simulators.

Wavefront's off-the-shelf animation software enabled large and small licensees -- from graphics studios to automobile designers -- to create animation.

In 1995, Silicon Graphics acquired Wavefront. Later, both firms merged with Toronto-based Alias Research to form Alias Wavefront.

Wavefront's software was combined with code from Alias Research to create Maya software. Maya is now the world's most popular computer animation tool and is marketed by Autodesk.

After working for Wavefront, Kovacs was a consultant to game manufacturer Electronic Arts and Hollywood digital production company RezN8. He also was a founding partner in software startup Instant Effects.

Kovacs helped develop the School of Film and Television at Loyola Marymount University, and was its first visiting artist for technology. Recently, he lectured at UCLA and the Academy of Art University in San Francisco, where he was on the Presidential Advisory Board.

In 1998, Kovacs was named the Santa Barbara Region Chamber of Commerce's "Innovator of the Year."

His pastimes included piano playing, reading, collecting art and cycling. Kovacs included sailing among his hobbies.

At the time of his death, he and longtime friend and colleague Ellen Wolff were writing a memoir about the computer animation industry. Its working title was The Place Where the Magic Was Born.

"A lot of the behind-the-scenes geniuses don't get the credit they deserve. Bill was one of those guys," said Wolff, who added that she will complete the project.

Besides Salyer, Bill Kovacs is survived by their daughter, Savanna Salyer-Kovacs; his daughter, Christine Kovacs, of Berkeley, California; his son, Paul Kovacs, of Santa Cruz, California; their mother, Ruth Kovacs, of Montecito, California; his sister, Nancy Kovacs, of Marysville, Ohio; two nieces; and his stepmother, Helen Benedict, of Woodway, Texas.

A memorial service is planned for friends and family. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the account of Savanna E. Salyer-Kovacs, c/o Coast Hills Federal Credit Union, P.O. Box 200, Lompoc, CA 93438-0200.