……

In fact, if it weren't for Mr. The Richest Man pressed down a few times, Pixar would have been able to launch "Toy Story" the year before last. Pen ~ fun ~ pavilion www.biquge.info

At the beginning, the creativity of John Lasseter and others came from the "Little Tin Soldier", which won the 1988 Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film.

After solving the artistic problems, the technical side has encountered the development threshold that even the CPUs used in mainstream personal computers have to reach the 100Mhz operating frequency level - since one of the main purposes of Toy Story is to show off computer technology, it is logical to slow down and wait for the latest hardware platforms and software systems to be in place.

……

In the end, the "Toy Story" project used 116 Fangyuan Holder workstations with dual CPUs, 40 Fangyuan Holder workstations with 4 CPUs, and 3 top-level Fangyuan servers - the total number of microprocessors exceeded 400.

As for the team size, it has 110 people, including 27 animators, 22 technical supervisors, and 61 other artists and engineers.

In contrast, Disney often requires at least twice as many people to produce traditional cartoons.

It can be seen that if the project participants can really master the computer animation production tools, the work efficiency will be greatly improved.

Toy Story's more than 77-minute animation includes more than 1,500 shots and more than 114,000 1,536x922 pixel frames, each of which takes anywhere from 45 minutes to 30 hours to render.

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Everyone who participated in the test screening learned about such data and couldn't help but marvel at this epic digital sensory product that was completely computer-generated.

When the movie starts, the first thing shown is the scene of the child Andy fiddling with his many toys.

In recent years, all kinds of computer-animated short films have been common, and everyone has long had a general understanding of the effects that this technology can achieve, at least to a preliminary extent.

But the delicacy in the opening picture of "Toy Story" still shocked everyone.

Every time Andy fiddles with a toy, the lighting, shadows, and other effects are all realistic and natural - such a level, absolutely the first in the industry!

After watching the film, regardless of the artistry, there is no doubt that filmmaking will usher in a major change, and the IT industry has a deeper understanding of its own status.

……

Mr. The richest man's intention is simple: the artistry and market value of "Toy Story" will be evaluated and operated by a professional team in Hollywood, and the IT community will only need to feel the technical power contained in it.

Sure enough, the IT community was amazed by their technological achievements, and the voices of admiration came overwhelmingly, and many executives were thoughtful.

With a marketing budget of $20 million, Toy Story is clearly getting a good warm-up ahead of schedule.

A reporter asked Mr. the richest man what he expected from the box office of "Toy Story"; Tang Huan only smiled - if only everyone liked it.

This kind of relaxed mentality is really the same as it is on the outside.

Don't look at "Toy Story" in the blink of an eye, it has become a super advertising spokesperson for the development achievements of the IT industry over the years, but its production cost is similar to that of ordinary movies today, spending more than 30 million US dollars, which is far inferior to James Cameron's "loser".

If you have to say a number, the box office of $80 million is enough to break even, and after breaking through the box office of $100 million, it is a dry profit.

What's even better is that in terms of distribution, "Toy Story" can catch up with the best summer of the year, and even release VCDs and videotapes in time for Christmas, the peak sales season.

And don't forget, if "Toy Story" is really a big success, it can also drive the periphery, such as authorizing Hasbro in turn, to cooperate.

……

The computer animation technology used in "Toy Story" demanded microprocessor performance that made Intel CEO Andy Grove sit still.

He found an opportunity and said to Tang Huan: "Tang, Intel is also actively striving for the workstation market, preparing a microprocessor with excellent performance, if it goes well, it can be released to the public at the end of the year, and this aspect also needs to ask Fangyuan workstation product line and Zheru software operating system to support more." ”

Tang Huan bowed slightly, he could understand Andy Grove's urgency.

You must know that throughout the 1980s, Intel's x86 series microprocessors have been overwhelmed by the other party in the process of competing with Motorola's MC68000 family of microprocessors.

This is evident in the fact that many computer manufacturers are using the MC68000 family of microprocessors for workstation products - Sun Microsystems, for example, has been fond of the MC68000 family of microprocessors since before they developed their own RISC microprocessor, Sparc.

It wasn't until the 1990s that Motorola, which made more and more money in the communications market, finally lost in the field of microprocessors without a fight, and was quickly surpassed by Intel's Pentium microprocessors, coupled with the growing appeal of RISC, which gave up the CISC microprocessor market, thus making Intel relatively easy all of a sudden.

In addition to the product recall turmoil caused by last year's uproar of "floating point error", the Pentium microprocessor, which exclusively enjoys the CISC market, has indeed performed very competitively, allowing the personal computer to achieve a new level of performance; especially its P5 core, which has added a set of SIMD - single instruction stream multi-data stream instruction set MMX, upgraded to P55C, has significantly improved the processing capacity of multimedia data.

In this case, it is completely reasonable for Intel to follow the example of Motorola and let its microprocessors enter the high-end market of workstations.

"The performance of the Besturn microprocessor in the field of personal computers is very good, and it is also worth looking forward to if it is interested in a higher-end application environment. After all, on the side of the CISC camp, it is not an exaggeration to describe Intel as the only remaining fruit. After Tang Huan joked, he asked casually: "This ambitious new product should be Pentium 2." ”

"Although the microprocessor core has been upgraded to the all-new P6, we are not going to call it the Pentium 2, but Pentium_Pro. Andy Grove explains, "This is mainly due to the need for a clear separation of the desktop and workstation markets. ”

"Pentium_Pro?" Tang Huan raised his eyebrows, waved his hand to call the assistant, and added the details of the cooperation between his side and Intel on the Pentium_Pro.

The Pentium_Pro P6 core has two most significant improvements over the P5 core's Pentium - the introduction of a RISC-style decoding mechanism and the encapsulation of a high-speed L2 cache.

However, there is a noteworthy problem, that is, the higher-level Pentium_Pro does not support the MMX functionality of the lower-level Pentium.

If you draw a roadmap of the x86 family of microprocessors, you will find that the absence of 57 MMX instructions Pentium_Pro Pentium is not similar to the lack of consideration for compatible real mode support in the original Intel_80286 Intel_8086.

Andy Grove defended this: "Pentium_Pro for the workstation market, there shouldn't be a strong demand for multimedia processing like the PC market – the MMX instruction set should be irrelevant. ”

Tang Huan, who frowned, said in displeasure: "Why don't you learn good things, but follow IBM's self-righteous and rigid practice of forcibly dividing the market? Why do Intel microprocessors occupy a considerable share of the current personal computer market? Not by technology, but by compatibility! If you are so clever about Pentium_Pro, then I will put the prediction here first, and failure is waiting for you." ”

Andy Grove was sweating profusely, and could only answer weakly: "But Pentium_Pro is now finalized......"

"If you don't suffer a loss, you won't be impressed by your long memory!" Tang Huan waved his hand impatiently, "You can do whatever you want—I still hate wasting spittle." ”

……

Andy Grove, who fled in the wilderness, happened to meet Jobs head-on after saying goodbye.

These two are also old acquaintances, looking at Andy Grove, who is a little embarrassed, and Jobs gloats: "What, scolded?"

Andy Grove snorted, dropped a "good luck," and walked away.

Seeing this, Jobs hesitated slightly, and then walked in with his legs raised.

Finding out that it was Jobs, Tang Huan slowed down and said: "How about Pixar's "Toy Story", the computer animation effect shown is exciting, right?"

"Of course!" Jobs was convinced, but he never knew what the embarrassment was, "In terms of hardware, NeXT really can't support such a large amount of intensive computation. ”

In the process of having to decide to abandon NeXT's hardware business, Jobs was inevitably very entangled and embarrassed - for example, the NeXT computer factory, which was fully decorated with artistic atmosphere, was sold by Canon, which was one of the investment values.

Tang Huan didn't need to stimulate Jobs needlessly, so he didn't take the topic, but just ordered his subordinates to make a cup of tea according to the other party's eating habits.

"I think Toy Story is going to be a box office hit. Jobs continued.

"When the time comes, you will also have a share. Tang Huan smiled slightly, "However, for us, money really only represents a number - after all, it can only fill life at most, but it cannot enrich life." ”

"Steve, I think we have a lot in common when it comes to the idea of money. ”

"The true significance of "Toy Story" is not in the box office, but in the way it brings a new way of filmmaking, and at the same time, it has led the computer career we have been engaged in for many years to a new level. ”

"That's true. Jobs nodded approvingly.

I have to say that Jobs, who has a good relationship with Larry Ellison and Tang Huan, has obviously different feelings in the process of getting along with them separately.

When he gets along with Larry Ellison, he is more like an insatiable landlord, with an upstart style and a very aggressive posture from time to time.

Although at this stage, Jobs cannot compare with Larry Ellison's net worth, he still maintains a psychological advantage in the other party, and he is also subconsciously impressed by Jobs's personal charm and wants to learn something different from this "mentor".

On the other hand, in the process of getting along with Tang Huan, Jobs did not have this psychological advantage, and was also imperceptibly affected.

One of the characteristics of Steve Jobs is that when he approves of a person, he tends to show a kind of humble learning posture - for example, Michael Macura, who did not turn against him ten years ago, is regarded as a mentor like a father.

The success of Mr. the richest man is indisputable, coupled with a certain "like-mindedness" that appears from time to time, so although Jobs does not say it, he has actually regarded Tang Huan as a "mentor".

Of course, there is nothing uncommon about this kind of "teacher", and there are many "teachers" of Jobs, and there is not a long-term soul teacher in Zen - Otokawa Hirofumi.

To put it bluntly, it's a way of doing things in pursuit of success.

In any case, with this tacit relationship, the communication between Jobs and Tang Huan is many times smoother than that of others, and at the same time, compared with more than ten years ago.

After chatting a few words of common language on the concept of wealth, Jobs turned to the main topic of the trip, "Tang, in the current thriving scene of the industry, the decline of Apple Computer Company is particularly dazzling!"

Tang Huan sighed and said leisurely: "You are the founder of Apple Computer, and then you naturally have an inseparable feeling, in fact, I also have a special affection for it - it is precisely because of the early cooperation with Apple that I quickly entered the ranks of billionaires." ”

Jobs had a sympathetic look of concern on his face, "It's no secret that Apple CEO Michael Spindler has recently sought to sell Apple to IBM, Hewlett-Packard, and Sun Microsystems - has he contacted you?"

"Steve, I know what you want. Tang Huan smiled and shrugged his shoulders, "But it's a pity that they haven't contacted me about this matter." ”