Alumnus Justin Shady interviewed alumnus Mike Altman about his recent work on 'Cars 2.'

“A little over a decade ago, Mike Altman and I were both attending the Columbus College of Art & Design (CCAD) in Columbus, Ohio,” writes Media Studies alumnus Justin Shady (CCAD 1998). “Today, Mike works at Pixar as a Technical Director, and I’m interviewing him for OC Weekly. He wins!”

Perhaps we’re a bit biased, but we think they both have ‘won.’ Here’s an excerpt from the OC Weekly interview, “Q & A: Mike Altman Technical Director for Pixar.”

Shady) What new hurdles did you have to face on Cars 2 that maybe you hadn’t encountered on past projects?

Altman) Part of my job on Cars 2 was sets rigging, meaning I would build sets models and then articulate them in such a way that the animators had simple and easy controls over how to move and manipulate the objects. In the Tokyo bathroom interior where Mater gets trapped inside the stall, every element needed special rigging that allowed for lots of fun things to go wrong for Mater. Different scrubbers, polishers, soap sprayers and sponges needed to be controllable by the animators for comic effect, and there are many technical challenges with rigging set pieces like this. Most of our rigging tools are built and specialized for characters, so sets folks need to really be creative.

Shady) What do you hope audiences walk away with after viewing Cars 2?

Altman) I hope they are as blown away by the sets and environments as I was. This movie takes you all over the world, and some of the locations are just breathtaking. The climactic scenes in London have some of the coolest panoramic and street-level chase scenes I’ve seen in an animated film before. The scale is just epic, and though it was so difficult to do, looks effortless.

Read the article in its entirety here.

Shady is the author of Heaven, LLC; Bad Ideas; The Roberts; Missing the Boat; The Lava is a Floor!; The Blarg; and Tastes like Chicken. Learn more about him on his website.

Media Studies alumnus Altman (CCAD 2000) works as a technical director for Pixar and completed work for Toy Story 3 as well as the modeling and articulating of all the 3D characters in the film’s opening short, Day & Night. Altman served as the 2011 commencement speaker at CCAD. Learn more about him on his website.

Graduation Day

More than 200 Columbus College of Art & Design students graced the stage of the historic Ohio Theatre to receive their diplomas on Saturday, May 14, 2011.

The 132^nd annual spring commencement, in downtown Columbus, included an address by commencement speaker and CCAD alumnus Mike Altman. (Download a  pdf copy of his address.)

The 2011 class valedictorian is Sean Blanton and the college awarded the following 10 students with the distinction of Outstanding Senior.

Ken Aschliman, Fine Arts

Sean Blanton, Photography

Jordan Edwards, Advertising & Graphic Design

Graham Erwin, Illustration

Justin Highlander, Interior Design

Taehee Lee, Media Studies

Carolyn Martin, Fashion Design

Chelsea Mummert, Animation

Phong Nguyen, Illustration

Ryan Slicer, Industrial Design

Check out photos from commencement and more on the CCAD Alumni facebook page.

2010 graduates and families outside The Ohio Theatre

In honor of the 233 students who will receive diplomas at CCAD’s 132^nd annual spring commencement, we’ll be counting down the days to commencement by publishing interviews with our 10 Outstanding Seniors and we’ll be announcing the class valedictorian(s).

And while we don’t know who is at the top of the class just yet (final grades are yet to be submitted), we do know who has been named the outstanding seniors for 2011. They are: Jordan Edwards, Advertising & Graphic Design; Chelsea Mummert, Animation; Carolyn Martin, Fashion Design; Kenneth Aschliman, Fine Arts; Graham Erwin, Illustration; Phong Nguyen, Illustration; Ryan Slicer, Industrial Design; Justin Highlander, Interior Design; Taehee Lee, Media Studies; and Sean Blanton, Photography.

Also coming along for the commencement ride is alumnus Mike Altman (CCAD 2000), who will deliver the commencement address. Altman worked as a technical director in modeling and articulation on Pixar’s Academy Award winning Toy Story 3 and was also responsible for modeling and articulating all the 3D characters for Day & Night, the short at the beginning of the film, which was also nominated for an Academy Award. Learn more in our blog, Alumnus, Pixar Animator Slated to Deliver Commencement Address.

Check back Monday, May 2 as we introduce you to Illustration senior Graham Erwin. We’ll publish one a day (on school days) through Friday, May 13.

Mike Altman will deliver the commencement address to the class of 2011 on May 14.

Media Studies alumnus Mike Altman (CCAD 2000) has made us proud. In addition to working as a technical director in modeling and articulation on Pixar’s Academy Award winning Toy Story 3, he was also responsible for modeling and articulating all the 3D characters for Day & Night, the short at the beginning of the film, which was also nominated for an Academy Award. For these accomplishments, Altman was asked to come back to Columbus to deliver the commencement speech to the Class of 2011—a task he says he’s honored to do.

“It is hard to describe what an honor it is to be called back to speak with the students on their own commencement day,” Altman said. “My career achievements have been very hard-won, and I think the faculty at CCAD had a big hand in preparing me for the battle.  It’s neat to have them still following up with me, seeing how my career is progressing, still involved and engaged after all these years.  It is a testament to how close-knit a community we are at CCAD.”

“I remember graduation day very vividly—my name being called, walking onto the stage to shake President Griffith’s hand,” he continued. “I remember faculty literally cheering me on as my name was called to receive my diploma.  I was so excited to graduate, yet a little anxious about what would come next.”

“Now that the tables are turned, and I am on the commencement speaker side, all of those questions I had about my future have been answered.  I achieved what my goals were. I’ve found out ‘what happened’ in my story, and, in a way, I’m coming back to CCAD to reassure the students to continue to work hard, so they will get to achieve their goals too.”

Day & Night is an animated short film shown in theaters before the feature film Toy Story 3. Starring the keepers of daylight and darkness, it was described by the New York Times as “…a charming little movie about two characters, opposites in temperament and outlook, hostile at the start, who gradually learn not only to find delight in each other, but also to appreciate how much they have in common. This film is whimsical, inventive, crammed with visual virtuosity, and six minutes long.”

Altman works at Pixar Animation Studios, where he is currently doing character concept modeling for a feature film to be released the summer of 2013. He recently finished sets modeling work on Cars 2, which will open this June.

In addition to his BFA from CCAD, Altman holds an MFA from The Ohio State University. He previously worked as a 3D concept artist at LAIKA Entertainment in Portland, Oregon, and on the animated feature film The Ant Bully at DNA Productions in Dallas, Texas.

Learn more about Altman on his website. Click here to go behind-the-scenes of Day & Night.

And if you’re a graduating senior—or just want to cheer them on as they take their last steps as students and their first steps as alumni—check out our events page for more information.