Inside Pixar’s RenderMan: XPU Technology and Storytelling on Toy Story 5

Dylan Sisson is a digital artist and VFX veteran who helps make advanced 3D tools feel intuitive and usable for artists. For more than 30 years he’s worked in animation and visual effects, focusing on demystifying how modern rendering works and showing how to apply the technology creatively in real production.

Before joining Pixar in 1999, Dylan worked in comics, games, and independent animation, including directing an award-winning short film. At Pixar, he’s been closely involved with RenderMan on every feature film since Monsters, Inc., working at the intersection of art, technology, and education to support artists and studios around the world.
Outside the studio, Dylan experiments with stylized rendering, VR sculpting, and other evolving workflows. He also created Pixar’s RenderMan Walking Teapot, which has since become an industry icon.

He lives in San Francisco and still doodles monsters whenever he can.