For centuries, people have called out to the universe looking for answers in Disney and Pixar’s original, all-new feature film “Elio,” the universe calls back! The cosmic misadventure introduces Elio, a space fanatic with an active imagination and a huge alien obsession. “He’s an unusual kid who’s obsessed with getting abducted by aliens,” says director Domee Shi. Elio feels like there’s nothing for him on Earth—he dreams of going to another world where he’s accepted for who he is.”
In Elio, creating a visually stunning world required lighting to be integrated throughout the entire production process, not just at the final rendering stage. Pixar introduced Luna, an innovation that brings real-time lighting earlier into the pipeline. This allowed artists across departments to work with assets already lit, improving visual consistency and reducing late-stage revisions. Luna made light an active creative tool from the very beginning, helping shape the film’s distinctive look.
It brought RenderMan into interactive workflows across the entire pipeline, allowing artists to see updates in real time. For the first time, the team could experiment with illumination and camera simultaneously, using both elements to guide the viewer’s eye and strengthen the visual storytelling. This integration made the creative process more fluid, intuitive, and narratively driven.
