"Ray has helped develop and implement many of the groundbreaking technologies that have become industry standard techniques used in the creation of visual effects for motion pictures," said Academy President Sid Ganis. Feeney is the 20th recipient of the award.
Feeney, a graduate of the California Institute of Technology, began his career at Robert Abel & Associates working on visual effects for commercials and feature films. In 1988 he received his first Scientific and Engineering Award from the Academy for his part in the development of one of the first motion control camera systems. A second Scientific and Engineering Award followed in 1991 for his work on the Solitaire Image Recorder, and two more in 1994 honoring his work in developing film input scanners and the Cinefusion software implementation of the Ultimatte Blue Screen Compositing Technology.
In 2001 the Academy's Board of Governors awarded Feeney the John A. Bonner Medal of Commendation.
Feeney founded RFX Inc. in 1978 to provide leading-edge scientific and engineering solutions for the film industry, many of which are now in widespread use to produce visual effects for feature films, television shows and commercials.
In 1995 Feeney launched another company, Silicon Grail, to facilitate software development in the motion picture industry. Silicon Grail's RAYZ software addressed the post-production need for a digital compositing tool that could be used to efficiently create visual effects for feature films. In 2002 Apple® Computer acquired the technologies and continues to incorporate them into Apple products.
A co-chair of the Academy's Science and Technology Council, Feeney also serves on the Academy's Scientific and Engineering Awards Committee and has chaired the Digital Imaging Technology Subcommittee. In addition, Feeney is a founding member and director of the Visual Effects Society as well as a fellow of the Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers.
Scientific and Engineering Award (Plaque) 1988: For their contributions and the collective advancements they have brought to the motion picture industry in the field of motion control technology. [w. Bill Tondreau (Tondreau Systems), Alvah J. Miller & Paul Johnson (Lynx Robotics), Peter A. Regla (ELICON), Dan Slater, Bud Elam, Bill Bryan & Joe Parker (Interactive Motion Control) and Jerry Jeffress, Bill Holland & Kris Brown]
Scientific and Engineering Award (Plaque) 1991: For the software development and adaptation of the Solitaire Film Recorder that provides a flexible, cost-effective film recording system. (w. Richard Keeney & Richard J. Lundell)
Scientific and Engineering Award (Plaque) 1994: For their development work with area array CCD (Charge Coupled Device) film input scanning systems. (w. Will McCown and Bill Bishop also of RFX, Inc., and Les Dittert of Pacific Data Images)
Scientific and Engineering Award (Plaque) 1994: For the Cinefusion software and implementation of the Ultimatte Blue Screen Compositing Technology. (w. George Sauve, Bill Bishop, Arpag Dadourian, and Richard Patterson)
John A. Bonner Medal of Commendation 2001: For his pioneering efforts to improve visual effects in the motion picture industry.
Gordon E. Sawyer Award (Oscar statuette) 2006: For his "technological contributions, which have brought credit to the motion picture industry."
4 Scientific/Technical Awards, 2 Honorary Awards