Activity 10, p. 38: Using Computers to Make Movies
When we think of how different people use computer animation, many different types of jobs come to mind. The airline industry, for example, uses computer animation to train pilots. Can you think of other jobs in which computer animation is used? That’s right, and also think of engineers that use computer animation to design. In other words, there are several different areas where animation is used.
When we think of computer animation and media, animated movies and movies with special effects come to mind. These days, movie directors rely more and more on the knowledge of computer animators. For example, computer animation can be used to enhance background scenery or create characters in movies. In fact, most movies we see today use some kind of computer-generated additions.
Think about some of the movies you have seen in the past couple of years. Do you remember any computer-animated characters? Many animators used advanced software to create three-dimensional characters and machines in movies such as Toy Story I and II, Jurassic Park, Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace, Bug’s Life, etc. We see the characters in the movies months or even years after they were designed, but have you ever thought about how the three-dimensional characters are first created? That’s our focus today. I’m going to explain the different steps in the process of creating these characters.
CGI, or computer-generated imagery processes are similar to traditional animation techniques except that a computer is used instead of pens, pencils, and paper or a drawing board. In addition, computers allow animators to create characters much more quickly than in the past. What used to take weeks may now only take days or even hours. However, much skill is needed in CGI. In addition to knowing how to use the technology, animators also need to have some artistic talent.
The first step an animator takes is to build a computer model of a character that will move and maybe talk. The animator designs this model with lines and points in three-dimensional space on the computer. This is called a wireframe. The process of building the model is called wireframing. Look back on the first page of this chapter, page 26, to see the example of a wireframe in the first illustration on the left. At this point, you can see there are no details like color or texture on the model.
By the way, there are other ways to create a wireframe besides designing one on the computer. Animators can also create a character by using a special digital pen to touch points on a model. The information from the pen then gets transferred to the computer. It's even possible to make a wireframe model from a real person by using something called a cyberscanner. For example, I want you to imagine Arnold Schwarzenegger’s face right now. A computer animator can scan Arnold’s big head with a cyberscanner to make a wireframe model that he/she can change depending on what the director needs. Why do you think a computer-animated Arnold would be useful to a movie director? That’s right. These digital equivalents of actors' faces can also be used for stunt doubles or other situations where the live actor will not be used. Whatever method is used, the wireframe construction is the first step for the computer animator.
Let’s go on to the second step. After the wireframes are created, the animator can add shading to the models. Keep in mind, shading is not the same thing as color. These are different shades of gray depending on the position of the light. Lighting, of course, is essential to create realistic-looking characters. This second step also helps animators detect problems that were not visible in the wireframes. Again, look back at page 26 to see a shaded version of the wireframe in the second drawing.
The third very important step is called rendering. That’s r-e-n-d-e-r-i-n-g. Look at the third and fourth drawings on page 26. Since the computer generated head at the second step (shading) still has sharp line edges, the animator needs to smooth out these lines to make it even more realistic looking. Sophisticated commercial software is often used at this point. This software was used in movies such as Monsters, Inc., Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, and Men in Black II. Each of the frames, and keep in mind one second contains twenty-four frames, takes about 6 hours to render. Some frames in the movie Toy Story took up to 90 hours. By using software, the animator can add color, bumps, and hair, to make the characters appear alive.” That’s three things: color, bumps, and hair. The advancement in the software has saved animators a lot of time.
Finally, the rendered computer model can be animated. This includes a process called keyframing. As I said earlier, each second of film has 24 frames, but only three or four of these are considered key frames. Do you remember what key means when we talk about note-taking? Yes, you’re right. These are the important frames during which an object changes its size, direction, shape or other properties. In computer animation, the animator designs or chooses the key frames and guess what? The computer then fills in the rest of the movements and saves a lot of time. Again, this is done with special software. The computer does this all mathematically, unlike the time-consuming task of drawing each of the frames or moving and filming models little by little to show movement. However, even though it may seem easier for animators with the computer, complex movements in facial expressions make it difficult to make completely realistic human characters.
To wrap things up, you should make sure that you understand the major steps in creating computer-generated characters: wireframing, shading, rendering, and keyframing. I will give you a quiz on Friday with four short answer questions, so you should ask each other questions and fill in your notes to make sure you have all the information. Thanks for your participation today.
Activity 19, page 50: Movie Production Stages
We talked the other day about how computer-generated characters are created, but when are they actually inserted into a movie? Obviously, making a movie involves many different steps, but there are basically three main stages of production: pre-production, the actual filming of the live footage, and post-production.
Before any of these stages can occur, of course, there has to be a great idea for a movie. Then a director is found to lead the production of the movie and choose the numerous people that are involved. In a film that requires computer animation, a director may want to work with a particular computer animation company. On the other hand, several different companies may try to convince a director they can design the desired effects in the movie.
So, let’s start with the first stage—pre-production. Let’s pretend the director is chosen and the film crew is established. The first step in this stage is when storyboards are created. Storyboards…that’s story and boards. These are collections of drawings that include some description and technical instructions to describe the camera shots. Storyboards look a little like comic books, except instead of dialog, the scene is described in words to accompany the drawings. In the end, a movie might have as many as 2,000 shots in these storyboards that are all put together to make the final product. The idea of storyboards may seem old-fashioned when talking about all this advanced technology, but it is still necessary to create collections of drawings to see what scenes will be necessary.
Next, the various teams of the movie are given their assignments. These teams include a group that works on set design and construction. Another group is responsible for going out and looking for appropriate places for the “on-location shots” for example, shots in a particular city, climate, etc. Another team works on preparing any stunts that will be included. Animatronics, that’s a-n-i-m-a-t-r-o-n-i-c-s, animatronics specialists are brought in if there are any physical special effects with robotized animals. There are also roups that prepare the cameras, lights, sound equipment, wardrobe, etc. You get the idea. Just watch the credits next time you see a movie and you’ll see the hundreds of people who are involved in making a movie. So, of course there is a CGI team that starts the development process for all the computer-generated shots that will appear in the movie.
During the second stage of the movie production, the actual footage is filmed. This is the “lights, camera, action” part of the process. The CGI experts may be called in at this point to provide advice on the recording of the movements of human beings to be used for digital characters or digitized scenes to be created in the post-production phase. For example, this is the stage when the actors in Jurassic Park had to “act” like they were being chased by dinosaurs even though the dinosaurs were not really there. The CGI people help the actors be more realistic.
Finally, it’s in the post-production stage when the CGI experts do most of their work. This team includes a variety of people including software developers, visual effects supervisors, art directors, technical directors, producers, model makers, animators, editors, camera operators, etc. For example, a special effects supervisor might oversee the best way to give human emotions to inanimate objects or animals. A model maker may work with a model of a cat and digitize it on the computer. This results in the wireframe models we talked about earlier. Other digital effects that may be worked on in this post-production stage include enhancing live-action shots like adding computerized snow or other types of weather to particular scenes.
All in all, although post-production is the busiest time for animators, they play an important role throughout the whole process of making a movie
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