NPR = Non Photorealistic Rendering
Someone (not in the animation industry) mentioned to me over the weekend that “all those computer movies look so real”. With all of the hyper realistic CG animation in theaters in the recent years, it’s easy to get the notion that CG = photoreal, but that does not have to be the case.
Take for instance PDI’s 1999 short film “Fishing”, directed by David Gainey. This film used NPR techniques to achieve a look of a watercolor painting. While the final look is one of a traditional medium, the technology involved in it’s creation is every bit as complex as that which helped create “Shrek”.
We did our own project that utilized a NPR technique. It was the signal film for this year’s Omaha Film Festival (OFF). In addition to the “toon”render, we also dropped our frame rate in order to better mimic a traditional animated project.
I think that television is where we will start to see NPR techniques used with more frequency. We are already seeing it in shows like “Futurama”, where the space ships and such are computer generated.
Anyway, it’s something to think about on a Monday morning.
-Floyd
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On May 22nd, 2006 at 12:00 am
Nothing against CG, but it’s ironic, and a little sad, that people go to such great lengths to make CG look like 2D when there are still so many great and talented 2D animators out there.
On May 22nd, 2006 at 12:00 am
Well, in the case of “Fishing”, there was an entire ocean made up of individual fish. PDI used their fluid simulation software to drive the behavior of the fish. If animated by hand, this sequence would have taken much longer to animate.
On May 22nd, 2006 at 12:00 am
Eh, it’s just a different medium to me. I guess you gotta figure that all the people doing 3D were sitting on the sidelines wishing they could get into the biz when 2D animation was in it’s heyday. I think it’s kinda cool to watch some 3D aniamtion. It’s even more fun to actually animate 3D stuff. No worying about being “on model” etc. and you can test some acting and revise faily easily compared to 2D.
On May 23rd, 2006 at 12:00 am
Well here’s my point of view. As someone who has always loved cartoons but can’t draw for beans (yet), NPR gives me the opportunity to come close to that hand drawn look, while still doing the animation in 3D. It’s nearly the best of both worlds.