Pixar’s Animation Technology: A Journey Since ‘Toy Story’
Pixar is one of the world’s most renowned animation studios who are known mostly for their ‘Cars’, ‘The Incredibles’ and ‘Toy Story’ franchise. However, Pixar houses more than just animation and storytelling, for they are also responsible for creating the software that brings these movies to life and helps tell stories that stick with the hearts of the audience even decades later. Let’s take a look at how Pixar’s Animation Technology has developed over time.
Before computer-generated imagery and 3D animation existed, animators had to hand draw each frame at 12 or 24 frames per second, which means for a 30 minute film, 43,200 individual and unique frames had to be drawn. Within a fixed budget and fixed deadlines, artists found ways to lessen the number of frames drawn, for example by reusing older keyframes and backgrounds. While drawing on 2’s was working to an extent, the studio also implemented the use of ‘Xerography’ in the animation pipeline to make animating efficient. ‘Xerography’ involved Xerox-ing or photocopying the animators’ drawings directly onto the celluloid (or cels in short), which they earlier had to completely draw from scratch. This resulted in a rougher outline which gave Disney films of the 60’s and 70’s a unique sketchy aesthetic.
For Pixar’s first fully animated feature film “Toy Story”, they created the engine named ‘RenderMan’ that congregated the assets user for each frame into one place which can be used to render a final image by the animators of the film. Even though Toy Story was not the first film to use RenderMan, it was the first one to completely rely on its capabilities. RenderMan then became the industry standard for animated films and also became the first software to be awarded an Oscar.
Later in the years, “A Bug’s Life” posed a challenge to the animators where they needed to use smooth surfaces for the bugs, which was achieved by a method known as ‘Subdivision’, invented by Edwin Catmull. It refers to dividing a basic polygonal shape enough times that it provides a smooth surface. It was the technology that was used later as well, to give the toys from Toy Story a plastic like skin that differs from human skin. Subdivision now is a standard practice in every industry that uses 3D modelling.
So how did we achieve a more textured look? Pixar developed the technology for implementing ‘Shaders’ on the models which allowed animators to add extra details on 3D models. These included pores on the skin, realistic cracks on brick walls and more without having to draw them by hand.
Along with RenderMan, Pixar has also developed technologies for ‘Fizt’, which was used to simulate hair in the movie “Monsters, Inc.” This allowed the animators more control over the behaviour of the fur on Sully’s body.
Pixar created a program to help control the overall look of a film called ‘RIS (Rix Integration System)’ and ‘Spark’ to add realistic smoke, water and fire effects to be used in their later films as well.
The new engines developed by Pixar showcase their dedication to innovation and pushing the boundaries of animation technology. These powerful tools let Pixar’s artists and other animators create stunning visuals and allow them to deliver immersive narratives, bringing to life worlds that captivate our hearts and fuel our dreams.
