Creative Goals

Defining the creative goals of the project ranges from being a straightforward and transparent process to being an elusive recurring nightmare. In general, an individual or a small group of individuals who have a common artistic vision best does defining the creative goals of a project that involves three-dimensional computer animation. But there are no rules that govern the best way to develop the creative goals of a project. One thing that is sure is that it helps to lock them down as early as possible, and it is best not to change them too many ties or too drastically A word of caution: Changing the creative goals of a project once production has started almost always has a negative ripple effect that leads to delays, additional expense, and frustration.

Budget, Schedule, and Resources

A computer animation project is defined to the greatest extent by the resources allocated to it. One of the main tasks, for example, of a director of visual effects or supervisor of computer animation consists of making sure that the budget allocated to the project by the producer and director is adequate to produce the desired results. Equally important is that the production schedule-also set by the producer or director of the project-is based on realistic deadlines and that it provides sufficient time to achieve the desired results. Both the budget and the schedule of a production drive much of the daily dynamics of the production because they determine the number and expertise of the personnel that can be hired and the amount and power of the computer resources that can be used.

The amount of time that is necessary to complete a computer animation depends on the type of production and its technical complexity The typical duration of the production of a simple commercial computer animation is between one and two months, and such a production may employ only a couple of animators and computers. A short production with complex technical requirements and compositing-for example, a television commercial-can last between two to three months and may require half a dozen animators and computers and a couple of supervisors. A longer computer animation production that involves dozens of shots and requires a lot of interaction with live action, special effects, and compositing-for example, a feature film-may take more than one year to complete. This type of production may involve a production staff of close to 100 individuals and a rendering farm with dozens of computers. The technical challenges of experimental computer animations vary greatly some are produced during the course of a year by a couple of animators working after hours on a couple of borrowed computers. Other experimental computer animations-those with better funding-may be completed in six months and employ half a dozen individuals working on several computers.

The Digital Computer Animation Studio

Most computer animation projects require the collaboration of many individuals with different skills, talents, personalities, and working habits. Computer animation projects are team efforts where collaboration is a key ingredient for success. The production of any computer animation requires lots of planning and constant supervision because of the number of individuals involved, the short production cycles, limited budgets, and the unpredictable and changing nature of cutting edge technology

The creation and production of computer animation takes place in environments where most of the tools and processes are computer-based. There are many ways to configure a digital studio depending on the type and volume of work that needs to be done and the number of people working in the studio. All digital animation studios include personnel, software, and computer systems with a specific configuration of processing power, storage, networks, and input and output peripherals. Last but not least, a digital studio needs to be backed up by a business plan that clearly defines-among other things-the balance between income and expenditures, how to deal with significant equipment and software upgrade costs, and the means by which to achieve growth.

Personnel

The personnel of a computer animation studio or production house includes creative, technical, production, and administrative positions. The number of individuals employed is in direct proportion to the size and volume of a particular project or a studio. Small studios may employ only 5 individuals, medium-sized studios may have around 20 employees, and some of the large studios can have as many as 100 employees. Large studios sometimes include creative and technical personnel from areas other than computer animation, such as traditional character animation, live action film, optical compositing, sculpture, and model making. Likewise, the administrative positions in a large studio might include specialists in accounting, sales, training, human resources and distribution. Llist some of these technical and creative positions for various kinds of projects. The quality of the creative and technical personnel in a computer animation team is usually measured in terms of their talent, experience, dedication, and productivity.

Turnkey Software

In addition to the operating system and all the utility programs associated with it, a digital studio is often centered on its applications software. This type of software may include programs as diverse as three-dimensional computer animation, image compositing, motion capture, and digital ink and paint. A large number of computer animation facilities use turnkey software. This type of software, also called off-the-shelf software, is commercially available from a variety of vendors and is ready to use on virtually all computer platforms. Turnkey software systems can range in price from under $1,000 to over $100,000 depending on their capabilities, sophistication, and speed. Small turnkey systems are usually sold as a single unit, but large turnkey systems are usually sold as a collection of stand-alone modules that can be purchased in different configurations. When selecting turnkey software it is important to consider its upgrade policies, and its upward and downward compatibility. Turnkey software is upgraded periodically Upgrades consist of adding new functionalities, optimizing existing features, and fixing problems-also called software bugs. In general, software upgrades are offered to owners of the upgraded software at a nominal fee, but on occasion the extent of the software upgrade is such that the software is considered a new version of the product. In the latter case, the upgraded software is sometimes offered to owners and new buyers at the same price. Upward compatibility exists when files created with previous versions of the software are compatible with new software upgrades. Downward compatibility exists when files created with a new software upgrade are compatible with earlier versions of the software.

Proprietary Software

Much of the sophisticated computer animation software is often produced with a combination of commercially available software and custom, or proprietary, software. Proprietary software is developed in-house to provide tools and techniques that are not available in commercial turnkey systems. Proprietary software can also be used in conjunction with turnkey software; for example, it can be used to preprocess motion-capture data before it is sent to the turnkey animation module. Proprietary software is often quite costly because it requires a team of specialized and dedicated programmers to develop, maintain, and upgrade it.

Processing Power

The processing power of a computer animation facility is determined by the power, speed, and number of computers dedicated to compute the animation. The power and speed of a single computer system is dictated by the configuration of the computer's central processing unit, coprocessors, clock, bus, and internal memory. The exact configuration of a computer used to create animation depends both on the budget available and on the type of task assigned to that machine, for example, modeling, rendering, or compositing.

Today's production of computer animation is dominated by microcomputers and super-microcomputers. Most of the microcomputers used today for professional computer animation usually have a generic 32-bit processor, graphics coprocessors, and clock speeds of one-GHz. Popular microcomputers include the Pentium-based and Alpha-based PCs and Apple. Today's super-microcomputers, or workstations, used for computer animation are based on one or several 32 or 64-bit custom graphics processors. Popular super-microcomputers include a variety of models from Silicon Graphics (SCI), Intergraph, and Sun Microsystems, among others. Microcomputers have traditionally been considered low-end, and super-microcomputers have been considered high-end. But today the quality of computer animations produced on microcomputers often rivals the projects created on workstations. This trend started in the mid-1980s and is expected to continue as the processing power of microcomputers continues to increase. The only exceptions might be multiprocessor graphics workstations and rendering-servers (such as SGI's Predator and Challenge models). Nevertheless, microcomputers are also being increasingly used as the building blocks of computer rendering farms that include dozens or hundreds of individual processors splitting a rendering job and communicating through a fast speed network.

Peripheral Storage

The type of peripheral storage used in a computer animation facility is also based on the volume, quality, and complexity of the work done at that facility. The frames of a computer animation are stored in digital form as they are generated and until they are recorded on film or video. Online storage is necessary so that it is possible to preview an animation in progress or to retouch and to composite some frames in the animation. The size of a single frame of high-quality computer animation may range from 4 to 50 megabytes depending on its spatial, temporal, and chromatic resolution. The online storage capacity of a production facility may be measured in megabytes or millions of bytes, gigabytes or billions of bytes, or terabytes or trillions of bytes.

Networks

The main function of a computer network is to bring information to the processors from storage and the peripheral devices, and vice versa. Networks usually have one or several computers-called network servers-whose main purpose is to help the other computers on the network fetch and send data. Internets are networks that connect computers in locations across the globe, whereas intranets connect computers that belong to a single company or might even be located in the same building. The bandwidth, or transmission capacity, of a network is a crucial issue that determines the functionality of that network. Some popular network bandwidths include T-1 or DS-1 (Digital Signal Level One) at 1.544 megabits per second, Xerox's Ethernet at 10 megabits per second, FDDI (Fiber Distributed Data Interface) at 100 megabits per second, and ATM (Asynchronous Transfer Mode) at 154 megabits per second. Networks are commonly used in production environments to share files and to keep as many computers on the network as possible busy at all times. Very high-bandwidth networks are starting to be used for transferring computer animations between studios in different cities and even different countries.

Input and Output Equipment

The input capabilities of a computer animation studio are used for a variety of purposes that include two- and three-dimensional information. Flatbed scanners or digitizing cameras are used mostly for scanning images that may be used as texture maps or backgrounds during the rendering process. Film digitizers are used for digitizing entire live action sequences that are composited digitally with the computer animation. Three-dimensional scanners are used for digitizing the shape of scale models and full-size environments or the actions of human actors to be used as motion templates for an animation.

The output capabilities of a computer animation facility include a variety of devices to record motion tests and the finished animations. High-resolution electronic and laser film recorders are used to output computer animation onto film. Digital disk recorders are used to output animation onto a variety of video formats. Digital disk recorders are also a popular form of peripheral storage because they can record video in digital format and play back computer animation at standard video rates on video output devices.

Creative and Production Teams

Most computer animation projects require one or several teams of individuals with a variety of skills and talents. Computer animation teams are put together in different ways depending on the nature and needs of the project. Often several teams are involved in the creation of a single project, especially when the project is complex and requires the participation of several companies. In some cases, a single team may handle both the creative and production responsibilities, but often separate creative and production teams implement these two stages of a computer animation project. The members of both of these teams are often credited in the closing credits that may be shown at the end of an animated piece.

The creative team is usually represented by the design studio, communications company or advertising agency that developed the concept and the visual treatment. This team is typically responsible for creating a script or screenplay and a storyboard. The main responsibility of the production team is to execute the ideas provided by the creative team and to deliver a finished animation. The production team may be based in one or in several production and postproduction companies or groups within the same company

Small Projects

Depending on their nature small projects may range from just a few individuals to thirty of forty people. Projects with very polished technical production values usually require significant crews. This is often the case with slick commercials for television, music videos, and even independent productions. It is common for a single individual in a small team to perform different roles and be in charge of different tasks. For example, in a small project an animator might also be in charge of modeling some of the characters and building their inverse kinematics chains, while in a larger project these three different tasks are usually performed by three different individuals. The creative and production teams for a short computer animation project, a television commercial for example. The production team may also include a visual effects supervisor and an editor if the project involves a significant amount of live action and compositing.

Large Projects

The production of long computer animations may require a relatively small creative team but an extensive production team with specialized groups. Three different types of large-scale projects involving three-dimensional computer animation would include the visual effects for a live action feature film, an all computer-animated feature film, and an animated feature film with significant three-dimensional computer animation.

The creative team behind the visual effects for a feature film, for example, may consist of about half a dozen individuals including the positions. Having a large production team is one way to handle both the tight production schedules and the volume of work contained in a feature film computer animation. A production team for this type of project may include several groups and positions but under some circumstances many responsibilities may be assigned to a single individual.

The visual effects group is responsible for the overall production of all the special effects in the project, including the supervision of the computer animation. Usually the director of visual effects decides which creative treatment and production techniques will be used in every single shot that requires special effects. A visual effects producer develops production guidelines, as well as a budget and a schedule for the project. A visual effects supervisor is in charge of making sure that the different production groups and subgroups follow these production guidelines, budgets, and deadlines. He or she functions as the liaison between the live set and the digital facility.

The computer animation group is responsible for the production of the computer animation sequences. The computer animation supervisor primarily makes sure that all the visual effects guidelines are understood and implemented by the animator. The computer animation shot supervisors are in charge of subgroups that are responsible for completing a single shot or a series of shots. The computer animators develop the imagery and motion tests until the visual effects director approves the sequences. The computer animation production coordinator makes sure that everybody has what they need to do their job; this individual also schedules equipment, personnel, and meetings.

The computer technical support group maintains the computer systems in working order and develops custom software that may be required for special production requirements. The digital compositing and postproduction group is responsible for scanning, retouching, and compositing all the different layers of visual effects, computer animation, and live action.

In addition to the creative and production teams, the administrative team oversees many of the financial, legal, and marketing issues related to the production of a complex computer animation project. An administrative team typically involves the positions listed. The members of the administrative team also work with the group directors in the creative and production teams to make sure that production budgets, deadlines, and strategies are adequate to complete the project successfully.