“Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes: Interpreting Schulz in 3D”
Conference:
Type:
Entry Number: 51
Title:
- Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes: Interpreting Schulz in 3D
Presenter(s)/Author(s):
Abstract:
The original Peanuts material, defined by Charles Schulz’ unique 2D language, presented a huge challenge to the development of The Peanuts Movie (2015). It required Blue Sky Studios to go beyond a mere conversion from 2D to 3D by embracing the 2D artwork and finding a unique look and fresh animation style in the spirit of the original comic strip. Three of the most recognizable and unique aspects of Schulz’ work are his use of silhouette and ink line work for the drawings of the eyes, the extreme character poses implied by the comic strip, and the highly stylized indication of motion blur. To achieve a respectful 3D equivalent we found a language for the surrounding, prominent ink or expression lines by implementing sliding eyes and ‘poseable’ textures for animation. Additionally, we developed a unique multi-part character setup, and an approach to 3D motion blur that was inspired by the original 2D techniques of “multiples” and “smears”. These techniques gave us the flexibility we needed to keep the Peanuts look while still being renderable in our photorealistic pipeline.
