“Applying painterly concepts in a CG film – Bolt”
Conference:
Type(s):
Title:
- Applying painterly concepts in a CG film - Bolt
Session/Category Title: Painterly Lighting
Presenter(s)/Author(s):
Abstract:
The leadership of the animated film Bolt set out to bring back the textural warmth found in classic Disney animated movies, something not usually found in CG generated images. CG algorithms characteristically produce hard clean geometric solutions and can also often generate unlimited amounts of detail. We analyzed paintings from masters and also stepped back and thought about how a painter approached a painting here at Disney. We focused on fundamental ideas such as massing, a term in painting which refers to the process of editing detail into bigger shapes, and also edge quality, the use of the painter’s brush to vary edges of shapes which can bring emphasis to the image and/or direct the eye. This lead to the development of new algorithms and tools for the film Bolt. It also required a change in the mind set and work flows for the CG artist. We will discuss things such as “raypainting” and painterly “normals” which were part of the toolbox created on Bolt. These concepts mixed with photographic ideas such as exposure and film response lead to the rich and unique look of Bolt.
