Research::
 Prince of Egypt |
Another example, mentioned previously, is The Prince of Egypt.
There are many different effects in this film that used 3D and 2D animation. The 3D is often used to complement rather than replace the 2D elements. Usually the 3D and 2D are mixed such a way that it is hard to tell which is which. There are too many effects in this film to examine individually, therefore only some of the larger effects will be discussed here.
Chariot race:: Click here for a video clip
This takes place at the beginning of the film, before most of the digital effects have been seen, therefore the effects are subtle as not to jar the viewer. The first thing to notice is that the chariots themselves are 3D objects, textured and rendered to look like 2D drawings.Although this is simple to do, it is done very well, blending the 2d and 3d elements seamlessly. The reasons for using 3D geometry for the chariots were probably to keep the solidity of the chariots. They have to look like hard wearing, heavily built machines. If they were drawn by hand this might not come across, especially due to the perspective produced by the camera. This would be hard to do by hand.
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The next effect of note is the point of view shot. The actual effect is the same as the previous. The buildings are all computer generated, textured to look like 2D drawings. In this case the technique is taken a step futher by adding motion blur to the elements in the scene. In CG this would be a necessary step to producing any good looking animation, but in 2D motion blur usually does not come into the pipeline. Here it added the feeling of speed as the two chariots hurtle through the streets. It is a very nice effect which may be explored later. Another little subtle effect is the computer generated dust kicked up by the horses. This is placed over the top of the 2D animation, giving a real sense of depth and complexity to the whole scene. The whole effect was created by just a few layers convincingly composited together. This is something to take note of, as this level of depth and complexity is something that I am interested in.
There are many more effects in this film which are interesting, but there is only one more which is of any interest to this project.
Parting sea:: Click here for a video clip
This effect contains most of the techniques that will be used later on in this project. The water here was created as 3D geometry, and textured in layers. These layers include procedurally created textures (colour, specular, bump, displacement etc..), and many hand drawn elements such as ripples and caustic lighting. Once these were rendered, othe 2D elements were put over the top to add another layer of complexity. These layers include breaking waves, mist and splashes of water. When all of these are put together, the overal image is awesome. The 3D elements provide the overall form to the water, the texturing of the 3D geometry adds the main features of water as well as starting to integrate the 2D elements within it, and the pure 2D effects animation adds the small details which would be difficult to do in 3D. In a practical sense this makes the job much easier, as the 3D work is made much simpler when the ripples, splashes, breaking waves and other complex problems are eliminated. Also the 2D/3D integration is automatically achieved by layering these elements together.
Improvements on this effect are hard to imagine. The only possible change would be to treat the characters in the same way as the background. Create them in 3D and animate them as such. Then add 2D elements, such as the traditional ink outline, toon shading, etc. over the top, but still keeping the good parts that 3D brings, such as accurate lighting and stable solidity of objects.
Innovations Project:: Daniel Canfora MMI
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