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A modern computer generated cartoon does not compare to an artist who drew the cartoon on each frame of a cartoon to create the illusion of movement.
Which is a legitimate point to discuss.
The comparison of cartoons drawn with paper-based tools vs. cartoons drawn with computer-based tools just got a lot more difficult. See this article from denofgeek.com called, the Achievements of Pixar.
What do you all think?
Moderators, if I have placed this topic in the wrong forum, I will be glad to move it to wherever it rightfully belongs.
Buzz
"Helicopters are a loose collection of parts flying in formation, surrounded by an oil leak."
Someone had to create the models and animate the actions on the computer. As I look back on other animated films, most are flat, basic animations (Disney films especially) the more impressive ones (like Akira for example) have more depth. If I look to TV, most cartoons are animated in sweat shop environments and again, are very basic due to time constraints.
With 3D computer animation, you have a lot of art:
1. The character development
2. The model development
3. The texture maps
4. The "set" development
5. The lighting
6. The ray tracing programming
7. Kinematics programming (adds realistic physics to the world)
Each of these is usually done by different people. Unlike traditional drawing, these are all different and have to be put together in the final steps to get everything to work.
The initial story boarding gets the story down (same as traditional drawing) The character development starts evolving. Once there is a good idea of the characters, they are transformed into 3D models that can be mapped and manipulated. The texture mapping is (IMHO) VERY important as it give us the feel of the movie (The hair on Sully, the plastic on Woody, etc). Each scene has a world to display. Each item in this world has to be mapped in 3D and placed properly. This set will then have the models moving about. Virtual lights are placed in the scene and the computer extrapolates where those rays of light go and where they bounce off each texture in the scene. The ray tracing program will track each light ray to it's destination and display the scene for final viewing.
So, we have dozens of artist, each with their own field of expertise working, animating, designing, programming each of these things to come together in a film. There is plenty of art in there. They still do things (mostly) frame by frame, and while they do not have to redraw each frame over and over, there is still a ton of work to get something on film.
So, for me, it's all art and all animation. I think there may be more real art in the 3D worlds because of all the people involved that need to bring each area of expertise to the table. With a traditional animated film, you have a bunch of people drawing frame-by-frame and most of the time they don't have the time to really crank out decent work.
I'm a geek though, and I've been following Pixar since the beginning. I've also worked in ray tracer programming (POVRAY, when it first came out) and I know how much it can take to get something to appear on the screen that looks like something.
Pixar has really cranked out some good movies. Great characters, excellent writing and top notch animation. Mostly because of John Lasseter.
Hand drawn is awesome and a lot of people understand that the time and effort make it special. However, we don't have 3,000 asians in a sweatshop cranking out mickey cartoons anymore, so don't expect too many drawn cartoons in the future.
Arguing which is better is pointless. They both require an extraordinary amount of skill. Hand-drawn cartoons require manual dexterity and artistic skill. CGI cartoons require a huge degree of spatial awareness and computer programming ability.
Pianos and violins both make beautiful music, if the operators are skilled enough. Neither is better than the other.
Conqueror wrote:Arguing which is better is pointless. They both require an extraordinary amount of skill. Hand-drawn cartoons require manual dexterity and artistic skill. CGI cartoons require a huge degree of spatial awareness and computer programming ability.
Pianos and violins both make beautiful music, if the operators are skilled enough. Neither is better than the other.
