For the PC game Holiday World
we produced the complete intro movie on behalf of Island Games
within four month. The colorful comic-style two minutes movie
shows a continuous camera ride through three holiday areas,
that the player can choose in the game, inclusive company and
game logo.
Storyboard
Before the start of actual production
we developed an extensive storyboard to get an idea how the
transition between the sets could look like. We tried to avoid
noticeable cuts or blends between sets. Hence the point of view
had to be adjusted accordingly and objects had to be positioned
respectively. The final movie matches with the original storyboard
up to 90 percent. In some shots we had to adjust the camera
slightly and new objects had to be added to provide a forced
motivation to change the point of view.
Animatic
Due the complexity of the project
we had to develop an animatic to settle camera movement and
timing before the actual production started. As soon as we had
the final camera for a specific set, we started to work out
the details. We built stand-in lores geometry for each set that
represented all important in their rough basic form. Animated
objects were substituted with cubes that were transformed with
a few key frames to get a basic idea of speed and timing. Thereupon
the camera was animated. The transition between two sets was
always problematic. Often we tried to use objects as a cutting
edge to hide the change of layers behind geometry, thus we had
to preview these parts using the final hires geometry. As soon
as the camera for a specific set was finalized, work on the
hires geometry and details began.
Modeling
While work on the animatics
was in full swing we had already started working on characters,
because they could be modeled, textured, skinned and rigged
independently of the camera. Nine characters had to be created
and partly we gave them names to have a good view over a scene's
content. The names were limited to three letters for easier
exchange when using scripts.
To reduce the already enormous
modeling expense we fell back on Paint Effects converted to
polygons where ever possible. Hence many plants in the safari
and underwater set are based on Paint Effects. Under water Paint
Effects provided a simple solution for plants deformed by ocean
current.
Texturing & Shading
Texturing and shading of the
characters was particularly time intense. Especially shading
of the main character required much time, because he appears
in all sets with different lighting conditions and we could
not switch shading due to one continuous camera.
The huge landscapes raised a
further problem because the camera sometimes moved very closely
to the geometry. Hence we were forced to create very large texture
maps that could stand up to extreme close ups.
Skinning & Rigging
For each character an individual
rig of joints and locators was created. The joint hierarchy
was hidden later on and the character was animated exclusively
using different controller objects. We had global controls i.e.
to twist the complete spine, as well as local controls to transform
single joints. To animate the fishes Dirk Bialluch programmed
some expressions, that generated a realistic geometry deformation
based on two attributes that defined speed and transformation
intensity.
The main character's setup turned
out to be much more complex than the others. For Bob we had
a total of three rigs, that had to be blended arbitrarily. The
base setup controlled movement of the character in the set per
keyframe animation. The second rig was bound to the jeep and
enabled interaction with the steering wheel and automated movement
with the vehicle. The third rig was based on procedural walk
cycle generation based on the Footstep
System developed in 1999 by Dirk Bialluch.
The jeep was equipped with another
complex rig that took care of driving dynamics related to the
ground. The jeep's movement was calculated based on a single
speed parameter. Banking and tilting of the car's body was also
based on speed changes, as well as movement of the wheels. Deformation
of the wheels was done using the collision deformer developed
previously for Back to Gaya.
As weights shifted the collision deformer prevented intersection
of the tyre with the ground geometry and widened the tyre in
the area of ground contact to preserve its volume.
The toucan was equipped with
a complex rig too, because he did not only have to fly, but
also land on objects, sit on a deck chair and swim under water.
To provide the feathers with a realistic and dynamic property
an irregular motion could be added by an expression to simulate
air resistance. This effect was controlled by two attributes
defining speed and intensity.
Animation
Motion of the characters was
primarily realized using traditional keyframe animation. Other
parts were created using procedural animation exclusively like
i.e. a fairly long walk of the main character from the jeep
to a springboard at the swimming pool. In this case we used
our Footstep System.
The resulting animation was converted to keyframes and further
refined.
Lighting
Each set should reflect an individual
mood and therefore required accordingly light conditions. The
safari set presented a sunset mood with intensively red back
light and long shadows. In this case the silhouettes of objects
should stand out. The island hotel was shown around midday and
required very bright lighting. We needed to place quite a few
fill lights to achieve a regular lighting. The underwater world
was lighting-wise by far the most complicated set. We used a
decent key light and many fill lights to realize diffuse underwater
light conditions. The overall lighting was rather dark to let
the scooter's headlights and the brightly illuminated hotel
stand out. Visible spotlights and lamps created volumetric beams.
The actual underwater effect was realized later in compositing
using z-channel based bluish fog.
Special Effects
We needed to simulate dust and
dirt to improve the integration of animated objects into their
environment. The jeep i.e. creates a cloud of dust while driving
across the steppe. We used Maya's cloud software particle to
generate this effect. The giraffes in the background of the
safari set also swirl up dust. Since the effect is rather decent
in the background of the scene we used hardware rendered sprite
particle to simulate the dust.
The clouds above the island
hotel were created using Maya's fluids. Hence we could very
easily animate the clouds slightly and when turning the camera
we got more depth and realism as if using a matte painting.
Under water we used particles
to simulate bubbles created as the main character breathes out.
To give the water a more realistic appearance we created a volumetric
field of thousands of particles using our plug-in Spread Objects,
originally developed for the feature film Back
to Gaya. They were rendered in an extra layer with Maya's
software renderer and reacted to lighting.
Rendering & Compositing
Each set was divided into several
layer to reduce scene size to a renderable level and gain better
possibilities to manipulate the images in compositing. Splitting
the images into layer was also required to achieve the transition
from one set to another. The transition from safari set to the
island hotel takes place in several steps:
During this camera turn Bob
changes all his clothes imperceptibly for the spectator from
safari outfit to a swimming trunks. The jeep stands in both
sets, but it is hidden as soon as it leaves the field of view.
Thus it is no longer visible as the camera turns around later.
The change of light conditions was a bit more complicated this
time, because main character and jeep are visible all the time
during the transition. We needed to render the main character
and jeep layer two times for the transition period, once with
safari lighting and once with island set light conditions. Then
we blended both sequences within about 100 frames hardly noticeable,
so at the end of the transition a palm standing in the hotel
casts a shadow onto Bob and the jeep.
The transition between island
set and underwater world is more abruptly. Thus this part was
suitable for a cut, that of course had to be hidden. The change
between both sets happens as Bob jumps with a header into the
pool of the island hotel. The camera follows Bob into the pool
and as soon as it dives into the water we are in the underwater
set. The transition was hidden by using water splashes and bubbles.
In compositing we adjusted the colors so both sequences matches
precisely where the cut happens. As the bubbles disappear under
water we slowly fade into the underwater set color scheme.
Leaving the water and getting
to the final logo raised another challenge. The camera looks
downwards at a hotel under water and moves back with increasing
speed until it shoots out of the water. While the camera moves
further back an atoll becomes visible. Finally you can see a
whole group of islands. Thereafter the camera penetrates the
clouds. At this point we fade out the ocean surface and the
complete globe becomes visible. With a concentric impulse effect
the earth is inserted as letter "o" into the "Holiday
World" logo. The seamless transitions from underwater set
to the ocean surface (realized with Maya's ocean shader), to
the atoll, to the group of islands, into the clouds (Maya's
fluids), to the globe and finally to the logo were created chiefly
in compositing. Here we adjusted colors and contrast and blended
the transitions.
In the end the complete movie
was color graded and final effects were applied, as i.e. lensflares
in the safari set and for the spotlights in the underwater hotel.
