Societal Impact of Computers and Animation

Transcription

1 Societal Impact of Computers and Animation Andrew Seth Computer Science Department Illinois Institute of Technology Chicago, Illinois Abstract Animation has had a significant impact on both the industry and society today as well as in the past. Here we explore the colorful historical role computers have played in the production of three dimensional, rendered films. Though animation has prominent uses in a number of fields, we focus here only on animation and its role in the entertainment industry. Although computers have grown more powerful over the years, the public s demand for more spectacular visual accomplishments pushes technologies to its limits. The advancement of technology allows for these big budget productions to be possible, but also diminishes the impact that smaller studios can have. Conversely, new technologies allow those same smaller studios to find their own audience via the internet. The role of computers within the animation industry is double edged; allowing more impressive productions possible for large studios, while at the same time increasing the viability of smaller studios. Index Terms Computers, Animation, Rendering, Digital Compositing, Video, Internet. HISTORY OF COMPUTERS AND ANIMATION I. Computer Animation as Part of Larger Productions Computers have played a significant role on the animation industry for many years. We can see the most significant historical developments beginning in the late 1970 s and 1980 s. The first landmark animation productions that were generated by computers were Futureworld, Tron, and Golgo 13 [1]. The film Futureworld was released in 1976 and is often heralded as the first use of three dimensional computed graphics in film [2]. The animated feature of this film was a three dimensional rendered hand that appeared on a computer screen during one scene. The hand was animated and rendered prior to shooting the film, and the animation was later added to the shot live footage using a method called two dimensional digital compositing, where each frame of live film and each frame of digital animation are analyzed and added together with digital technologies [2]. These frames can them be combined to create the motion video of the movie. This use of animation is fairly insignificant, occupying less than a minute of the entire feature length film, but represents a historical development that would forever change the industry. The use of computer animation in this case allowed for the film to take a significant step towards depicting a technologically driven future that the creators imagined. This example could easily have been hand animated, but producing the drawings of a three dimensional object with such clarity would have been a time consuming and difficult affair. Moreover, this production allowed creators to validate the use of computer animation in future films. Another landmark film in the space of computer animation is Tron. This film, produced in 1982, was the first to include computer animation as an integral part of the fictional environment, exemplified by the 15-minute light cycle sequence that was entirely computer generated [2]. This film shows us the development of computing technologies and the effect it. The film showed both film creators and audiences that computer animation was a viable and valuable asset for film production. Without the use of computers, the animation seen in this film simply would not be possible. Furthermore, the overall aesthetic of the film would not have been achieved without the calculated vector graphics and stark contrast the computer animation could produce. Tron brought the role of computers in film to the forefront. In was a landmark film that looked nothing like what had come before it. Computer animation allowed for the creators to envision and create a world that would have been infeasible with traditional practices. One final early example of computer animation in film production was Golgo 13, which was the first completely animated film to use computer generated graphics in the form of buildings and vehicles [1]. Though the entire film was animated, only a small subset of the film was animated with computers. Most of the film was hand-drawn and animated, and only a few elements of certain scenes were rendered with computers [1]. The use of computer animation among traditional methods depicts the value in computer animation. Even though much of the work for this production was done by had, some of the vehicles present were easier to be rendered with computers. This shows creators who are very much familiar with the traditional animation methods, trying new techniques to create interesting productions. For Golgo 13, hand animating helicopters would have proven to be too resource intensive, as the constantly moving rotors of the aircraft would require many individual frames to produce a convincing animation. The process of hand animating these aspects with traditional techniques would have simply been too difficult. Similarly, the effect of panning through a three 1

2 dimensional town filled with buildings and skyscrapers would also have been quite difficult. Generating a convincing town would have required the animators to calculate the changing perspective of each building as the camera rotated and moved around the scene. Again, here the computational power of computers allowed for this scene to be rendered much more easily. Computer rendering techniques require much less calculation and work on the part of the animators to produce this style of scene. In all of these cases, we can observe that the animation done by computers is only part of the total film. All of these productions are feature length, but only several minutes of content are computer animated. This shows us that the animating powers of computers of the time were somewhat limited, and that creating a full feature length production entirely with computer animation was not yet feasible. II. Fully Computer Animated Shorts As time progressed, the relevancy of computer animation continued to grow. Continuing into the mid to late 1980 s, we see computer animation used for the entire production of pieces such as The Adventures of Andre and Wally B., Luxo Jr., and Tin Toy [1]. Though all of these productions are shorts, that is, only a couple of minutes long, they are the first productions to be created entirely with computer animation. These shorts often came to great critical success as we will see. The Adventures of Andrew and Wally B., released in 1984, was created by Lucasfilm s computer animation department, a studio that would later separate from Lucasfilm and become Pixar [1]. This production, aside from being one of the first fully computer animated shorts, was also one of the first to include computer generated motion blur effects [1]. This again is an example of the growing power of computers, as well as the growing relevance of computers in the animation industry. Moreover, this short is significant because it is one of the first stand alone creations out of the studio that would later become Pixar, one of the current animation giants. In some ways, we can see this as the beginning of a new era of computer generated animation One of the first critically acclaimed shorts, Luxo Jr., was first released in 1986, and was the first to be nominated for an academy award [2]. It was also the first film created by Pixar as an independent company, the first to be created with Pixar s Renderman rendering engine, which is still used by the company today [1]. We see significant developments on the part of Pixar here. Not only are they creating their own company and landmark tools that would go on to be influential in the industry, but they are also creating features that are being praised critically. This is validating of not only computer animation of the industry as a whole. At this point in time, we are seeing productions that are created entirely with computers being taken seriously. No longer are computer animated segments novel pieces of a traditional film, but becoming the focal point of production. In addition, this film shows the animation of inanimate objects. The process of creating these scenes cannot be done with traditional film, and hand animation would again be very resource intensive. Therefore, we are seeing computer animation as the solution to the problem of creating greater than life productions. The animators simply had no other way to put this kind of piece to life, and computer animation allowed for this type of short to be produced, when there would have been no other viable method. Finally, we have the short Tin Toy, a short released in 1988 and was the first computer animated short to win an Oscar [1]. Again we see the validation of computer animation as a film production technique. Winning an Oscar is a significant achievement for an industry which, at the time, was still developing. These developments show the validity of computer animation as an industry. The successes we see at this time will continue to grow to the influential industry we see today. New advancements in both hardware and software technologies make computer animation easier and more convenient for creators. As computers become a more accessible tool, the use of these devices flourishes. And with that we see widespread adoption of the technology. Additionally, we see computer animation being taken seriously by others for the first time. Not only can computers animate a short, but the shorts that are being made are well respected by the industry and its audience. We see animation at this point in history gaining traction. As quality productions continue to be made, the industry as a whole emerges into the mainstream. III. Feature Length Films As computers become more and more relevant in the entertainment industry, we begin to see the continued development of the field. As we move through history into into the 1990 s, we continue to see the growth and development of the computer animation industry. It is during this time that we see the first feature length fully computer animated film, which will set the stage for large scale animation projects that will continue to this day. The principal film we will explore for this era is Toy Story. The film was released in 1995, was the first feature length fully computer generated film, and took 110 total employees and 107 SPARCstation computers for rendering [5]. Additionally, the film is composed of 114,240 total frames, with each frame taking 2 to 13 hours to render, resulting in a compound compute time of 91 years for the complete film [5]. We can see the astounding effort put into this film; an endeavor larger than any taken before it. No doubt encouraged by the success of various computer animated projects before it, Toy Story would go down in history as one of the most culturally influential films of all time [2]. The making of this movie was made possible by the technologies that have been made available for computer animation. Without computers, this film would have been incredibly arduous if not impossible. It is most likely that if this film was not created with computers, then traditional means such as stop motion animation would have made the 2

3 endeavor too expensive to pursue, and the film would not have been made. We can also see the state of the industry at this point in time. The team tasked with creating Toy Story was quite impressive, 110 people just to create an animated film with no actual set pieces or environments. Additionally, the team had over 100 desktop grade computers to work with for rendering purposes, which were networked together to allow for distributed processing applications. This is quite a large amount of resources put into a style of production that have never been attempted before. The resources that Pixar could allocate to this project, in addition to the fact that a computer animation studio could exist on its own, shows how the times have been changing. Previous examples of successful projects mentioned above, in addition to many others, most likely gave the team motivation to pursue this effort. Toy Story stands as a marker of the history of computer animation. What came before it were humble shorts or additions to traditionally created films. With the release of Toy Story, computer animation is again validated as a potential mode of creation that can successfully reach an audience in theaters. After the release of Toy Story, we expect the computer animation industry to further grow. It would be expected that as computers become more powerful, animated feature length films would become easier, cheaper, and less demanding to use. At that time, it could not be unreasonable for computer animators to have some concern for their job security. Though animation was becoming more mainstream, and the demand for feature length films was constantly swelling, there was also the fact that computers may potentially replace human workers on projects. Sophisticated software could be developed that automated more menial tasks in the process of making films. The more a computer can do, the less work there is for human animators. This conjecture turns out to be unfounded, as more we analyze more modern productions. Let us now explore a more modern example of computer animated film. Pixar s most recent production, The Good Dinosaur, was released in 2015 by Pixar which at the time was using a 30,000 core render farm for production [3]. With this information, we would assume that the development of the film would have been noticeably easier, or at least taken less time. However, this is not the case. Even with state of the art computing resources, each of the 130,000 frames takes hours to render, resulting in a total compute time of 642 years, and a production team of thousands, with hundreds of animators [3]. This is the complete opposite of our assumptions stated earlier. How can this be the case? The computing technologies available to animators is several orders of magnitude more powerful, accomplishing more than what could be dreamed of in the 1990 s. The reason for this increased need for production is the increased scope of these modern films. While the production team of the original Toy Story took extra care to utilize a conservative design aesthetic with simple textures, no shadows, an no free-flowing hair [5], the team for The Good Dinosaur strived for visual awe and amazement, taking extra care in the details of textures and environments [3]. So, as the computational power available to production crews increase, so does the demand for better looking and more impressive productions. The amount of detail that is seen in modern film was simply cut from earlier works, because the rendering time was too massive and the industry was not as well accepted as it is today. As computer animation became more common place, and films have been proven to succeed when done well, computer animation studios are able to grow both in size and value. As this industry grows more prevalent, the general public demands new and exciting features, which pushes animators to create better and better productions. The greater these productions, the more computational power required to create them, and therefore we get larger and larger resources dedicated to projects that are still significant in scope. IMPACT OF COMPUTERS AND ANIMATION I. Impact on the Industry As we have seen in the history of computer animation, computers have had a significant impact on the industry of both animation as well as the general film production. With the application of computers, animation has become easier in some senses, and much more difficult in others. Computers have made animation as a whole a much more viable medium for entertainment. The use of computers has made the process of animation significantly easier. Animation is composed of many frames for every second of video, and each of these frames needs to be generated somehow. Without computers, each of these frames needs to be hand drawn. But with computer rendering technologies, many of these intermediary frames can be generated in a more automated fashion. This reduces the work on animators, as they are no longer responsible for creating each and every frame individually. However, as animation has risen to the mainstream, the general public has come to demand more and more visually impressive productions. As we develop faster computers that can handle more complex tasks, animators put them to work satisfying this need. This creates a duality to the evolution of animation. The general process becomes easier, but the rising demand for better looking productions pushes these technologies to the limit. As we saw in the evolution from Toy Story to The Good Dinosaur, the production time and effort has greatly increased despite the advancements in computing technologies. This has caused a massive increase in the size of the industry. Computers also have another effect on these industries, seen in the rise of the internet. In the past, the best way to show a film to an audience was to screen it in theaters, but that fact is now diminishing. With the internet and video sharing sites, gaining an audience for video production is much easier for smaller studios. Without the internet, it is very possible that many small teams simply would not have the funds to get to the theater, and these studios could not become profitable. With the internet, the cost of entry is greatly reduced, allowing smaller studios to reach viability. This also created another layer of competition for various companies within the industry. Now not only do large studios need to 3

4 compete with each other for graphical fidelity, but also with these smaller studios on the grounds of general story telling and ideas. The advent of computing technology, both for creation and distribution, have fundamentally changed the animation and entertainment industry. II. Impact on Society Similar to what was mentioned above, the use of computers in the field of animation has also had a profound effect on society. Animation has become commonplace, with animation productions being prevalent in film, television, and web productions [4]. As computers have allowed animation to become relatively easier to produce and distribute, they have entered the market as an influential entity. As animation has hit the mainstream thanks in part to computers, they now have influence over everyone in today s society. The prevalence of animation allows for animators to spread new and interesting ideas to the public much more easily. Additionally, animation allows for more diverse environments and storytelling. Animation has very few limiting factors; creators are not limited in the scope of what they create. A film can take place in other worlds with farfetched creatures, environments, and effects. These things can be depicted without having to simulate them in the real world. The only real limiting factor of animation is the time required to render scenes. Large amounts of detail result in creations that take longer to produce. With computers, this problem is somewhat reduced. Computers can automate and render scenes, reducing the actual amount of work placed on animators. Therefore, as computers have grown more powerful, they have lifted some of the limitations that have traditionally been imposed on the productions. As mentioned above, the rise of the internet has also played a role in the impact on society. The internet has allowed for an easier and cheaper mode of distribution of animated works, which allow a greater number of independent creators to reach an audience. This impact allows for a larger number of voices and ideas to be seen and heard, increasing the diversity of the entertainment industry. PROBLEMS AND SOLUTIONS Among the impact presented to both industry and society, computers have also created some problems for these fields. Computers have allowed for the animation industry to boom, but at the cost of pushing out other forms of media. Additionally, the demand for visually impressive productions from big-budget studios demands more manpower and computational resources. Three dimensional computer animation has mostly dominated the industry, with the vast majority of films being produced of this style [1]. Because of the advancements of computer animation, other traditional means have been displaced. Techniques such as stop motion animation, and hand drawn two dimensional animation, have been shadowed by the much more impressive productions from large studios like Pixar and DreamWorks. This means that in some senses, we are loosing an art form, which is a detrimental impact on our society. Another problem introduced by computers is the increasing demand on the industry to create bigger and better animated productions. As we have seen, the animation industry has grown tremendously since its inception. However, as the industry has reached the mainstream, the public has demanded more visually impressive films. The better visuals of these productions requires more computing power, and importantly, more labor, to be possible. This places an enormous stress on the current industry, and begs the question of weather we will have enough animator in the future. This demand for better graphics in animation also creates problems for smaller animation studios. As discussed previously, animation with the aid of computers is easer than it has ever been before. However, producing large scale, awe inspiring projects is still very very expensive, and continues to grow. This means that smaller studios, with smaller budgets, simply cannot compete. This can potentially push those smaller studios out of the market. Of course, the is a dualistic nature to computers and animation. Although it is difficult for small studios to compete on graphics alone, access to internet distribution allows small studios to find their audience anyway. Additionally, small studios gaining traction reduces some of the demand on larger studios. Though small scale projects cannot compete graphically, they can work on character development and storytelling to advance visual entertainment as a whole. Finally, computers rendering technology has often pushed other animation techniques out of relevance, but computers can also be seen as assistive tools for these other techniques. For example, digital capture and manipulation can assist traditional stop motion animation to be easier and more accessible. This, to some extent, counteracts the three dimensional rendered animation s domination of the marketplace. LOOKING TO THE FUTURE Computers have and will continue to grow and become more popular. Although it is difficult to predict how future events will unfold, and what awaits the animation industry, we can make some educated guesses. As computers continue to become more and more powerful, better and better visuals can be rendered, continuing the trends we have seen previously. However, we will eventually reach a point where these advancements become less and less relevant. As rendered graphics approach the fidelity of real life, we simply will not be able to push the technology any further. It is possible that this means that the technology used will become less of a factor between competing productions. Studios will instead have to rely on other aspects of their productions to compete in the entertainment space. Similarly, computers will also continue to fall in price. This has two effects: more people will be able to access the internet, and all the sharing possibilities there, and more small scale studies will have access to the computers they 4

5 need to make their ideas come to life. As we discussed earlier, the internet has a significant impact on the way that animation, and all content, is distributed. As computer devices continue to proliferate, the reachable audience for small studios via the internet will continue to grow larger and larger. The increased power of future computers will also allow small studios to create better visuals, which can introduce another factor in the competition between animation studios. CONCLUSION As we have seen, computers have had a significant impact on the animation industry, as well as out society. Computers have allowed animation to become a mainstream form of entertainment. Animation allows for a great increase in flexibility as to what creators can make. Increased diversity as well as impressive graphical advancements have made animation one of the influential and dominant forms of expression we see today. Animation simply could not have reached the heights we see today without the introduction of computers. REFERENCES [1] Dirks, T, "Film Milestones in Visual and Special Effects", AMC filmsite, [2] Parent, R, "Introduction to Computer Animation", Siggraph, 5/10/1996. [3] Seymour, M, "Making the world of Pixar s The Good Dinosaur", fxguide, 12/4/2015. [4] Verrier, R, "DreamWorks Animation sees 43% growth in revenues in third quarter" Los Angeles Times, 11/5/2015. [5] Wailes, P, "Visual Maths: a Brief History of GCI", Built Visible,