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io9.com: This week, stop-motion production studio Laika comes out with its third feature, The Boxtrolls. A lot has changed in the world of stop-motion animation since Laika's first feature, Coraline, and in a world filled with CG features, it's amazing what Laika can accomplish.
Wow! I never realized how much went into designing Boxtrolls. I mean, it makes sense, there is so much detail in all of it. I think it's really funny how Laika provides tech support to the 3D printer manufacturers. It just goes to show all the work they put in. Another thing they do that caught my attention is using a laser cutter to put designs on the fabric for the costumes, once again, it makes sense since they are so small, but that is definitely an innovative use in my opinion.
I remember reading something about how people were so convinced by the stopmotion in Coraline that they actually thought it was decent CGI instead. Having made a stopmotion video, I can say that it is it takes an insanely long time just to create something that looks how we think of stopmotion, let alone to create something that can be mistaken for CGI. I love how they’re using 3D printing to create the figures and faces. I’m happy that they focus on the mechanics of the eyes, as that tends to be one of the very important features that must be gotten just right in order to prevent the character from falling into the uncanny valley. Though I must admit the exploded view of a character’s head is rather creepy. I wonder if the mechanics used for the eyes is the same as the mechanics that are used to get prosthetic eyes to blink, just on a larger scale.
It's pretty amazing hearing about how 3D Printers, Laser Cutters, Sketches, Costumes, Puppetry, and so much more can all come together for stop-motion animation. It's interesting for me to learn Laika's modeling process and techniques versus that of the claymation used in A Nightmare Before Christmas. There are definitely many similarities but one thing that had suck out to me about the characters of Nightmare Before Christmas was that their bodies, although added to the world of the movie, were structured tall and because they balanced better that way. I'm not sure if Laika had any issues like that in developing characters for The Boxtrolls, but it was definitely enlightening to hear about the many faces they developed, how they had to manipulate their tools for production, and the other various ways they took a character from paper to 3D.
One thing I love about this company is how much detail goes in literally everything. I've seen videos of a woman knitting a very tiny sweater for Coraline. It's a truly beautiful and artful company that is very serious about the work produced. All the different faces sculpted for one character are gorgeous and all the clothes for the models are simply amazing in their scale and and fluidity. I'm pleased to see that Laika is continuing to make stop-motion films using both traditional methods as well as incorporating newer technology, such as LEDs to make their films function and look better.
Laika seems like a really cool company! Im quite familiar with their work but I've never really thought about the process that they go through. I know a decent amount about standard modern 3D animation, but i was surprised at the techniques used in modern stop motion. I would have thought that for a company that is spending the time to create things for real that they would have been using more classic techniques, but its awesome to see how this art form is integrating the new age rabid prototyping technology so successfully into what they already do so well.
Wait, you mean they make tiny ROBOTS for each and every character?!!?!? I guess this shouldn't be very surprising, and yet, I am amazed. Stop-motion seems to belong in the box of things that I should wonder more about but simply take at face value, like cross-walk design, or the smiles on Goldfish crackers. When I saw a trailer for Boxtrolls (which I'm extremely excited to see), a friend and I thought for a large portion of the trailer that it was a Tim Burton movie. I guess this is because the same studio animated both. It's also interesting how they seem to use exclusively 3D printers to create their characters. The article goes into a lot of detail about how large the margin of error can be with the technology, and I think it's interesting that they persevere and use it rather than reverting to more traditional methods. I suppose that will make them light years ahead of those who are still painting models when the technology improves.
6 comments:
Wow! I never realized how much went into designing Boxtrolls. I mean, it makes sense, there is so much detail in all of it. I think it's really funny how Laika provides tech support to the 3D printer manufacturers. It just goes to show all the work they put in. Another thing they do that caught my attention is using a laser cutter to put designs on the fabric for the costumes, once again, it makes sense since they are so small, but that is definitely an innovative use in my opinion.
I remember reading something about how people were so convinced by the stopmotion in Coraline that they actually thought it was decent CGI instead. Having made a stopmotion video, I can say that it is it takes an insanely long time just to create something that looks how we think of stopmotion, let alone to create something that can be mistaken for CGI. I love how they’re using 3D printing to create the figures and faces. I’m happy that they focus on the mechanics of the eyes, as that tends to be one of the very important features that must be gotten just right in order to prevent the character from falling into the uncanny valley. Though I must admit the exploded view of a character’s head is rather creepy. I wonder if the mechanics used for the eyes is the same as the mechanics that are used to get prosthetic eyes to blink, just on a larger scale.
It's pretty amazing hearing about how 3D Printers, Laser Cutters, Sketches, Costumes, Puppetry, and so much more can all come together for stop-motion animation. It's interesting for me to learn Laika's modeling process and techniques versus that of the claymation used in A Nightmare Before Christmas. There are definitely many similarities but one thing that had suck out to me about the characters of Nightmare Before Christmas was that their bodies, although added to the world of the movie, were structured tall and because they balanced better that way. I'm not sure if Laika had any issues like that in developing characters for The Boxtrolls, but it was definitely enlightening to hear about the many faces they developed, how they had to manipulate their tools for production, and the other various ways they took a character from paper to 3D.
One thing I love about this company is how much detail goes in literally everything. I've seen videos of a woman knitting a very tiny sweater for Coraline. It's a truly beautiful and artful company that is very serious about the work produced. All the different faces sculpted for one character are gorgeous and all the clothes for the models are simply amazing in their scale and and fluidity. I'm pleased to see that Laika is continuing to make stop-motion films using both traditional methods as well as incorporating newer technology, such as LEDs to make their films function and look better.
Laika seems like a really cool company! Im quite familiar with their work but I've never really thought about the process that they go through. I know a decent amount about standard modern 3D animation, but i was surprised at the techniques used in modern stop motion. I would have thought that for a company that is spending the time to create things for real that they would have been using more classic techniques, but its awesome to see how this art form is integrating the new age rabid prototyping technology so successfully into what they already do so well.
Wait, you mean they make tiny ROBOTS for each and every character?!!?!? I guess this shouldn't be very surprising, and yet, I am amazed. Stop-motion seems to belong in the box of things that I should wonder more about but simply take at face value, like cross-walk design, or the smiles on Goldfish crackers. When I saw a trailer for Boxtrolls (which I'm extremely excited to see), a friend and I thought for a large portion of the trailer that it was a Tim Burton movie. I guess this is because the same studio animated both. It's also interesting how they seem to use exclusively 3D printers to create their characters. The article goes into a lot of detail about how large the margin of error can be with the technology, and I think it's interesting that they persevere and use it rather than reverting to more traditional methods. I suppose that will make them light years ahead of those who are still painting models when the technology improves.
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