I really like how almost all of their obstacles and solutions were essentially: "We need to simulate X, but our X-simulating program isn't powerful enough... well, time to make a new one!"
Even the simulations themselves, most people think its just one button, I use Houdini and its anything but. You often have to write your own code to customize the the simulation or even the nodes themselves by diving inside of them(ex. solvers)and must have an understanding of the relationships between hundreds of nodes(data stored in kind of squares which allow for proceduralism) and their various parameters while having an understanding of physics. It's not easy as one button.
Every time someone is like "BUT IT'S JUST A COMPUTER DOING IT" it ticks me off. 1. Someone had to put a lot of work into making that computer do something like this. It's a lot of mathematics, physics, and coding knowledge 2. Simulations can only get you so far. It can't generate a movie without the work of talented animators creating all the keyframes, and animating the things that can't be simulated.
They spend years animating even though they know dang well that the majority of viewers won't appreciate the animators. I feel like i should read credits now
@Rigby Productions it's impossible to put it together. Making a person moving their arms to open a laptop and pressing buttons smoothly and very well done took me about 3 hours even with cutting corners. It takes YEARS of practice to even be considered good at what you do. It's never easy. I've been doing it for about 5 and more than a half years now and I've gotten studios complimenting my stuff and being hired by others very quickly. My channel doesn't show it at all since its dated af but yeah
I actually got to meet one of the artist/programmers who worked on making those clouds on the good dinosaur. I never saw someone so excited and gitty to talk about clouds in my whole life. I'll never forget his energy and hope one day I'll have the same passion and energy with whatever I do.
@C Schulze yeah it would have looked just fine if they scaled back the realism, in order to match the characters. I guess I just enjoy the odd mixing for whatever reason. I do believe that the hyperrealism was mainly a business choice (flexing their muscles for the industry to notice their prowess) rather than an artistic choice.
@David Swanson But Arlo, who looks like Gumby, doesn't mesh with the hyper realistic and natural world either. And Spot as well with his wonky inhuman anatomy. If you don't want Walking With Dinosaurs documentary snorefest, I get that. But then at that point just make a cartoon living in a cartoon world and embrace it. The hyper realism could have easily been scaled back to fit the character designs. I would point out, if a hyper realistic, fully anatomically correct, and extremely detailed T-Rex model got put into a panel of, say, the Peanuts comic with a simplified background theeeere's a tonal dissonance in the visual composition.
@J H I like the contrast between the hyper realistic world that the cartoonish designed dinosaurs live in. Just imagine how dumb a real looking dinosaur would look in that movie as the story is being told. It’d just look like some overly mature science channel piece.
People, before, would tell artists that they're useless in society, but they forget all the entertainment, inspiration and joy they bring us while growing up.
@Halfastar Ironnuggets art itself and successful well-known artists are respected, but you'll hear countless stories from aspiring artists or ppl who do it as a hobby being told they should do something else since art isn't viable, the "starving artists" trope, or straight up that's its a useless profession compared to higher paying jobs. Maybe some of it is misguided parents wanting the best for their kid, and the rest is ppl that really dislike art being too loud about it
My principal suggested that I do engineering with robots instead when I told him I wanted to be an animator. It was because artists don't get famous until they die. I wasn't really offended but I wonder what would've happened if I followed his advice and gave up on art.
@Pumpkin Clouds FREEDOM? Ha! Disney hardly lets some things slide out of homophobia and stuff. light year, I think it’s a sign that they are finally lightening up
Yeah, while I respect the acting and camera control in live action films, animation is able to bring in a lot more magic and emotion to me (especially being an animator myself)
more like software engineer, since every time they have to "find/create a new way" it's not animator doing it, but tech people. let's thank everyone :)
@macross_56 we should appreciate everyone in the creative process. programmers, animators, artists, storyboard artists, conceptual artists, everyone involved, marketing, etc
@Fortimus Prime I know how that feels. I just tried 3D animation for fun and I literally became so thankful for the 3D movies they make I mean it was so complex I didn't even last a week. So I started watch every single detail and the credits.
I feel like movies like Soul is really bringing attention to animators now and how truly astounding their work is with the incredible visuals they make. They’re finally getting some recognition for all the work they do with the help of videos like this, that bring their existence to light as well as their talent. I really hope that they get more credit for what they do and hope the small recognition they get will grow as animation gets better until they finally get the plaudits they deserve.
oof! wish i could watch the movies like soul, or luca when it hits in netflix.. being F2P watcher cant subscribe cause i got no digital money/card but love to see good 3d animation work
I don't care if people don't like Good Dinosaur (though granted the story isn't good and that is valid), the effort they put into the animation and realism should be acknowledged as a work of art!
I actually don't think the story is bad. I think it's just as good as things like Inside Out because it's still a complex story about feelings, about overcoming grief, not projecting what you feel into other people, and overcoming your fears. The Good Dinosaur is one of my favorite films and ranks up high on my list.
@Asdvvvvf so is soul which does not hide that it’s about existentialism and that you die, and you go somewhere when you die. Based on your logic that’s something kids can’t grasp and shouldn’t be a movie for them
@Hisyam You're also entirely right, theres other explainers that show the tech used for the octopus was actually first made forthe purple octopus toy, they could easily have replaced the character with any other toy and made ti work but nope
It is ...the guys in the background put the extra effort in to create the experience ... Especially the audio engineers ...Sound FX and film score is life
Incredible tech innovations there! You people are beyond the word "genius". Kudos and heartfelt gratitude to the entire Pixar team for entertaining the audiences with such super high quality stuff.There is no better storylines produced than you guys do. Love you lots Pixar! Keep rocking!
The one thing that stood out to me about Luca's monster-transition animations is that they never show the tails appearing at the base- only as a side effect either off screen or obscured by other parts of the body or other people. Must be that they couldn't find a realistic way to show it. And how about the *water*! The entire Portorosso Cup sequence is just amazing.
@Brianna Walker Moana was made by Disney Animation Studios as opposed to Pixar, which is a Disney owned subsidiary. I do not know how much, if at all, they share animation technology/ techniques.
the video said she has a normal rig and a stretchy rig, probably uses blend shapes or no bones whatsoever inside the stretchy parts, and uses triplanar texture projection basically to keep the texture clear and not stretched. they either had to animate the stretchy by hand as it inflated or flattened or they calculated using physics WITH animating slight behaviours. maybe there were more than one stretch rigs fit for the scene even
They explain it in the Incredibles dvd commentary. They have a Normal rig for Hellen that can't stretch and when it is time for her to stretch they swap the normal model for the stretchy one.
And that's why every single Pixar movie is just fking AMAZING. The animation alone, and then the story, dialogue and scenes. Nothing tops Pixar. They have never had a bad movie. 👏👏👏
@SonicFan #91 Of course!! I was just saying that they shouldn't have made the sequels. Toy Story is the only one that I loved all the sequels though. They weren't dumb or embarrassing. Oh, and I guess the Incredibles sequel wasn't bad either, but not great. My statement was any ORIGINAL Pixar movies are all fantastic. 😄
2:33 - I think Global Illumination per mentioned here is more in line with full path tracers as opposed to just the GI as a whole. We already have stuff radiosity to get GI working for years before Monsters University came out, prominently being used in games. However, this poses limitations, being less dynamic compared to hacky solutions in game engine's raster renderers like screen space GI or voxel GI, or full blown path tracers in offline movies. Though I might be confusing the different variations of GI, since I only work with game engines as opposed to offline renderers.
You are correct, also bump mapping existes long time ago, however they are mentioning it very superficial, the innovation was on "ray tracing like" global dynamic illumination as Unreal Engine 5 does now in real time. It just saved on rendering instead of just RT the whole thing.
It blows my mind that every time they encounter a problem they always tackle it and that it usually takes years to find a solution to also help others in the future
As 3d artist I should say. Every innovation in this list - was innovative for pixar themselves. Literaly. For example GI (Global illumination) have been used by different studios for years before "monsters univercity" even Shrek 2 used it. Same with clouds, same with shaders, or advanced rig systems. They are catching up with technology, not inventing.
they simply evolved their versions of those things, they invented different systems for previously existing things, different systems that end up with very different results.
Thanks for this comment, I've been doing 3d animation off and on for 15+ years and I was like... Absolutely none of this is new to Pixar for these movies. The tips and tricks and even tools they "created" have been around years before those movies were in production, saying Pixar created global illumination was like a punch to the face lmao. Pixar was catching up, not innovating! Preach
I'd love to work on the tech for a Pixar movie. I'd also be interested in seeing some of the old movies remade with modern tech. The Incredibles with the tech of the Incredibles 2 would be amazing.
I feel like movies like Soul is really bringing attention to animators now and how truly astounding their work is with the incredible visuals they make. They’re finally getting some recognition for all the work they do with the help of videos like this, that bring their existence to light as well as their talent. I really hope that they get more credit for what they do and hope the small recognition they get will grow as animation gets better until they finally get the plaudits they deserve.
It just sucks this video actually puts Pixar in a bit of a hole. Majority of the video is praising Pixar for creating things they DIDN'T make. All the tips, tricks, tools they "created" already existed years before they made it for one of their movies. Global illumination is the easiest one to point out, it definitely wasn't made for monsters university (2013), it was used in Shrek 2, (2004). Pixar has always been relatively behind in animation, they just don't let it look that way. I think THAT should get praised for sure.. but this video makes Pixar look like they want to take credit for things that already existed. All this video did was remind me how far behind Pixar always has been. Source: been animating for 15+ years and already was using most of the tools they "created" many years before the films for them came out- tho some had different names
Well done! Highly interesting and raises my awareness for the relentless technical development in the field of animated movies where Pixar obviously commands a leading position. I will definitely look with different eyes the next movie with my little daughter. By the way I think Pixar's know-how will play a big role in the upcoming Metavers if that materialises really.
Thank you so much for this! Now I kind of expect a Part 3 within the next decade, along with upcoming Pixar films and exciting new animation possibilities!
To any and all gamers watching: This is the future of your games. Look at it and take it in... Then when the years pass, and we reach this point. Take a moment to step back and see where we came from.
This is why I always stay through the credits, to see who made the movie. Kudos to everyone at Pixar, Industrial Light & Magic, Perception, Digital Domain, Imaginary Forces, etc.
Let us never forget that Ed Catmull, who won that Oscar these videos talk about, colluded with other graphics companies to suppress the wages of the artists and programmers who make this happen. Ed Catmull deserves something alot worse than that Oscar.
The realistic camera work in toy story 4 were what made it stand out for me. Yeah… the lighting was also amazing… obviously, but those camera work was like the digital camera was an actual camera 😁 (similar to the walle one)
Thanks for this video series, it was really informative and behind the scenes looks at animation like this is always really entertaining and enjoyable for me. Glad that more animators have been getting the attention they deserve in recent years.
I never noticed how much effort goes into these films… I really need to start paying attention to these things now given the effort each team puts into them.
Disney has always been at the forefront of all things animation. Even before they bought Pixar they knew enough to fund their work. What a great marriage.
The moment they said that braves hair was developed for 3 years...and after that they would use it for so many other movies, that gave me big confidence to spend lots of time focusing at 1 thing in music, so i can later use all i learned and make smt perfect xD
Eh... if you just one man team or it is a personal goal like making a music you don't want to fixated on small detail because if you do you won't deliver anything as a result and you're more likely to feel frustrated and stop. Pixar do it because they can, for the rest of us individual or small team just continue make garbage project into less garbage project. It's not much but it is honest work, we will get better overtime so stop thinking about small details because remember perfection is an enemy of progress.
It's also worth noting that 'Finding Dory' (2016) was the first Pixar film to use a re-engineered version of RenderMan, their biggest change in 25 years. That's why Pixar movies after 'Finding Dory' had a much more realistic look to the textures and environment, as well as lighting.
They're so innovative. It makes me wonder if they sell their animation software. Usually it's software companies that put this much effort into making new systems!
Everyone putting in is excellent at the their craft ... because even the voice actors [ who usually get most of the recognition ] they're skills still makes the film the magic it is ...
That's why I love Disney in all ways. They combine the art of modeling (and animation) with the story itself. The result is what we love for the rest of our lives. To hear they evolve in surprising ways... That makes me believe in this magic forever.
This kind of dedication and resilience is sooooo underrated. They never settle for less, even for the minute details, and never choose the easy way out.
and we’re literally watching the evolution happen in real time. someday “the next pixar film” will be essentially live action because of how incredibly realistic everything is becoming. didn’t the original animator for the water in the good dinosaur get laid off because his water was “too realistic”?
Piano and guitar playing scenes was outstanding animation. This video is missing the town in CoCo part it’s also was generated the entire background scene with AI.
people who have this as their job really deserve more recognition and honor their work is so underrated and they put effort in every single detail like damn my respect for them📈📈📈📈📈
When I first saw the trailer for Brave, I couldn't even grasp the main premise because I was so blown away by Merida's hair. I'm a redhead too, but it's mostly straight.
If I ever, for some strange reason, become a director of films, I'd friggin make the names of all the animators, engineers, etc like bold italicized and underlined with 40 size font and include pictures of them or something
My art college had a guest speaker from the Good Dinosaur once. It was a few months before the movie's release. She didn't mention the technology for the clouds, but gushed about the river in the movie and how so much effort was put in the physics and realism for the water. It was strange to hear that was her biggest praise when there's usually talks of story boards, characters, modeling with rigging, and stuff in general more active in the movie.
pixar actually seems to be behind the curve with some of this given these descriptions... i wish these exposes showed a little more technical depth, even though i know thats not quite the audience this is aiming for
I love how (atleast to my knowledge) they don’t get lazy and just find a way around their obstacle and cut things out because it’s too advanced. They actually find a solution and use techniques they’re constantly learning, to use in other films. Videos like this really power my hopes in becoming an animator one day :)
For those watching this is fun to watch but it’s not completely accurate. Global illumination for example has been around for decades now and I am not certain Pixar even invented this (or the tessendorf ocean simulation method in the last video). That all being said these videos do a great job talking about how Pixar solves issues with technology and they are very well researched for the most part.
no wonder Pixar movie always great. the effort they put in it really great. they always create new tools(program) when needed or when have problem , thats crazy. they dedication is no joke
It’s crazy because seeing these details pointed out like this finally puts a name to what I found beautiful in each movie - the quality of the food in Ratatouille, the reflections on the cars in Cars, and the depth of view on the jellyfish in Finding Nemo all mesmerized me as a kid, and now I know why!
