The definitions of Computer Graphics CG and Computer Animation CA are often indistinguishable, as both can involve the use of typography or imagery. However, there is a subtle distinction between the two, and it lies in the concept of movement. Computer Graphics encompasses both static and dynamic graphics, while Computer Animation specifically focuses on dynamic graphics.

Most of the information presented in this post was extracted from the books:

  • Fundamentals of Computer Graphics - Fourth Edition, by Steve Marschner and Peter Shirley
  • Computer Graphics: Principles and Practice - Third Edition, by John Hughes, Andries Van Dam, Morgan McGuire, David Skylar, James Foley, Steven Feiner and Kurt Akeley.

Computer Graphics

Computer graphics is the science and art of communicating visually via a computer’s display and its interaction devices as: mouse, keyboard, joystick, etc. It is a cross-disciplinary field that involves physics, mathematics, human perception, human-computer interaction, engineering, graphic design, and art, all playing a relevant role.

To provide some examples of these disciplinary uses: Physics is used to understand the behavior of light and to perform simulations for animation. Mathematics is employed to describe shapes. Human perceptual abilities influence the allocation of resources, while engineering focuses on optimizing the use of bandwidth, memory, and processor time. Graphic design and art, combined with human-computer interaction, aim to make the computer-to-human direction of communication most effective.

The world of Computer Graphics

The academic side of computer graphics is dominated by the Association for Computing Machinery’s Special Interest Group on Computer Graphics and Interactive Techniques ACM SIGGRAPH. In the industry, computer graphics have a significant impact on film, television, advertising, and gaming. Additionally, computer graphics have transformed how we view information in medicine, architecture, industrial process control, and network operations. Perhaps most significantly, the graphical user interfaces (GUIs) on our phones, computers, automobile dashboards, and home electronics are all enabled by computer graphics.

Computer Graphics major areas

Imposing categories on any field is challenging, but most graphics practitioners would agree on the following major areas of computer graphics:

computer-graphics-major-areas

  • Modeling: This involves the mathematical and appearance properties of shapes that can be stored on a computer. For example, the torus in the graph was created by taking a profile curve and sweeping it along another curve. At each step along the second curve, the profile curve was positioned, and then the vertices were welded in an order that OpenGL can understand to generate triangle meshes. Meshes can be formed by quads and other primitives.

  • Rendering: This is the process of turning 3D models or 2D graphics into 2D images. It involves taking all the information about the models generated in the modeling part and applying light, materials, and effects to create the final scene.

  • Animation: This is the technique to create the illusion of motion through sequences of images. Animation uses modeling and rendering but adds the key variable of movement over time.

Note

The models in the graph were generated by myself using the tools that I created from assignments in Computer Graphics course - MIT.

There are many other areas that involve computer graphics such as:

  • User Interaction: Deals with the interface between input devices such as mice and tablets, the application, feedback to the user in imagery, and other sensory feedback. Historically, this area is associated with graphics largely because graphics researchers had some of the earliest access to the input/output devices that are now ubiquitous.

  • Virtual Reallity: Attempts to immerse the user into a 3D virtual world. This typically requires at least stereo graphics and response to head motion. For true virtual reality, sound and force feedback should be provided as well. Because this area requires advanced 3D graphics and advanced display technology, it is often closely associated with graphics.

  • Visualization: Attempts to give users insight into complex information via visual display. Often there are graphic issues to be addressed in a visualization problem.

  • Image processing: Deals with the manipulation of 2D images and is used in both the fields of graphics and vision.

  • 3D scanning: Uses range-finding technology to create measured 3D models. Such models are useful for creating rich visual imagery, and the processing of such models often requires graphics algorithms.

  • Computational photography: Is the use of computer graphics, computer vision, and image processing methods to enable new.

Computer Graphics major applications

cg-major-applications

Computer Animation

Computer animation refers to the process of creating moving images using computer graphics. It involves generating animated images digitally, rather than through traditional animation techniques like hand-drawing or stop-motion.

The Connection Between Computer Graphics and Animation

Animation is a crucial aspect of computer graphics, serving as a fundamental step in the production processes of various products. Beyond its traditional role, animation extends into numerous fields, creating intangible products that profoundly impact media and technology.

Animation in the Production Pipeline

In the production pipeline, animation plays a vital role by bringing characters and objects to life through movement and expression. This is achieved either frame-by-frame in traditional animation or using keyframes and interpolation in 2D and 3D digital animation. The process involves creating detailed sequences that depict motion, which are essential for developing various visual media.

Animation as an Intangible Product

Animation itself can be considered an intangible product. While we typically associate animation final products with animated films, cartoons, and games, its scope is much broader. Animation techniques are extensively used in visual effects (VFX) to enhance live-action footage. For example, Computer-Generated Imagery (CGI) applies animation concepts to create scenes and effects that are impossible to capture through conventional filming methods. These CGI elements are seamlessly integrated into photorealistic scenes.

Exercise: Production Process Analysis for the Colombian Short Film “Piro & Nola”

In this exercise, we will analyze the production process of the Colombian short film “Piro & Nola,” using the thesis project Aprender los procesos de animación 3D, concept art, producción y fondos mediante la experiencia adquirida en el desarrollo del cineminuto animado Yo-yo de Piro & Nola as a detailed reference. This thesis, although in Spanish, provides an in-depth look at the various stages of animation production, from the story development to final rendering, making it an excellent case study for understanding both, animation as a product an within the production pipeline.

Note

It’s important to keep in mind that every company has its own way to developing products, regardless of whether they are tangible (manufacturing) or intangibles (services or ideas), which means that production pipelines are unique and must be adapted to generated the desired outcome effectively.

The intangible product

Piro & Nola is a computer-animated short film created for children’s entertainment. The concept explores how two 6-year-old kids play with iconic Colombian toys like the yo-yo and spinning top and creating their own adventures through the power of their imagination.

The production pipeline

In the thesis project, the production pipeline isn’t explicitly defined. However, I aim to organize valuable information and propose a structure for its implementation. Typically, this responsibility lies with the technical director in animation studios.

I also want to highlight that although pipelines are essentially a sequence of steps designed to be followed one by one until the full task is complete, this usually does not happen in real life, even in manufacturing industries where the final output is always the same. With intangible products, pipelines need to be flexible because the story can change more often than we imagine, requiring adjustments and post-task modifications.

Piro & Nola Production Pipeline Production-pipeline

  • Story Development: Initialy the story was planned to be devoloped with five main characters, each one with a unique color and personality. Finally the idea was changed to two main characters. Piro is characterized as a Caribbean boy and represents fire and tomatoes. Nola is an Andean girl represented by corn and bees. Both characters have fantastic adventures through play toys and their imagination. The toys are old-fashioned intentionally to evoke nostalgia for older generations.

  • Scriptwriting: The creation of the script was assigned to groups, which ultimately generated the final script version. Here is the guide the team used to develop the script: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1UP5Axh_26EXpTl1GYAOnDUa_pdhuY_Gr/view

  • Storyboarding: The storyboard involved the creation of a graphical script. This process required at least five versions. Here is the final storyboard: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1ggY94PwbhI28AoHkCZKkgV2y1lqCCs-A/view

  • Animatic: With the storyboard approved, the animatic process begins. This is a dynamic process where the animatic and storyboard can change. The animatic is a stage where a rough draft or sketch of how the final animated scenes will look and move is created. It’s made by putting together storyboard drawings in sequence and adding rough timing and basic movements. Here is the final animatic: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1brvbgkXYB8eAINJNI5wZjXn5rCAAVkB3/view

  • Concept art: Here was explore the design of the main characters, including elements like clothes and shoes. This section also covers the design of settings, props, and the visual style of the short film. I have extracted the image above from the thesis document.

Concept art Piro & Nola by Contreras & others concept-art

Note

To achieve all the steps in the production process, the team decided to use Blender, an open-source software with the capability to support modeling, rendering, texturing, rigging and animation tools.

  • Modeling: This stage is where the 3D models of the assets defined in the concept art take shape. The team begins by creating detailed 3D models of characters, environments, props, and other elements essential to the story. Below I attached a example of the Piro & Nola 3D models.

3D Models Piro & Nola by Contreras & others piro-nola-3dmodel

  • Texturing: For this step, the team conducted research on how to create textures that evoke 2D shadows using Blender. Below I attached a example of the Piro & Nola 3D models with 2D textures.

Texturing Piro & Nola by Contreras & others piro-nola-2Dtexture

  • Rigging: The main characters were created to be animated within the scenes. Rigging involves the creation of a skeleton that animators can manipulate and pose as needed.

  • Layout: Layout determines camera angles, character/object staging, and composition. In some sense, it represents the next level beyond animatics. Here is the final version of the layout:

    https://drive.google.com/file/d/1RFSkX75jh5zw8X4kwYV2_7UcGZlA6Hwi/view

  • Animation: With the final models of the kids, the animator team was assigned scenes to work on with equal intensity. Physics for elements such as hair and the number of frames were defined for 12 fps. Subsequently, the animators manipulate the skeletons to assign key poses and then used to develop the in-between frames, adding secondary actions also. Through this interpolation process, the notion of smooth and natural movement is achieved. Basic animation concepts were also employed to ensure the characters were animated effectively.

  • Rendering: Once the actions are polished, the scenes are rendered. Key settings include a resolution of 1920x1080, motion blur and smooth shadows activated at maximum quality, and a render sampling of approximately 64 (for review purposes; minimum 180 for final outputs).

  • Editing: The director requests an edit that involves placing animations over the layout to review the timing of actions and their implementation. Each subsequent meeting included corrections for the animators until reaching the final version. The final editing version below:

    https://drive.google.com/file/d/1RFSkX75jh5zw8X4kwYV2_7UcGZlA6Hwi/view

  • Corrections: Throughout the animation process, there is a need to highlight possible improvements for each scene. Common corrections during much of this process often relate to the fluidity of movement, timing of actions, and the implementation of principles such as anticipation and secondary actions. Another frequent issue was the character moving with the main skeleton pivot completely static, which failed to properly convey the intended main movement.

The final short film link = https://vimeo.com/749133336

References

Ref.1 = Mauyakufa & Pradha (2018). An Analysis on the Role of Computer Graphics and Animation in Zimbabwean Film Industry. URL = http://ieomsociety.org/dc2018/papers/202.pdf

Ref.2 = Fundamentals of computer graphics - Fourth edition.

Ref.3 = Computer graphics principles and practice - Third edition.

Ref.4 = https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rendering_(computer_graphics)

Ref.5 = https://brush.ninja/glossary/animation/rendering/

Ref.6 = https://intellectum.unisabana.edu.co/handle/10818/52540

Ref.7 = https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Computer_animation