Cover source: "Pokemon XY&Z"
Author: Pokemon Ball
produced the "Pokemon" series, "Monster Watch" and other theatrical version and TV animation production company OLM, currently forming a small part of the team, trial operation of their "digital painting project", digital painting is simple In other words, painting on a tablet is used instead of painting on paper. We all know that celluloid was used for painting in the early animation production, but now that celluloid painting has been abolished, even though coloring and photography have entered the digital age, it still retains the traditional traditions of painting on paper and scanning afterwards. Elements of painting. As an animation company established only 20 years ago, OLM has always been at the forefront of digital painting. At present, while keeping the traditional painting on paper, while trying to paint digitally, let’s give a rough explanation of the introduction in the monthly magazine "CGWORLD + digital video" released in December last year, issue 209, which is also in the January 2016 issue.
Regarding the "Digital Painting Project"
from the "Pearl Diamond" series to take over the TV animation "Pokemon" TV animation producer Kato Hiroyuki, he thinks: "The first condition of this project is to meet the standards of TV animation. Not only It is to transform the production process from painting on paper to digital painting. It must be recognized by the audience in front of the TV, not by the degree of stealing. Therefore, we put it in the short section as a trial of project implementation. About the project Implementation, we also got a high evaluation from the advertiser. "
The production site of the digital painting is in the CG production office of OLM, and the machines used are several medium-sized computers and LCD digital tablets. Kato P said, “Although the equipment and operation are simple, the repeated overlay of the number of layers and the performance of the graphic display are very important.” The software used in animation production is mainly Toon Boom Storyboard Pro launched by Toon Boom Animation in Canada (below Referred to as TBSP) and Toon Boom Harmony (hereinafter referred to as TBH). Compared with the usual TV animation department with more than 100 people, the current digital painting project team is only one-tenth.
TBSP is also mentioned in the previous article on "Asian". It is mainly used for filming and filming. TBH is mainly responsible for the original painting, animation, coloring and photography. In addition, Adobe will also be used in the photography section. After Effects, this should be familiar to everyone. Using TBSP to draw the storyboard facilitates the copying and pasting of scripts, and also supports the recording of sounds, which facilitates the countdown and time allocation when drawing the storyboard, and can also be confirmed when shooting the storyboard. Those who are not accustomed to viewing the storyboard through the monitor can also print out the file.
The performer's オジング (twi: ojk7958) believes that while listening to the voice, he can better associate the expression of the speaker and the atmosphere when speaking, and the timing of the lines is also better. Especially for dancing scenes, the aspect is unexpectedly easy to use, and it is easier to grasp the timing of movements and music. Regarding the drawing of the original paintings and animations, the original artist's Ogawa Tomoki said that it has not changed much from the previous painting methods. The main difficulty lies in capturing the line of sight of the camera and the habit of pen pressure from drawing on paper to drawing on the tablet.
Regarding the conversion of digital painting projects, it is obviously difficult for animators who are accustomed to traditional paper painting. However, for OLM, they have already had a wealth of data management experience in previous CG productions. Therefore, For the "digital painting project", it's just time for them to play. Duffy Shikura, the director of R&D, said: “For the production of digital projects, we have our own software to facilitate file naming specifications and file system catalog management.”
Changes in the production process of painting on paper and digital painting
▼Tatsuichi Murooka and Tomoki Ogawa, who were involved in motion checks, produced their own TBH manual for their own companies
Let’s take an example of the production of "Pikachu, the Lady" in the mini-segment "Performer Communication" at the end of "Pokemon XY&Z" broadcast on January 28 last week. In the mini session, the deputy supervisor, Dagui Lao, is responsible for the split-screen performance.
Yes, the first thing to note is that the paintings of the entire noblewoman Pikachu are not paintings on paper. Kato P also mentioned earlier that if you want to convert the entire animation broadcast now to digital painting is 100% impossible, after all, painting on paper with pencil is still the mainstream, even if the technology is reached, the manpower is insufficient, and the audience’s The eyes are also sharp, and no matter how skilled you are, you can see some violations. Therefore, it should be the most suitable to apply the technology to the short story first. Cross the sea without knowing the sky, here is a fight.
For Murooka, who wrote the instructions, the operation of the tablet and TBH is naturally handy. He believes that the biggest advantage of TBH is that the thickness of the line can be changed freely. It is also often used for normal motion inspection work, and is especially suitable for transitions. OL (dissolve) effect.
Storyboard
the ▼ is TBSP FIG user interface.
You can drag the timeline below to preview the effect of the shot.
▼The upper left of the picture below is an electronic script. It is easy to check and split according to the script. You can also copy and paste the lines into the Dialogue box on the lower right.
Composition
▼ Below is the complete composition
▼TBH operation interface
▼Some small notes from the original painting can also be written directly here
▼Timetable, TBH is managed by the built-in X-sheet function
Mr. Murooka, who was in the motion inspection just now, also mentioned the advantage of changing the thickness of the line in TBH, which can even be magnified up to 800 times, which is also very clear.
Regarding the operation of correcting the line, it is actually not much different from the PS.
Adjust the line thickness of the push lens. If you want to enlarge the general distant view into a close-up view, of course you can’t just zoom in and just throw the picture up. The thickness of the line must be unified. This is also the biggest gap between the push lens animation and the real shot. .
▼Material for animation, B is the animation material after A is enlarged
▼Operation interface, including layer attribute→line thickness→shape→editing of Bezier curve (including adjustment of moving center point, path and speed)
▼Completed drawing of AB material
Original painting→Animation→Coloring
＜A＞Original painting 12;
＜B＞Original painting 13;
＜C＞The state where original painting 13 and original painting 12 overlap;
＜D＞The pink line of original painting 13 is combined with the line of original painting 12;
＜E＞The state after coloring;
special effects
Not only the characters, but the special effects materials are also drawn using TBH.
As follows▼
Animation
can switch the operation area to the desktop for operation;
can use the zoom in and zoom out function of the dialog box to draw TU, TB (zoom out). Using the Onion Skin function can also adjust the transparency of the front and rear materials;
delete the top Lines for
coloring generally have special lines for coloring when coloring. In the end, only the main line and color can be displayed, and the lines for coloring can be hidden from display or deleted.
▼1. The blue line is the line for coloring; 2. Select all the lines for coloring; 3. Call up the tool properties and change the color thickness to 0 to hide;
▼4. The thread used for coloring has been eliminated, but the process of operation is still retained; 5. The state after elimination.
▼The operation of deleting the color line of the special effect is the same.
Kato P believes that the line drawn with a pencil is limited in resolution. In order to break through this barrier, digital development is even more necessary. And digitization can extend the "life" of animators. For some original paintings that are dim-eyed or often sloppy, digital painting can just use the zoom function to supplement their tensionless lines. Animation production companies are also mostly concentrated in Tokyo. For animators who are far away from their hometowns and are unwilling to leave their homes, digital painting is also the preferred choice. In this regard, Mr. Murooka said that this will not cause the company's brain drain, but some people are happy to work remotely. In the future, the advancement of digitalization will open the road for the training of a new generation of animators. Kato P naturally agrees with him very much, and said that in the future, he will actively adopt the new generation of painters to join their "digital painting projects".
Japan, which has a history of animation for more than 50 years, may fully usher in the innovation of digital animation in the near future.
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