Animation Pipeline

Contemporary Animation Production Pipeline illustrated with The Croods (2013) by DreamWorks

Every animation studio has a production pipeline, i.e. a process which is followed when creating an animation. The pipeline usually consists of three stages, namely preproduction, production and postproduction. Each stage consists of a number of phases which are equally important in creating a successful animation film (Furniss 88). Even though the three stages have remained the same, the execution of the phases has changed over time and today differs from studio to studio (Furniss 89).

For this post a contemporary animation pipeline will be illustrated with the feature film The Croods (2013) by DreamWorks Animation Studios.

Stage 1: Preproduction

·       Idea & Concept

First someone will come up with an idea for a story.  The development phase is very important as it can determine whether the film will be successful.  The director (in the case of The Croods, Kirk De Micco and Chris Sanders) will then approve the idea and assign a writer to write the script or story.

·       Story & Script

In the story all the concepts come together. The script contains the dialogue, indications of sound effects, a description of the scenery and events, as well as the mood of the characters (Keigher). It serves as a blueprint for every other aspect of the pipeline and it is thus imperative that the scriptwriters consider their work from various perspectives such as those of designers, animators, actors and so forth (Furniss 69).

A part of The Croods script written by Kirk De Micco and Chris Sanders can be seen below:

“The Croods Script”, 2013. Screenshot by the author.

(http://gointothestory.blcklst.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/Croods-The.pdf)

DreamWorks summarises the plot as follows:

The Croods is a prehistoric comedy adventure that follows the world's first family as they embark on a journey of a lifetime when the cave that has always shielded them from danger is destroyed. Traveling across a spectacular landscape, the Croods discover an incredible new world filled with fantastic creatures - and their outlook is changed forever.

 (DreamWorks Animation)

·       Storyboard

A storyboard artist will then be assigned. He or she will receive the script and start drawing the events that take place as he or she visualises it (Keigher). The storyboard will serve as a visual representation of the script and includes details about the camera movement, visuals and character actions. The storyboard may change throughout the production pipeline (Furniss 73).

Ryan Savas is the storyboard artist of The Croods. See below one of his storyboards:

“Storyboards” Savas, n.d.

·       Animatic

From the storyboards an animatic or story reel will be compiled. The animatic usually contains still frames and sound elements such as the score at the actual running time of the final production (Furniss 75).  

Stage 2: Production

·       Concept Art & Visual Development

The development goes to the Visual Development Department who develops the look and feel of each sequence or scene (Keigher).  This is also where the characters are designed (outputs can range from drawings and paintings to sculptures).

Below is one of the character sketches by Takao Noguchi the character designer for some of The Croods’ characters:

“Character Designs” Noguchi, n.d.

An artwork by Jason Scheier, one of the concept artists for The Croods, can be seen below:

“Concept Art” Scheier, n.d.

·       Modeling

From the character design sketches the Modelers of the studio will then model the characters in 3D that will be seen in the final animation feature.  The wireframe models are made up of polygon shapes which are linked together and are created in programs such as Autodesk Maya and 3D Studio Max (Furniss 101).

“The Croods – 23,000,000 Years in the Making” DreamWorks TV, 2013. Author’s screenshot.

·       Rigging

By rigging a wireframe model controls are added through a process called ‘parenting’. By rigging the model, the model is made moveable for the animators to animate it (Furniss 101).

Below is Eep rigged. The shapes around her is the controls.

“The Croods – 23,000,000 Years in the Making” DreamWorks TV, 2013. Author’s screenshot.

·       Texturing

In the texturing process artist create the surface materials that appear on the characters and objects in the film. Textures can vary from fabrics to rocks to hair to skin (Keigher).

·       Animation

The character animators bring the characters to life by moving them with the controls created by the riggers. The animators are also responsible for synchronizing the voice overs to the performances (Furniss 101-102). In the case of characters dancing to specific music the animator will receive either a rough track or similar track of the music that will be used in the final feature to animate the character’s movements to (Furniss 72). Between 300 and 400 animators worked on The Croods (Mearian).

·       Visual Effects & Lighting

After the animation has been done visual effects and lighting has to be added. Visual effects may range from water to explosions and fire (Keigher). Below is examples of both.

“The Croods – 23,000,000 Years in the Making” DreamWorks TV, 2013. Author’s screenshot.

“The Croods – 23,000,000 Years in the Making” DreamWorks TV, 2013. Author’s screenshot.

The lighting not only determines the time of day but can also contribute to the mood of the particular scene. The hard light falling over the landscape as seen below signifies danger coming.

“New World” The Croods, 2013. Author’s screenshot.

The soft warm lighting in the following scene creates a romantic atmosphere.

“A Different Cave” The Croods, 2013. Author’s screenshot.

·       Rendering

Rendering is where every frame of the feature is rendered out as a image by means of a computer program. This process takes very long often depending on how much detail is in each frame. Certain objects such as hair take longer to render out than a flat surface (Keigher). Most studios have a render farm which is a clusters of computers designed for the sole purpose of rendering. DreamWorks has a render farm of servers made up of about 20,000 processors. The Croods, according to DreamWorks Studios, took 80 million hours to render (Mearian).

Stage 3: Postproduction

·       During the post production phase everything is compiled and prepared for distribution. Colour correction is done to the images and the final touches are done. The final sound is added to the feature and subtitles typed out and added (Furniss 102-103).

The film is now ready for the big screen!

Works Cited

DreamWorks Animation. “The Croods: Plot Summary.” IMDb. n.d. Web. 20 May 2016.

DreamWorks TV. “The Croods -23,000,000 Years in the Making.” Online Video Clip. YouTube. YouTube, 3 December 2013. Web. 21 May 2016.

Furniss, Maureen. The Animation Bible. New York: Abrams, 2008. Print.

Keigher, Adam. “Dreamworks CG Pipeline.” Adam Keighers Weblog. 16 October 2007. Web. 21 May 2016.

Mearian, Lucas. “The Croods took 80 million hours to render says DreamWorks.” DigitalArts. 26 March 2013. Web. 23 May 2016.

Noguchi, Takao. “The Croods: Character Design.” Noguchin. n.d. Web. 20 May 2016.

Savas, Ryan. “The Croods.” Ryansavas. n.d. Web. 18 May 2016.

“The Croods Visual Development Designs by Jason Scheier.” ConceptArt World. n.d. Web. 18 May 2016.