Changing the Face of Stop-Motion Animation with the Help of 3D Printing
By David Tobia
August 22, 2012
August 22, 2012
The stop-motion technique has traditionally created an array of production challenges for Hollywood animators, something that may dramatically change thanks to a new technology.- The notoriously slow process is experiencing an update with the advent of 3D printing, which is helping animators shift from mechanical to computer-based animation. Engadget recently visited LAIKA’s facility in Oregon (formerly Vinton Studios) to learn how the new technique was successfully used to produce “ParaNorman.”
- In mechanical animation, animators adjust gears and paddles beneath the skin of the models to create different expressions. But in 3D printing animation, the animators can print interchangeable faces for the models.
- The animators for “ParaNorman” used 3D printing to create 1.5 million different expressions for their protagonist. They originally used the technology in the film “Coraline” in which the protagonist could display 200,000 expressions.
- The animators in “Coraline” had to hand paint each of the printed expressions. But new technology allowed “ParaNorman” animators to use Photoshop to display color models of the expressions.
- The studio believes it has only scratched the surface of what could come from 3D printing in stop-motion animation.
- “I think it’s a huge quantum leap on multiple levels between ‘Coraline’ and ‘ParaNorman,'” says Brian McLean, director of rapid prototyping. “At the time, ‘Coraline’ was the pinnacle of stop-motion animated films and I think that ‘ParaNorman’ has just risen the bar that much further.”
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