Merging Traditional and Modern Animation Techniques image

Merging Traditional and Modern Animation Techniques The team at Tiny Inventions combines traditional puppeteer techniques with modern 3D animation to create a highly unique look.

Traditional stop-motion animation combined with modern 3D animation is not something many purists in the field would feel comfortable doing. However, Tiny Inventions founders Ru Kuwahata and Max Porter see this combination as a useful and enriching enhancement of their artistic endeavors. Both had already gathered a plethora of experience as freelance artists before deciding to start their own studio, Tiny Inventions, where they could give their mutual fascination for traditional stop-motion animation and working with analog material for music videos, short films and client projects free roam.

After successfully completing several projects, including highly acclaimed music videos for the band 'They Might be Giants', Ru and Max applied at the Netherlands Institute for Animated Films to participate in their Artists in Residence program. They were accepted and moved from Brooklyn to Holland and started working on their short film 'Between Times'. The film's story is about time in general and each individual's different subjective perception of time. They were interested in including 3D animation into their process for some years and they thought the visual style for "Between Times" would work really well as combination of stop motion and 3D animation.

Several years ago Ru had taken a 3D animation course during her studies, which she describes as "frightening" at the time. However, when she got to know Cinema 4D she was surprised at how intuitive the application was to use. "The user interface and icons made it easy for me to quickly and easily learn how to get things done. I didn't have to learn hundreds of commands because the icons were basically self-explanatory!"

As with Ru and Max's other projects, work on 'Between Times' began in the analog world: scenery, characters, accessories - in short all elements required for the film - were created using clay, paint, plywood, paper and other materials. While the sceneries were in fact used later, characters and character animation was done using different methods. After Max had photographed all characters from all sides, they used these images to create authentic-looking, animatable 3D models of the characters in Cinema 4D. The photos were also used in conjunction with Projection Painting in Mudbox.

The scenery was set up and lit in the studio and Max created the camera movements frame-by-frame while Ru animated the digital characters in Cinema 4D. In order to combine the elements, the scenes' basic geometry was re-created in Cinema 4D so Ru was able to reference the entire scene when animating. Only the characters and shadows were rendered in the end.

Max simulated real lighting as accurately as possible in Cinema 4D in order to integrate the animated characters into the filmed sequences as seamlessly as possible. Instead of using GI, a set of colored surfaces was arranged in the 3D scenes, which were used to simulate indirect lighting effects. "We determined that we could achieve believable-looking results even with colors that were only 90% accurate. A very crucial element was the direction and colors of the shadows, which had to be correct," remembers Max. "Especially since the shadows were what linked the analog world with the digital world." Cinema 4D's Standard Renderer was used to render the animations and compositing was done in After Effects.

No HDRI lighting and no special render engine were used - yet nowhere in the film can you see that this is a combination of analog and digital elements. Rus and Max's attention to detail and the effort they put into this project have been rewarded multiple times with a half dozen prizes from various animation film festivals.


Tiny Inventions Website:
http://www.tinyinventions.com