Making Movies
CS 551/645
Fall 2000
Assignment 4
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Use BMRT to render RenderMan scenes
– BMRT is freeware version of a raytracer
that renders RenderMan ‘RIB’ files
– RenderMan is Pixar product used to render
most CG in movies and commercials
Goals
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Learn RenderMan Commands
Construct RIB files
Build object to camera space transformation
Write multiple shaders
Learn RenderMan Commands
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Basic commands are like OpenGL
– RiTranslate, RiScale, RiColor…
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We’ll discuss advanced commands in class
Additional references
– www.bmrt.org, www.rendermania.com
– Advanced RenderMan: Creating CGI for Motion
Pictures, Apodaca and Gritz
– Renderman Companion, Steve Upstill
Construct RIB Files
Renderman converts .rib files to .tiff
images
 You could write .rib files by hand
 Skeleton code provided will generate
.rib file for teapot on a box
 Stubs provided for improvement code
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Improving the Code
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Add RiLookat command to skeleton
code
– This command should move and orient the
BMRT camera similar to gluLookAt ()
Add environment map
 Use more interesting
shaders
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– ‘Shaders’ are the files that
define material properties
Examples
Extra Credit Assignment
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Write a ray tracer from scratch
– IMPORTANT – DON’T USE THE WEB
FOR THIS ASSIGNMENT!
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Archaeologists found
this relic from my 1993
ray tracing assignment
Raytracer Specs
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Render 6 polygons and 6 spheres
Use multiple colors
Specular and diffuse lighting effects
Must demonstrate object -> object shadows
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Sphere to sphere
Sphere to polygon
Polygon to sphere
Polygon to polygon
Making Movies
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Concept
Storyboarding
Sound
Character Development
Layout and look
Effects
Animation
Lighting
Concept
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Pixar’s Lasseter is a genius – “Nothing
gets in the way of the story”
Storyboarding
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Explicitly define
– Scenes
– Camera shots
– Special effects
– Lighting
– Scale
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Used as guide by
animators
Sound
Voice recording of talent completed
before animation begins
 Animations must match the voice over
 A puppeteer once told me that the
voice makes or breaks a character
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Character Development
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300 Drawings
Character Development
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40 Sculptures
Character
Development
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Computer
Models
Layout and Look
Build scenery
 Match colors
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Matchmoving
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CG camera must exactly match the real
camera
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Position
Rotation
Focal length
Aperature
Easy when camera is instrumented
Hard to place CG on moving objects on film
Matchmoving
Matchmoving
Square patterns in live action made it
easier to track – furniture, wall paper
 2D – 3D conversion in Maya
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Water
Particle Sim and Indentation
Tools
Compositing
Compositing
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Lighting
Facial Animation
Facial Animation
Fur
Cloth
Buttons and
Creases
Texture
Companies
Pixar
 Disney
 Sony Imageworks
 Industrial Light and
Magic (ILM)
 Rhythm and Hues
 Pacific Data Images
(PDI)
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Dreamworks SKG
 Tippett Studios
 Angel Studios
 Blue Sky
 Robert Abel and
Associates
 Giant Studios
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Toy Story (1995)
77 minutes long; 110,064 frames
 800,000 machine hours of rendering
 1 terabyte of disk space
 3.5 minutes of animation produced
each week (maximum)
 Frame render times: 45 min – 20 hours
 110 Suns operating 24-7 for rendering
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– 300 CPU’s
Toy Story
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Texture maps on Buzz: 189
– (450 to show scuffs and dirt)
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Number of animation ‘knobs’
– Buzz – 700
– Woody – 712
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Face – 212
Mouth – 58
– Sid’s Backpack - 128
Toy Story
Number of leaves on trees – 1.2 mil
 Number of shaders – 1300
 Number of storyboards – 25,000
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Toy Story 2
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80 minutes long, 122,699 frames
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1400 processor renderfarm
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Render time of 10 min to 3 days
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Direct to video film
Toy Story 2
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Software tools
– Alias|Wavefront
– Amazon Paint
– RenderMan
Newman!
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Subdivision-surfaces
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Polygonal hair (head)
– Texture mapped on arms
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Sculpted clothes
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Complex shaders
Devil’s in the Details
Render in color
 Convert to NTSC B/W
 Add film effects
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– Jitter
– Negative scratches
– Hair
– Static
Images
Images
Images
Stuart Little
500 shots with digital character
 6 main challenges
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– Lip sync
– Match-move (CG to live-action)
– Fur
– Clothes
– Animation tools
– Rendering, lighting, compositing
Stuart Little
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100+ people worked on CG
– 32
– 12
– 30
– 40
– 12
color/lighting/composite artists
technical assistants
animators
artists
R&D
Shooting Film For CG
Actors practice with maquettes
 Maquettes replaced with laser dots
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– lasers on when camera shutter is closed
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After each take, three extra shots
– chrome ball for environment map for Stuart’s
eyes
– white and gray balls for lighting info
Match-moving
Film scanned
 Camera tracking data retrieved
 3D Equalizer + Alias Maya to prepare
(register) the digital camera
 Once shot is prepared, 2D images
rendered and composited with live
action
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Making Movies
Production Team
 Production Line
 Special Effects
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Production Team
Directors
 Modelers
 Lighting
 Character Animators
 Technical Directors
 Render Wranglers
 Tools Developers
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Shader Writers
 Effects Animators
 Looks Team
 Security Officer
 Janitor
 Lackey
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