The Typical Pixar Animation Process

Being so time consuming and complex, a Pixar animation usually takes about five years to complete.  The animators not only focus on filmmaking and the design process, but make sure that everything they are going is centered around a thoughtful and meaningful storyline.  Their films are usually visually developed, and the process they use is one that focuses more on visual presentation and does not focus heavily on narrative as  much.  They hold on to traditional ways of animation such as drawing, painting and sculpting during their planning process.

Pixar starts off their process with having an employee pitch their idea to the development team.  The audience now has to believe in the idea and see potential in it before the idea goes forward.  Then, a treatment is produced.  This is a short written summary of the story's main idea, and many different versions of the story are created.  When the best version of the story is chosen,  the script is formed.  The storyboards come into play now, as they are hand drawn versions of the movie, similar to blueprints for the conversations and action incorporated in the movie.  Every storyboard artist receives a script or a "beat outline", which is a map of the character's emotional behaviors that need to be shown through actions.  The artists use these guidelines and draw them out.  Finally, they pitch their work to the director and see what he thinks.

Voice talent comes into play next.  First, temporary "scratch" voices are recorded, which is sometimes the voices of Pixar artists, simply to see how the dialog fits into the storyboard.  When the story further comes along, professional actors are hired and begin playing around with their character voices, as they read from the script.  When the actors are practicing, they record their lines in many different ways.  The best one is ultimately used in the film.  When scratch voices are so good and work well with the story, they are often not replaced.

Next, the team must make sure the "feel" of the movie is in sync with the ideas and messages they are trying to get across. Storyboards use their own creative ideas to develop art that best illustrates and portrays the world of the characters and the characters themselves.  The art department designs all the characters, set locations, props and colors for the movie.  The studio now uses animation software to create three dimensional computer models of the characters and props and sets.  These models are used, along with motion controls, that the animatos use to create expression and movement of the characters.  To make these computer models, they use the art departments' initial drawings or sculptures and make them come to life. Each model is given "avars", or hinges, where the animator uses this to make them move.  Woody has 100 avars in his face alone!


Sets are now further elaborated on.  After each set it built in three-dimension, the set-dressers must now include and add props to make the world more believable.  Set-dressers work side by side with the director to make sure their vision of the environment is perfectly portrayed.  The directors then lead the animators and help them add characters into the sets, making sure the camera angels are on point in every scene.  Because the characters are already created, they now just have to be placed into the backgrounds, where their movements and dialog are created.   The characters are almost like puppets, as the animators create facial expressions for them in each scene.  They often have to create scenes several times before everyone is satisfied.

Software is now used to further develop surface characteristics such as texture and color to every scene.  These programs are called "shaders" and can create objects to appear a variety of ways such as wooden, metal, fabric, glass, hairy and smooth.  The chracters and props are each given a surface texture and color, and are dressed in clothes that flows and moves to show natural body movement.  Their hair and fur also waves in the "virtual breeze", and their skin looks very realistic and smooth all thanks to this computer program.

Now, animators use digital lighting to bring every scene to life.  This is very similar to stage lighting, as it enhances the depth, mood and emotion of each scene. The animators who create the lighting make sure to take inspiration from the color scripts that the art department create. After the lighting is perfect, rendering, or the act of translating all the information in the files that make up a shot, are condensed into a single frame of the movie and the scenes are finally brought to life.  Pixar uses RenderMan, which is a computer software that interprets the data.  This software "draws" the the final image by calculating every pixel of the image from the original model, animation, shading and lighting information.  The animators use very powerful computers to create and assemble a single frae of the film.  Even with this software, it still takes Pixar an average of six hours to render one frame.  Pixar's animations are usually made at a frame rate of 24 fames per second. For a 90 minute film, that adds up to 130,000 frames of animation, and an individual animator at Pixar is expected to make 100 frames of animation a week! No wonder they get the weekends off.

Works Cited:
“Pixar's Animation Process.” PIXAR, pixar-animation.weebly.com/pixars-animation-process.html.