Paperman, nova técnica de animação (actualizado)

A Disney colocou online a curta Paperman de John Kahrs que está nomeada para o Oscar de Melhor Curta de Animação 2013. A curta faz uso de uma nova técnica de mistura entre a arte tradicional 2d e o CGI 3d possibilitada por um novo software da Disney, Meander (software não disponível ao público).

"There is something so primal and expressive about drawing, and our hope was to get it back into the CG animation process (..)
The animation is completed in CG and the final images are traced over by 2D artists, as the line work follows along the CG layer underneath. It does it in a very flat, image-based way—it’s vector-based, not a texture map. That’s why the line work maintains its linear quality and texture as it moves. It’s about celebrating the line and letting the artists maintain control right there on their Cintiqs. The computer is assisting them to get the images they want to get. They’re not sending it somewhere else. We’re very proud of the fact that the 2D artists are some of the last people to touch the image (..)
It really brings it back to the animation in a way that celebrates the artistry of the line. All the 2D artists that worked on it came to terms with it, and as the project went along, they came to understand that it was really the line that told the story."

John Kahrs in Animation Magazine

Em termos de narrativa, temos a magia da Disney a funcionar em pleno. Um simples encontro ocasional, produz uma peripécia de situações que acabam por levar à magia do amor transformado num grupo de aviões que leva os amantes para os braços um do outro.

Paperman (2012) de John Kahrs

Actualização 1.2.2012
A colega Marina Estela Graça partilhou hoje na discussão sobre o filme no Facebook um making of que dá conta de forma exemplar do modo como a técnica de fusão entre o 3d e o 2d foi conseguido. Muito bom, vale a pena ver, depois do filme.

Making of Paperman