The Human race

Rochester Institute of Technology

RIT Scholar Works

Theses Thesis/Dissertation Collections

1999

The Human race

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Recommended Citation

The Human Race

Submitted in partial fulfillment of the degree of Master of Fine Arts in

Imaging Arts / Computer Animation, Rochester Institute of Technology,

Rochester, NY

Thesis Committee:

Howard Lester, Professor, Thesis Chair

Stephanie Maxwell, Associate Professor

Permission Granted

I, Alex Gurevich, hereby grant permission to the Wallace Memorial Library at the Rochester Institute of Technology in Rochester, NY to reproduce my thesis paper in whole or in part. Any reproduction will not be for

commercial use or profit.

Signed

Contents

Dedication 1

Acknowledgments 1

Project Goal 2

Thesis Proposal 3

Storyboarding 4

Hardware, Software, the _Animatic, and Soundtrack 5

The Right Software fortheJob 5

A Characteris Defined_{Equally by}Its DesignandVoice 5

The SoundEffects Track 7

The RightSoftware for theJob - Revisited 8

Character Design 9

Tommy 9

Sebastian 10

The Cast ofMillions- The Sperm 10

A QuestionofHands 10

The Eggs 11

Mary 12

Angie 12

TheBrain 12

The Anthem SingerandThe White Blood Cell... 13

Production 13

LearningWhile_Doing 13

The Voice andEffects Tracks 14

Modeling 15

Shading 16

Animation 16

Lighting andThe Camera ₁₇

Post Production 19

The Musical Soundtrack... 21

Rendering andFile Management 22

Conclusion 24

References 25

Appendix A: The Original Thesis Proposal 26

AppendixB: The Original Storyboard 31

Dedication

"The HumanRace"

isdedicatedto_myfamily:_{Gretje, Ruben, Bob, Lisa, Mark,}

Ita, Papi, Gram-Gram,Grampa-John, Alice, Lee, thecountless _cousins, andThe

General. Withouttheirunconditionalloveandsupport neither_mythesisnor me would

have beenpossible.

Acknowledgments

Veryspecialthanksare alsoinorderto_{Rhonna, Edwin, Andrew, Tuk, Jack,} and

Marcus. I am also gratefulto_mythesiscommittee (HowardLester,Stephanie Maxwell,

andGordonGoodman) andthe_manystudents whohelpedmesharpen_myskillsby

askingmeendless questions.Thevarious contributionsofthesepeoplehelpedme create

Project Goal

Totella_storyandto tellitwell isaparamountfunctioninhumansociety.

Whetherthedesiredoutcomeis to_{engage, educate,} or entertainthe viewerthegoalis

the same.Through_storyweendeavortolearn_somethingmoreabout ourselves and

hopefullyshowothers _somethingnewwithinthemselves.Astheold adagegoes, "Givea

manafishyoufeed him foraday.Teachthatmanhowtofishyoufeed him fora

lifetime."

Onecould_simplygivethat_hungryman apole, aline, ahook,and a worm and

givehim directionsonhowtofishandhe_mayor_maynot getthegeneral idea. Butifyou

tellhima_storyabouthow a_starvingmanwas abletofeed himselfandhisentire_family

becauseanother mantaughthimto _fish,hewillbe engaged.Hewill wantto_belikethis

man and agood_storywouldteachhimallheneedsto know. Storiesareexplorations

intothestateofthehumancondition. Throughhumorousstorieswecanmore_easily

engage viewers withdifficultsubjects. _Theywill let downtheirvarious "filters"andallow

themselves tobe confronted witha_{troublingtopic, usually}withouttheirrealization.

Onepurpose ofthis_{story is}to teachpeople_somethingaboutthe_waywe

reproducein ahighlyabstracted and _entertainingway.An_admittedlymore selfish goal

ofminewas tolearn howtobettertella_{storyvisually using}theestablishedfilmgrammar

Thesis Proposal

Throughthe_{many incarnations}of_mythesisproposalsthe_storyofhuman

reproductionwas alwaysatthecore. Iwantedto tella_storybasedon creation andlove,

notbasedinviolenceanddestruction. So_whynottelltheultimate_storyofhuman

creation,which istheactof reproduction?Some_mayarguethatGod'screationof us is

theultimatestory. Theeventthatsparks thecreation of anotherhumanbeing issex.

God_mayendowthefertilizedeggwith a soulbutit isthe man and woman whoinitiate

theprocess. _Besides,God's _storyhas beentold_manytimes. Ididn'twantto tell the_story

ofthemanand woman.There are endless storiesof romance andsex. I_literallywanted

togodeepergiventhatanimation (andCGIanimationin particular) allows usto tell

virtuallyany storyfromanypoint ofview.You_simplycan'ttell a_storyfromthepointof

viewofmillions of sperm andtheeggs without animation.Becausethisisaunique

perspectiveitwasa naturalprogressionformetoget intothe_biologyof sex and make a

storyofit

Initially, I_literallyhumanizedthesperm. _Theywere pilotsinafightersquadron

andthe missionwastofighttheir_waythrough thehostilefemaleenvironmentto the

egg.Thefirstpilottomakeitto the_eggwastokamikazeintoit. The_resultingexplosion

wouldbeoneof_combiningDNAanddividing_{cells,forming}thenewlife. Althoughthis

storymaybebiologicallyaccurateon somelevels andIlikedthefactthatitwas

"EverythingYou Wanted To Know AboutSex.. meets "Star

Wars,"

the_{feeling among}

most oftheprofessors who reviewedtheproposal was thatitwastoomuchlikethose

movies.The_workingtitlewas"The Human

Race"

whichlentitself nicelytoasports

announcersandblimpsandanaudience ofvarious celltypes.Iwascloser,but theproject

becametoohuge. Thereweretoo_manycharacters andtoo_manyarticulated people to

animate.SoI slimmeddownthe _storyand changedthemaincharacters toactual sperm.

Itwas pointed outthat the_eggmust alsohavea_storyto tell.So I decidedtotell the

storyofthe_egg aswell. (Lateronthiswouldbe a source ofmuchstress asitadded more

productiontime thanIhadplannedon).Afternumerous consultations with_my

committee,manyprofessors (Jack_SlutzkyandHoward Lesterwere_extremelyhelpful),

friends, andthirteenrevisionsIhadafinalscript and was giventhe_blessing toproceed.

Storyboarding

After _creatingthe _{script,drawing}outthestoryboardswasthenext_bigstep.At

first Ihadthoughtof_{storyboarding}as alameacademicexercise. But_seeingthe entire

storyonindex cardsbeforemewas agreat_help asitallowed meto seethe_storyflow

fromstarttofinish._Havingeach shot on individual indexcards gave me the_flexibilityto

playwiththe order ofthe_shots, add_shots, andweedout_unnecessaryones.

Storyboardingwas a_{very important}toolasIwasbalancingthe_tellingoftwoparallel

stories,thatofthe_sperm, andthatoftheeggs. I_quicklylearnedthatstoryboards arethe

blueprintswith which you construct your_storyand_theyare an integralpart ofthe

Hardware, Software,

_Animatic,

The Right Software fortheJob

Afterthescriptwasfinalizedandthe storyboardlaidoutIhadthefoundationto

standon toproceedintoproduction.Oneofthemoredifficult decisionswasto choose a

software packagethatwould allowfor_modelingorganiccharacters,such as _sperm,and

animatingthem. Afterconsiderable evaluation ofthe_technologyavailableatRIT,

ElectroGIG, wasnota viable option.Since I owned a_Macintosh,I consideredall

possible packages andcombinations.Strata Studio ProandInfini-Dwereboth_quickly

ruled outbecause oftheirlackof character animation support.One _topcontender was a

combinationofForm-Zfor_modelingandElectric Image forshading,animation and

rendering,butthepricewas_wayout of_mybudget. Thewinner wasAnimationMaster

byHash,Inc. Animation Masteris agreat product andfitthebill becauseitisaspline

modeler(great fororganicshapes), ithasextensive supportforcharacteranimationand

thepricewas right! Therewasone majorproblem; the_renderingspeed on_mycomputer

washorrendous! But I demandedahigh_qualityproductandifthe_renderingtimeswere

too_long,sobe it!

A Character is Defined_{Equally by}Its Design and Voice

Atfirst I tried_doingthevoices myself. Mymale voicesweregreatbutthe_female

voices wereterrible.WhenImetwith_mythesiscommittee_theyspared me no_sympathy

Afterthiscommittee_meetingtheschool yearcameto an end.Itwas summer

breakso Iwenttovisit_mymotherinBoston.She hadafriend,EdwinGray, who was a

voice coach and composer_stayingather house. Iaskedhimifhewould compose_my

musictrackand after_talkingwithhimabout_myprojecthe_{enthusiastically}agreed and

volunteeredtorecruit thevoice actors. Thenextdayhewasonthephonetoeveryone

he knew andhesoon came _upwithtwoother_actors,Pete Kovner andMerlePerkins.

The_onlyproblemwasthat_theywere unionsoIhadtogetpermissionfrom

AFTRA/SAGBostontouse them_{in my}student production. Aftera_flurryof phone

calls,faxes, and signed contractswehadthe actors. Next Ineeded a_recordingstudio,

preferablyadigitalone.This turnedouttobeano-brainerasEdwin regularlyused

Straight_UpMusicin_Lexington, MA._Mybiggest_worrywas_price,butwhenI calledthe

studioowner,LarryLuddecke, andtoldhimthe_story,he becameexcited and cut me a

great_hourlydealrightonthespot. Thenwehita_snag

-insurance.AFTRA/SAG

requiresthat theproducer(me)_payaninsurancefeetocovertheactorsjustincase

someonetripsover a cable andbecomesimpaledon a micstand. Thissparkedanother

flurryofphone calls,faxes,andfinallyasignedagreement_waivingmefrom_payingthe

feeandLarry'sinsurancewouldcoverthe actors.Thecastwas set (mymother, Gretje,

Edwin, Pete,andMerle) andthedealwasdone!

We alldecidedon adateandtimeand wemetatStraight_UpMusic_early one

morningforthe_recordingsession. Iwouldhavebeen_completelyunprepared were itnot

for Shamus Culhane's_book, Animationfrom Scriptto Screen. Inchapter sevenhe

describesthe_wayheconducts_recordingsessions. WiththisknowledgeI was abletowalk

intothestudio anddirectthe_recordingsession without ahitch. Afterallthe

took to theminstantly. Everyonewas great! Thewhole sessionlastedabout threehours

andIhadadigitalaudiotapeto takehome withme attheend.

Oh! Thehorrorofitall! Upon_myreturntoRochesterintheFall Idigitizedthe

voices on_myMac, synched_upthevoicesto thestoryboards and created an animaticto

show_mycommittee.Atthe_meetingitwasdecidedthatIneededto changethe_script,

yet again! Althoughrevisionfourteenwasforthebetterthismeant more phone calls,

morefaxes,morecontracts, and another_recordingsessioninBoston.Tomakethings

moredifficult, Edwinwas unavailable and afterthelast_recordingsessionIhadmet a

friendof_{mymother, MarcyFischer,}whose voice wasperfectforone oftheeggs, Mary.

Howdoyoubreakit toyourMOTHERthatyou arefiringher? Asitturnedoutshewas

busyanddidn'tmindbeing replaced(WHEW) andIreplacedEdwin.Thesecond

recordingsession was evenbetterthan thefirst! PeteandMerleknewtheirparts and

Marcywasperfect. Everyonehadnumerous great suggestionsanditwas agreattime

overall.Armedwith anewDAT Ireturned_triumphantlytoRochester.

The Sound Effects Track

TheRIT Film/Video/Animation DepartmentCagehasa great collectionof

indexedpublicdomainsounds andItookfull advantageofit. Professor Erik Timmerman

toldmethatI shoulddecidewhat sounds wereneededfirst,and_onlythenshouldIgo

throughthe collectiontofindthem. Thisseemed_limiting tome.So I tookhalf his

advice and wrotedownwhatI thoughtwas_needed, then_locatedthoseitems andthen proceededtobrowsetheentirecollection.Jackpot! Therewere_manythingsIwouldn't

bonks, cranks, and abuglechargewere used.Armedwithallthesoundsand newvoices

onDAT,IdigitizedthevoicetrackssothatIcouldeditthem_digitallyon_{my Mac}at

homeandmadeathird animatic.Afterseveralmorethesis committeemeetingsthe

technicaldetailsof_{story, editing, pacing,}and sound were_prettymuch worked out.I

could now go ontothenextbigstepsinproduction.

The Right Software for the Job - Revisited

Backingupto thesummer session of1996,1 attendedSiggraphinNewOrleans.

WhilethereIbecame_painfullyawareofthe competitionthatIwas_upagainstinthis

industry. Inorderto_qualifyforthe"OlympicsofCGI

filmmaking"

(the_industryfilm

houses) youhavetohave oneflawlesslookingreel._UpuntilthenIhadusedAnimation

Master 3Danimation_package,which isagreatproduct,butinorderto_bringrender

timesundercontrolIhadtosacrificemajor_renderingcomponents.Thismeant no

shadows,nobump maps,no particlesystems, andminimal raytracing.IheardthatRIT

was_gettingAlias I Wavefront'sStudio. It isa_{top-level,off-the-shelf,} professional3D

package andRITwas _{gettingtwenty Silicon Graphics}Workstations (SGIs) to runthe

software.EveryoneatSiggraphwhoIasked saidthatalthoughthereelisthemost

important thing,anditdoesn'talwaysmatterwhatsoftware packageyou_{use, knowing}

Aliaswouldbeadistinctadvantageover_knowingAnimationMaster. Thiswasn'tquite

enoughtoconvinceme asIhad $700.00 andsixmonthsinvested in_learningAnimation

Master._Thinkingabout allthepros and consof_usingone overtheotherpresenteda

verydifficult dilemma. Aliasfinallywonoutbecauseeventhoughitwouldtakeme

aboutsixmonthstolearn_it,I couldaudittheclasses and gearthe assignments_directly

Marcus Conge for_allowingmetodo). _{Additionally,} the SGIswere_notoriouslyfaster

than_myMac, so therendertimeswouldbe _{significantly}reduced.The original

worst-case calculationsfor_renderingon_myMachad been360days_running24hoursperday.

Thatmeant that_myproduction wouldhavetobe_completelydone and approvedbefore

Icouldbeginalmostafullyear's worth of_renderingthefinal_version,although render

timescouldhavebeenreducedthrough thepurchase of additionalhardware. AtRIT

therewouldbe_{potentiallytwentyrendering}machinesat_mydisposal. Addthis to the

factthat thecost of_auditingclasseswas cheaperthan_buyingmore_renderinghardware

for Animation_Master, Icouldbringbackshadows,bumpmaps, andparticlesystems into

the mix, andthatIcouldrender moreframesfaster,the scales weredefinitelytippedin favorofAlias. Inthe endtheaveragerendertimesfor AnimationMasterwere aboutone

hourperframewhiletheaverageAliasframewas5 minutes. Imadetherightchoice.

Character Design

Tommy

Tommy'scharacterisbasedupon_myall-timefavoritecartoonhero, Bugs _Bunny

(WarnerBrothers cartoonshave _{influenced my}styleingeneral). Heis an_underdogin

theraceto theeggs. Tommyfacesmillions ofspermthatarejustlikehim, andone

particularlyhugespermthatwould almost_certainlywintherace.Hisone main

advantageisthatheuseshis brainstogetahead. Hehas tolooklikean_underdogand

havean_appealing appearanceto the audience._Takingdirection from

my many

animationbooks (see_references)hisdesignevolvedinto a character whois smallishin

Sebastian

Sebastianisalikablecharacteras well.Heisnottheevil antagonistlikeElmer

FuddorYosemite SamintheBugs_Bunnycartoons. Sebastianismostakintoa

combination ofCecilTurtle (TortoiseWinsB31 AHare, 1943) andtheAbominable

Snowman(Abominable Snow_Rabbit, 1961).He islikeable,bigandstrong,butnotat all

bright.Like_Tommy, large roundeyesgivehima "cute"

quality, whilehis_juttinglower lipand enormoussizeinconcert withhisvoicedefine hisoafish characteristics.He is

also a_pleasingblue-redcolorbecause he isalso amalesperm.

The Cast of Millions - The Sperm

There arefour basictypes of spermderived from_TommyandSebastian'sdesigns.

Theyare alsocuteandlikeablewithlargeeyes. Allofthesmaller spermhave oneeye

largerthan theothertogive themacomedic_goofylookwhilethe largersperm are a

smaller andmodifiedversion ofSebastian.Thesperm are pink orbluetorepresentthe

various "X"

(female)and

"Y"

(male) sperm ofbothbodytypes._TommyandSebastian's

colorswere_originallythesame blueasthemalesperm, buttomakethemstandout

bettertheirbluewasdarkened_slightlyand ahintofredadded.

A Question of Hands

Wantingtoallowthespermtobe abletomanipulate thingswithintheir

environment presentedmewithaspecialdesignchallenge. Ididn'twantto makethe

spermhave tohandle _everythingwith_onlytheir_mouths, and_animatingthetails todo

thework of armsandhandswasabove_myanimation experience.Buttherewas a

dilemma; onlythreesperm outofmillionsusedtheirhandswhilethe massesdidn't. This

meantthatIwouldhavemillions of sperm notknowingwhattodowiththeirhandsand

theywould_onlygetin the_wayforthe tightcrowd scenes. On_topofthat,thelimbs

would allhave tomove somewhat sothat the spermdidn't look likestiff-armed robots.

The stuff with which sperm aremadeofprovidedthesolution.Sincesperm are

madefromorganic materialIdecidedthatsperm could

"form"

limbswhenever_they

neededthemandthencouldreabsorbthemat will.Theaudience_readilyacceptedthis

possibility.Notone personhas everaskedmehowor_whydothesperm sometimeshave

limbsand atothertimesnot.

The Eggs

Theeggs were atough_call, butI_finallydecidedtomakethem abasicsphere

shape,liketherealfemale humanegg.Unlikethe _sperm, Iwantedthem tohavea

desirable human_face, which wouldhintat whattheconceived childwould_ultimately

look like.

Both_MaryandAngiehave limbs but they are_permanent,unlikethesperm. The

choiceoftheircolor and "sex"

presenteditsown special problem. Eggsdonothaveasex.

Thespermcarries thechromosomethatdefinesthesex ofthechild.Whatmade _{it easy}

todefinethesexofthespermmadeit twiceasdifficult to_decidewhattodowiththe sex

ofthe eggs. Hereiswhereheavyartisticlicense, once_again, came in.I couldhavemade

one spermmale and onefemaleanddonethe same withtheeggsbutthiscouldbecome

confusing. Intheinterestof_{simplicity I}decidedthat themaincharactersfromtheman wouldbemale andthosefromthe_woman, female.

Mary

Mary isaprudishworrisomemother-typecharacter.Sheismore analytical and

doesn'tcare as muchforthe_beautyoflife. Althoughshe loves theideaof childrenher

explorationsintothemechanicsof sex and spermhorrifies her. Sheisa"plain

beauty"

whodoesn't carefor_makeuporprimpsto impressmen.Thesequalities are_directly

reflectedinherplain,yet_prettyfemalefeatures. I usedphotosof_tophuman female

models as abasis for_Mary andAngie's faces.

Angie

Angie'sliferevolves aroundromanceand_{getting ready}fortheultimate prom

date. She isthe _BeautyQueen-typewholeapsintothingsbefore shelooks. Allshe knowsisthat there isasperm outthereforher and shewillcatchthisPrince_Charming

with_nothingmorethanherbeauty. Afterall,whatelse could_possiblymatter?Angie's

characteristicsreflecttheseideals. She ismorebeautifulthan_Mary,primps,wears

makeup,andmoveswithself-confidencebornofblissful ignorance.

The Brain

He istheringmaster.Heistheman's mind.He is inthe testicles! Inthe

estimation of_manywomenandmost menthis iswhere a man's mind spends much ofits

time.TheBrain is theembodimentofthis concept.His_tophat conveys hisringmaster

ormayoraltypeofimportance. Thetoughpart was togiveThe Brainfacial features.

Originally, TheBrain'seyes werejuststuckonhis frontal lobeandhehadno mouth.

Thisjustwasn't satisfying._ScanningtheInternet forphotographs ofthebrainIfound

some_verygoodCATscansofanentirehead.Studyingthepositionoftheeyesin

relationto the_brain, Inotedhow_theyconnected.This connectionlentitself nicelyto

theideaof_eyestalks,which_{vastly improved}thelookofthecharacter.The Brainalso

had_dialogandthelackof amouth wasn't acceptable_consideringthatalltheother

charactershadthem. Itwas a small_jumptogofromeyestalkstoa mouth stalk, and with

theaddition oflimbs thecharacter was complete.

The Anthem Singer and The White Blood Cell

Neitherofthesecharacters _closelyrepresentstheirbiologicalcounterpartsinthe

least.TheAnthemSinger, a_highlyabstracted _amoeba,andThe White BloodCell,the

creature withthe_reallylong eyestalk,havetheirconceptsbasedin_biologybuttheir

simpledesigns are creationsstraightfrom_mymind morethan_anythingelse.

Production

Learning While _Doing

Theentireproduction of"The Human Race"

has beenanexercisein_learning

andexperimentation. Therewasnot a singlephase oftheproduction process whereI

knewwhatIwasdoingwhenIbegan. Each_stepfurther intotheproductionbroughton

new challengesthathadtobe learnedandthenexecuted.I am also convincedthat_every

productionisfilledwithnew challengestobesolved andthatfuture_productions,while

getting easiertoplan as Icontinue toleamabouttheoverallproductionprocess, willbe

equallyasdifficulttoexecute.

The Voice and Effects Tracks

Veryspecificvoices werein myheadwhenI wrotethescript. Myfavorite

Warner Brotherscharacterswere thebasis forthecastof"The Human

Race."

Itwas a

good_thingthatIwentintothe_recordingstudio withprofessionals as_theywere_upto the

taskof_givingvoiceto _myvisionthrough_mydirection. Talentedvoice actors cannotbe

underestimated.Edwin _(Sebastian) andGretje (Mary) did fantasticjobs onthesecond

version ofthevoice _track,buttheirvoices werenotquite whatIwantedtohear_my

characters soundlike. IwantedtoshowEdwinwhatImeantby doingitforhim butI

restrained myselfbecauseitwouldhaveinterruptedtheoverallcreativeflow. _Besides,

Edwinwasn'tbad.Pete (Tommy) andMerle (Angie)provided_exactlywhatIwantedto

hear. Betweenthesecondand third_recordingsessions ImetMarcyandthought thather

voice wasperfectfor_Mary,butwiththeaudio_{recording "in}the

can"

itwastoolate. As

fatewouldhave_it, thescriptchanged soanother_recording session was needed. _Listening

to thefirst_recordingsession withmyselfas allthecharactersIfoundthat_myvoicewas

morewhat IwantedforSebastian. ItalsoturnedoutthatEdwinwas unavailableforthe

next session soI decidedthat Iwouldreplacehim. _Marcywas also eagertodothe

recording, andalthoughsheisnot a professional actress orvoice_person,we gotalong,

she tookdirection_well,hervoicewasperfectfor_Mary, and she worked out great! An

importantlessonhereisthatadirectorshouldmake_everyeffort notto settle on_casting

whoeverhappenstobearoundif_theyarenot rightforthepart. Sometimesthisis

unavoidable,butconsiderable timeinpre-production shouldbe spent oncasting.

Oncethevoices werefinallylaiddownandthefinaltakes selected another

sessionwas scheduledwithjustLarryLuddecke (the_recordingstudio_owner) and myself

to_applytheappropriate effectsto thevoices.Thisinvolvedme_tellingLarrywhattypeof

roomthecharacter wasinandwhat qualitiesIwantedinthevoice. Forexample, not

onlydidthevoice_comingfromtheradiohavetosoundlikeitwas_comingfromone, it

was alsoimportanttodistinguishthatiswas_comingfromanoldAMtype of radio. Itis

importanttoknowwhat you want out ofthe engineerbeforeyougo inthereor you

waste yourtimeandmoney.

Because Ihada welllaid-out storyboardIknewto apointwhat effects were

needed, i.e.amotorboatengine. Butsincethis is an animatedcomedy, theeffects track

screamsfortheuse ofnormalsounds inunusual_places, i.e. abugle_sounding acharge. So

I browsedtheentireRITsound effectslibrary lookingfor_anythingthatcould_remotely

beusedforadded effect. OnceImade_mypicks _theyweredigitizedandstored.Whilethe

animaticwasbeingassembledItried touseas much sound as possibletosupportthe

actionandaccentthecomedy.

Modeling

InthemodelsItried tohaveasorganic anoverall environmentaspossible while

juxtaposingvery inorganic itemsas comedicdevices. This ismost pronouncedinthefirst

scene where weareinan_ovarywheretheeggs are producedandinthat_{ovary is} an

organic structure whichhouses a posh apartment wheretwo singlefemaleeggslive.

Another funexampleisTommy'suseof anoutboard motortocheatintherace to the

eggs.

Shading

Shaders definethevisualqualitiesof_everyobjectin everycomputer-generated

scene. _Amongother_{things,they define}theCG object's_{color, roughness, reflectivity,}

andreactionstolight.Itwasimportanttohavethe organicthings look liketissue.

Fortunatelymygirlfriend, Rhonna,was a medicalillustratoratRIT. Iconsulted withher,

and she was agreathelpinthe_refiningprocesstoget an accurate organicfeelin my

shaders.She alsoillustrated"ThePlan"thatThe Brainuses tobriefthesperm. Bythe

sametokenitwas also importanttohavealltheinorganicmaterialsappear as _they

should.Theposh apartmenthadtolook like an actual apartment.Thefloorswere

hardwood,thekitchen floorwas_tile, thewalls werepainted and_ceilingwas plaster.All

theseshadershadtoconvincetheviewersthat_theywere inareal apartment.

Unfortunately, timewas short soitwas never_completelyfurnished,butwhat wasthere

fit.

Animation

Thestyle and_pacingoftheanimationcalledforinthis_{story is}quick andjerky.

However,thespermhadtomove notjustlikesperm, theyhadtodothingssperm can't

normallydo,such as _suddenlychangedirectionandspeed, speak, anddoone-arm push

ups. Theoverall movements ofthesperm wereadaptedfromcertain_swimming

characteristics ofvarioustypesofeels. I carefullystudied videosonsperm and eels and

combinedthenatural motionsof eachtodefinethemovementof_mysperm.

TheeggsandThe Brainwere a_completelydifferentproblem.Eggsmove in

responsetophysical andchemicalchanges aroundthemwhilethebrain doesn'tmove at

all. Thesimplest solutionwastopretendthat thesecharacterscould_merelywill

themselves_{in any}direction. Butthemovementshadtobenatural.By_using theireyes

and armsto indicatethedirectiontheeggs were aboutto _take, audience could anticipate

theflowof movementsandmore_readilyacceptedtheirmethodoflocomotion.

Allofthecharacters alsohadto moveas if_theywere_{operating in}afluidic

environment.The_swimmingspermtailswent along_waytowards_this, but forThe Brain

and eggsIadded a slightbobbingmovementthat_visuallycreatedtheillusionthat the

characters were all swimming.

Lighting andThe Camera

This isone ofthemore difficultpartsoftheproduction.I had_originally

envisionedmore complicated andricherlightingsetupsto_reallymakethecharacters

standoutintheirenvironments. But,_{unfortunately}dueto timeconstraints, Iwasleast

ableto concentrateonthisaspect.

The_lightinghadto addto the lookandfeelofafluidicenvironment.Ibeganto

experiment with_fogto_helpcreatesuch an_illusion,with some success. Butthe limited

time conspiredagainstme sothat the testsbecamethe finalsolution. Ihadwantedto

refinethe_fogand_trytoadda slight visualdistortioninfrontofthecamera sothatit

reallydidlook likewe were_viewingthescene underwater.

Anotherdesiredeffectthatwas plannedwasthatthebackgroundswouldfade

awaythefurther_somethingwasfromthecamera,justlikeyou would seein anyunder

water environment._Again, timeprohibited_anytestingandimplementation.

Imade_veryspecific choices_regardingthe_manyaspects ofthevirtual3D-camera

used.I treatedit justlikeareal moviecamera andgaveitthe same characteristics asa

real cameraofthesametype.Theaspectratioused, 1.85, wasprogrammedintothe

camerabecauseIlovetheletter-boxed feelofamovie, even on a video screen. The

backplaneofthe3D-camerawasalsoadjustedto_{accurately portray}theopticsof a real

cameraofthesametype.The changeinaspectratio alsohadtheadditionalbenefitof

requiring20% lessrendertime,becauseinordertofitthe 1.85 aspect ratioonavideo

screen, lessofthevideo screen wouldbeused. Choicesinthefocal lengthsoflenseswere

also specificdependingupon adesiredeffect or arequirementdemanded_bythescene.

Themajordifferenceis that the3D-cameraisfarmoreflexiblethanitsreal-life

counterpart. Onemajordifference betweenarealcamera and_my3Dcamerawasthat

therewasnodepthoffield. Inrealcameras_onlya certainportion ofthevisibleimage

willbe infocusdependingupontheaperture,orthef-stop, ofthelens. But dueto the

computationaloverheadrequiredtocalculatethedepthoffieldineach_frame,I decided to"fake"depthoffield inpostproduction. But_again, lackoftimeprevented_anyuse of

"depthof

field"

inthisproduction.

Post Production

AbandoningAnimation Master Did Not Mean_Throwing Out_My

Macintosh.

Itwas anintegralpart oftheentireproduction processand wasindispensable in

all aspects oftheproduction.Thiswas an all-digital production. _Everyframe, voice,

soundeffect, themusic_{tracks, every texture,} andthesound andvideo_editingwasdigital.

The Macintoshhandled_everyaspect oftheproductionflawlessly. I'mnotoneto

promote one platform overanotherbecauseofpersonalbias. The righttoolshouldbe

usedfortherightjoband mosttools thatIneededtoaccomplish outside of a3Dpackage

was_readilyavailablefortheMac.

ThesoundwasdigitallyrecordedatStraight_UpMusic. Iborrowedaprofessional

DATplayer and_mini-mixingboard fromafriendandusedSoundEdit Protoimportthe

sound soitcouldbedigitallymanipulated_usingPremiere.

Voicetrackanalysisfor_planningoutthemouthpositions ofthe lip-synched

speech was donethroughMagpie.Magpieisanawesome softwaretool thatallowed me

to_greatlyshortentheamount oftimeneededtofigureout when each mouth position

shouldbeused andfor how long. The _onlyproblem wasthatitwas a_PC-onlyproduct at

the time (ithas since comeoutinaMacversionas well).Since Ididn't_need, and could

notafford, aPCjusttorunthis_software, IusedSoft Windows95on_myMacinstead.

Although_myMacisold and ranSoft Windows_veryslowly, itwas enoughtorunMagpie

and getthejobdone atthefractionofthecostofaPC, newor used.The_onlythingthat

has everfailedon_myMacwastheharddrives. Thisisan expectedfailureasharddrives

will_fail,no matter what system oneuses,butI alwayshad a_backup onSyQuest

cartridges,Jazcartridges,or recordableCD. and so_mydowntimewas alwayslimited.

Once _everyframeina shot wasrendered atRIT Idownloaded_them, atfirst _using

Jazdisks andlater_using a cable_modem, and processedthem_usingDebabelizerinto a

single uncompressedQuickTimemoviefile. OncetheQuickTimeshots,voice_tracks,

and sound effects wereedited, Ineeded a_wayto_dump them tovideo. Thesolutionat

RIT inthebeginning, _{manuallydumping}oneframeat atime toan opticaldisc_recorder,

washighlyunacceptable.Theprocesswastoo time_consuming and_extremelyproneto

error.Inthe_end, over 18,000 individualframeswouldhave hadtobe transferred to

videoinafinaldump,thenall_editing and sound_synchingwouldhave hadto be done

onan_analogS-VHS _editingstation. Thiswouldhave_{tremendously increased}the time

requiredtodo_tests, make_changes, and editinthechanges.Later_on,RITacquired some

AVIDvideo stations.Butatfirstthe_setupwascounter-productivetocomputer

animation studentsbecause theywerenot_originallyslatedforuseofthis_technology

withintheoverall curriculum. Thiswas _eventuallycorrected. But_{unfortunately}the

demandonthosesystems were suchthat_schedulingtheiruse atneededtimes andin

good_workingorder made theiruseunpredictable and_{risky, especially}attheend ofthe

quarter whentime isata premium.

FortunatelyIfounda student whohada_qualityvideooutputboardforsale at an

extremelyaffordableprice.For$1500Iboughtthe_board, ahard_drive, and aRAID

controller.ThiswasthebestsolutionbecausenowIhad24-houraccesstoa video

editingstationwith video output capability. Since Iwasthe _onlyperson_usingthe

station,thewear andtearoftheequipmentwouldbe_nothinglikethatatschool.Asa

result, Iwouldn'thaveto_{worry nearly}as much about equipment_going downat critical

times.

The Musical Soundtrack

OriginallyEdwinwastocomposethe musicforthis thesis. One_bigproblem was

thatat _anygiventime theclosestEdwinevergottoRochesterwasNew YorkorBoston.

Heintroducedmetosomegreat people inVirginiawho wouldhave lovedto tackle the

job, but_theywerestill notlocalandStephanie Maxwell andIfeltit importantthat the

composerbe local. Sheprovided mewith somenamesand_eventuallyJimCroson, a

studentatTheEastmanSchoolofMusic, agreed to takeontheproject.He definitelygot

morethanhe bargained for inthisbut hewas_veryprofessional aboutit. Heexplained

that thisprojectwas awelcomediversionto the rigorsofhis formalcompositionstudies

atEastman.

Continuingalongwith_mylove of oldWarnerBrothers _shorts, Isoughttohave a

similar musical score.Itwas_trulyfatewhen, out ofthe _blue,mybrother-in-lawgave me

a_CD, "The Carl_StallingProject,Vol.

2,"

for Christmas. Carl_Stalling wasthe

composer/arranger of_manyof_myfavoriteWarnerBrothers shorts.Itwashis_wayof

weavingthemusic_in, out, under,andovertheactionthatIwantedto_tryand capturein

myfilm. BecauseoftheCDgiftIwasabletogiveJima solid example ofwhatIwas

lookingforinhiscompositions.

OverthefirstsessionsJimandI mettodiscusswhatthegoalswere andhe musically

"sketched-out"

somethemes.Atfirsttheoverallthemeforthesperm wasa

chorusofbassoons,butthatmadethespermsound andfeel likeahiveofbees. After my

requestfor"rounder"soundsforthe_sperm,he changedthebassoonstobrass horns and

theresultwasmuch morewhat Iwas_lookingfor.As sceneswere completedIwould

provideJimwith aQuickTime movieonaCDfor himto composeto.Whenhe had

somethingcompletedJimthen invitedme overtoreviewtheresults. Althoughthere

weretimes IaskedJimtoadjust or change afew things_everythingwent_smoothly overall._Eventuallywehadallthemajorthemesworkedoutand allthatwaslefttodo

wastofill inthe transitionsandclean_uptheroughspots.

Rendering and File Management

Thiswasone morecritical_{step in}theprocess.At firstI renderedas_manytestsas

possible andthis_{significantly}cutdownonfinalrendertimes. Asthe deadlineloomed

overheadthenumber oftestsabletoberunbecame fewerandneartheend someofthe

shotshadtoberendered as afinalversionasis. Tomaximizecomputer usage and

shortenrendertimes I employed as_many"tricks"andoptimizationsaspossible.For

example, theforegroundactionin everyshotwas composited over abackgroundstill,

everythingwasraycastinsteadof_raytraced,shadowswereused at a_minimum, and all

geometryandlights wereoptimizedbeforerendering.

Topreservethe _qualityoftheoriginalrender, Idecidedto_onlycompressthe

images once,whichrequired atremendous amount ofdrivespace. Intotalall ofthe

soundfiles and uncompressedQuickTimefilesused_{approximately 15} gigabytes ofhard

drivespace. Drives becamecheaperthroughoutproduction andIwasabletoaffordsome

newones,butintheendIhadto borrowa_4-gigdriveand a _1-gigdrive fromfamilyand

friends. The_onlypoint whereIwantedtocompresstherenderedframeswasjustbefore

goingtovideo.Then Ineededtocompress allthe videoand soundfilesintoasinglefile

usingtheRadius CODEC (the compression schemethat_myvideoboarduses which

allowsthefiletobe dumpedtovideothrough theboardat60fieldsper secondandat

CD_qualitysound).

Movinggigabytes of renderedframes fromRITto_myMac, where_theycouldbe

convertedintoaseries ofhugeuncompressedQuickTimevideofiles,became alogistical

nightmare.Thebest_waytodothiswas adirecttransferfromtheRITcomputersto_my

computer. Butatthefastesttransferrates overa56kmodemthiswas_unacceptablyslow.

Thenextbestsolution was an externalharddrivethatI could connect atschool, transfer

thefilesto_it, then take thedrive home and reconnectitto _mysystem.This option was

too expensive.Thesolution was aJazdrive and removablecartridges,whichhold 1

gigabyteofdatapercartridge.Althoughthis_worked, itwas_verytimeconsuming.This

systemrequiredthatIgoto_school, evenwhenthe_{onlything I}neededto dowastransfer

files, spendtime_doing the transfer(often_manyhoursat a_time), drive backhome, and

thentransfer theframesfrom allthecartridges to_myharddrive._ManytimesIdidn't

haveto transfer thefiles fromtheJazcartridges to_myharddrive. I _onlyhadtodoso

whenthenumberofframesinagiven shot spanned multipleJazcartridges. Lateronin

the_production,TimeWarnerofRochestercame outwithcable modem service.I

researchedthecosts andthe transferratesanddiscoveredthatnot_onlywere the transfer

rates comparableto_transferringthefiles toaJazdiskatschool, butthecost as compared

to_mycurrentInternetconnection was cheaper andthe installationcharges would

eventually payforitselfovertimebecauseofthesavings. Withoutthecable modem

therewasnot a chancethatIwouldhavefinishedthisproduction ontime.

Conclusion

Manytimes throughout thispaperImentionedalackoftimeasareason

somethingcould notbe accomplishedorincluded. Itmustbepointed outthat_verylittle

ofthiscanbeattributedtopoorplanning.Theentire production process was newtome

and areas_{pertaining specifically}tothemorecomputer-technical werenewto_my

committee. Inallfairness,_mycommittee alwaystoldmethat_mystorywastoo_big and

encouragedme, nay, pleadedwith_me,tochange itor give _{it up}altogetherinfavorofa

shorter,more_manageable, one.ButIwasambitious andstubborn.Totheir_credit,they

letme_digmyowngraveandletmeshovel_myown_wayout. Thisprocesswasnot

withoutitsconflicts andinhindsightIwishIhad listenedalittlemoreto themonthe

pointof a shorter story. Itis_said, "Becareful what you wishfor,you_mayjustget

it."

Igot_mywishintheformofa_storythatIwantedto tell. Butthesize ofthe

production was overwhelming.Itadded_{many gray}hairs andalmost cost me_mysanity.

The _enormityoftheproductiondidn't allow meto_reallyshine_{in any}one areaor_really

polish _anythingeven closeto_mycompletesatisfaction. Butonthepositive _side,I told

the_storyIwantedto_tell, learnedtoassemble and managetherighttalentforthejobat

hand, learnedtomakecriticaldecisionsunder_pressure, andtheproduction was

completed. Ilearnedjust about_every aspectofafull-scaleCGproduction andthatit

reallytakes ateam toproduce ahigh_qualitypiecelikethatofPixar's "Geri'sGame."

Toputthings_{in perspective,} "Geri'sGame"was about3 minuteslongandtook

over 100people_working as ateam 1 1/2years toproduce. "The Human Race"

wasjust

over 10minutes _longandtookme3 yearstoproduce.I'm_prettyproudof myself.

References

Poole,Robert M. (Editor). The Incredible Machine. _Washington, D.C.:The National

Geographic_Society, 1992

Whitaker, Harold, andHalas,John._Timingfor Animation. Oxford: Focal Press, 1997

Thomas, Frank, and_Johnston, Ollie. The Illusion of Life_DisneyAnimation. New York:

Hyperion, 1981

Faigin, Gary. TheArtist'sComplete Guide toFacial Expression. New York:

Watson-Guptill, 1990

Culhane, Shamus. Animationfrom ScripttoScreen. New York: St. Martin's _Press, 1988

Blair, Preston. Cartoon Animation. _Tustin,CA: Walter Foster_{Publishing, Inc.,} 1994

White,Tony. The Animator's Workbook. New York:_{Watson-Guptill,} 1988

Muybridge,Edweard. The Male andFemaleFigureinMotion. NewYork: Dover

Publications, Inc., 1984

Maestri,George. Digital Character Animation. _{Indianapolis,} Indiana:New Riders

Publishing, 1996

de_Leeuw, Ben.DigitalCinematography. London:Academic Press_Limited, 1997

Appendix A:

The Original Thesis Proposal

Committee:

Erik Timmerman _(Chair)

Stephanie Maxwell

Adrianne Carageorge

Thesis Proposal

for

AlexGurevich

Synopsis

The_Story

The fruitsand vegetablesin_BigAl's Market have beenenslaved_bythejunkfood inthestore. _{Their only hope is}togeta_helpmessageto theoutside world. Carrot has

volunteeredtorunthismessagepasttheircaptorsandthisisthe_storyofhow he does it.

The Production

Thiswillbea 3Dcomputeranimatedfilm. Iwill animate and renderthis _{story in}

the3DprogramAnimation Master. Oncealltheframes arerenderedIwill output all of

themonto 16mm_{film using}one oftwo techniques: theDunncamera or abolex and an

animation motortoshootthescreen.

TheBudget

Category-Cost In Kind

Item

Film

Script 6,000 6,000

Producer 6,000 6,000

Director 9,000 _9, 000

Art Director 5,000 _5, 000

Camera Person 2,400 2,400

Sound Person 2,100 2,100

Food 400 0

Transportation 300 200

Camera 2,400 2,400

Film 250 0

Optical Printer 4,800 4,800

Editing Time 1, 000 1,000

Computer Animation

Animator 20,000 20,000

Computer Rental _2, 000 2,000

Software Rental 3, 000 3,000

Storage Media 300 0

Video Tapes 60 0

Music Soundtrack

Composer 5,000 5,000

Orchestration 2,000 2,000

Musicians 2, 000 2,000

Recording Studio 6,000 6,000

Audio Tapes 200

Time Line

October,November

Design_{characters,backgrounds,} andsets.

Makethe_{story board.}

Create Animatics.

Do digitalandopticaltests.

Schedule animation.

Startonfirstthirdoftheanimation.

December._January

Complete Iwo-tnirdsoftheanimation.

Lo-Resrendertestscenes.

February. March

Finishanimation.

Lo-Resrender complete animation.

RecordtheLo-Resanimation on opticaldisk.

EdittheLo-Res animation onto videotape.

Gain final approval ontheanimation.

Workwith composertocome_upwiththebasicsound

trackandmusic.

Workwith_{my father for}thearrangementofthemusical

score.Getit ready for recordingwithlivemusicians.

April._May

Re-renderallframes High-Res.

RecordtheHigh-Res animation on opticaldisk.

Printthedigitalframesontofilm.

Workwith_{my father for}thearrangementofthemusical

score.Get it ready for recording withlivemusicians.

Recordthemusical soundtrackina studio withthe

musicians.

Mixthesound.

Schedule finalshowing.

Writethereport.

Appendix B:

The Original Storyboard

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Appendix C:

Color Stills