"What do you think about this?"

In an inconspicuous house in Beitong, Zhou Fangyuan hugged Yang Mingjue and asked softly.

Although, cough cough, everything is already there, but the two are still thin-skinned after all, and it is impossible to really live together in front of the family, so as long as they go back to Beitong, when the two of them are together, they are basically in this small house.

This is the group's assets, purchased in the name of the group, of course, the only ones who can use it are Zhou Fangyuan and Yang Mingjue, other people's words, what they know can't be used, and they don't know what they can use, just like Zhou's father and Zhou's mother, as the emperor of the group, of course, they can ignore the rules that many lower-level employees need to abide by. But what's the use? Zhou Fangyuan won't let them know about such a nest, so they naturally can't use it.

"I'm not sure, what do you think...... Do animated films really have a future?"

Yang Mingjue has always been a vigorous and resolute woman on weekdays and in the minds of ordinary people.

The idea is very right, once she has made up her mind, others can't change it, even her parents, many times can't influence her thoughts, but at this moment, she is like a little kitten, shrunk into a ball, her face is full of worry and uncertainty.

Zhou Fangyuan can understand her thoughts, after all, in China, animation has always given people a very low-end feeling. Because of the influence of mainstream values in society, the vast majority of people, even if they don't really agree with this in their hearts, are also shaken by their own environment and the ideas of other people around them.

However, now that it is 5002 years old, as a person who has already entered the society and is engaged in related work, it is very undesirable to have such an idea. Of course, he doesn't want to criticize anything, and Yang Mingjue's current performance, it's hard for you to say whether she really has no bottom in her heart, maybe she is deliberately coquettish to her lover? Therefore, he can only explain to Yang Mingjue the value and importance of animation and further animated films, as well as the future development direction and prospects through his own perspective.

It is true that before this, the domestic animation market, including the animated film market, has always been relatively chaotic and distorted, full of a large number of low-necked and childish works, and it seems that only kindergarten children will watch animation.

But in foreign countries, whether it is rice or Fuso, animated films are a very important classification.

It's not that we have to be the same as others, but the problem is, let's not talk about Fusang, over there, Hollywood is the center of world cinema, even if you are a patriotic person, you must admit it. At least in the first decade of the 21st century, or even the first fifteen or twenty years, Hollywood's position is difficult to shake. It has the most mature film industry, the most movie stars, the best directors and behind-the-scenes, and the most experienced team...... Of course, there is also the most demanding audience. But even so, animated films still have a very important place in Hollywood, so can you say that this thing has no future?

What should be considered is not the simple question of whether animated films have a future, but the more complex question of how to make animated films.

The specific production process of animated films is actually not that complicated.

But it's very, very cumbersome.

First of all, the division of labor is extremely detailed. It is usually divided into pre-production, mid-production, and post-production. The pre-production includes planning, work setting, fundraising, etc., the mid-production includes storyboards, original paintings, intermediate paintings, animations, coloring, background painting, photography, dubbing, recording, etc., and the post-production includes editing, special effects, subtitles, compositing, test screenings, etc.

In terms of pre-production, the first is the script: the script of an animated film is very different from that of TV and film. Cartoon scripts should avoid complex dialogues and focus on storytelling with screen movements, and the best animations are won by funny movements. The fewer lines there are, the greatest stimulation of the audience's imagination. The director then draws a comic-book-like sketch based on the text script to express the actions described in the script. While drawing the shots in the storyboard, there should be corresponding explanations for the actions, lines, time, camera instructions, and screen connections. In general, a 30-minute animation script requires about 800 drawings and storyboards. Finally, there is the filming schedule, which is a schedule of the entire film production prepared by the director to guide the work of all parties in the animation creation collective in a unified and coordinated manner.

Mid-production is the key, especially in the design stage, the design work includes character design, scene design, prop design and lens design, etc., and the design should be carried out in accordance with strict standards, so that the staff in the next production link can refer to it conveniently. At the same time, the movements of the animation must match the music, so the sound recording and animation production are carried out at the same time. After the recording is completed, the sound is accurately mapped to each frame position for the animator to refer to.

Here, depending on the type of animation produced, the composition of the crew members is slightly different.

First of all, there must be a producer for 2D animation, and the producer's job is mainly to plan the production schedule, arrange the production schedule every day, find a production company and an investment company, and work together with the executive production to ensure that each component of the project can be put together on time and correctly. Then there is supervision, which is the Japanese name for supervision, and in English it is Director, that is, director. The director of Fuso Animation is the key to determining the atmosphere and style of the whole work, and is in charge of the pace, atmosphere, and twists of the story. Even if the characters are the same, the same style and production team, they will have completely different styles depending on the director.

Scripts, or scenarios in English, write the plot of the story in plain text, including scenes, locations, background sound effects, character dialogues, character actions, etc. Painting supervision: Correct the finished product of the original painting and animation, check whether the finished product conforms to the character settings, whether the movement is smooth, etc. You can re-paint when necessary, so you must be a veteran original artist or animator to do it. Color designation: The work of specifying the color is called, also called color setting, and there are names such as ColorSetting, ColorStyling, ColorDesigner, ColorCoordinator, and ColorKey in English. In addition to specifying the intrinsic color, it is more important to specify the shadow color and gradation color required for coloring.

There is a very important job called original painting. Concept art is also called key animation, and original art creation is the animation designer who draws some key pictures of the action. Drawing the beginning and end of the action of the characters in the picture on paper in the form of line drawings are several key dynamic moments that can reflect the characteristics of a complete action process. It can effectively control the range of action and accurately and specifically describe the characteristics of action. There is also an intermediate painting behind the original painting, which generally refers to the picture that depicts the process of change between the original paintings according to the necessary movement laws. The function is to fill in the process between the original paintings, so that they can be expressed close to the natural movements.

In terms of music, there is also a sound supervisor, who is responsible for the arrangement of the insertion soundtrack, the preparation of the effect sound, the dubbing recording, and the supervision of the mixing project.

The character setting is also very important, because it is not only necessary to let the subsequent painters know the appearance of the character, but also to indicate the character's facial features, eyes, expressions, etc., and at the same time to design several character images viewed from different angles. Props must also be set, and the work that is responsible for the design of tools, machines, vehicles, weapons, etc., in the animation, in addition to drawing the shape of the machine, the detailed structure and movement mode must also be indicated.

Storyboarding, this is amazing, they are the first step in converting words into pictures, drawing storyboards need to follow the instructions of the script, turn them into pictures in your mind and draw them on paper. The purpose of storyboarding is to break down the complete animation animation into a table of shots, and the time of each shot, the number of shots, camera movement, dialogue, special effects, etc. should be indicated next to the storyboard.

Layout, which is used in theatrical productions, such as designing multiple layers of backgrounds, so that each layer of background moves at a different speed to express a realistic sense of distance and proximity. The person drawing the layout must be aware of the presence of the camera in their minds. The main purpose is to make up for the storyboard drawn by the director, and carefully present the messy and simple picture as the basis for the production of the original painting, animation, background, etc. Mamoru Oshii's works, such as the Mobile Police Theater and Ghost in the Shell, make use of a lot of layout. The feature is that you can express 3D visuals even with 2D paintings."

Look, this is the basic configuration of an animation production team, almost all 2D animations are made in this way, and there may be very few of them.

If you advance to 3D animation, the requirements for 3D animation will become more cumbersome on the basis of the original.

For example, the set is used to complete the 3D scene model. In this step, many models need to be built, such as buildings, plants, etc.

Layout, the layout of the 3D scene according to the story board. More accurately reflect the position relationship between the scene layout and the characters. The goal is to allow the director to see the accurate position of the shot, the length, the switch, and the basic posture of the character.

Keyframes, this step requires the animator to make according to the shots designed in the set and Layout, that is, to set the key actions of the action, which can already reflect the character's body movements, expressions and demeanor in more detail.

Motion production, after the previous step, the animator can further produce animation details based on key actions. Plus squeezing stretches, following, overlapping, secondary movements, and more, such as mouth shape when speaking. At this point, the animator is done. This is also the core of the film.

This also includes simulation, making things related to dynamics, such as hair, cloth, etc. Material mapping, so that the model characters and backgrounds have colors and textures, and the model looks more detailed, realistic, and natural. Special effects, special effects are used to create effects such as fire, smoke, and water. Lights, by placing virtual light sources to simulate light in nature, after lighting the scene, it is close to the scenery in nature. Rendering, the last step of 3D animation production, renders the complex data in the computer and outputs, and the effects of the previous steps need to be rendered before they can be expressed in the form of images.

In short, compared with two-dimensional animation, three-dimensional animation requires more processes, and it is more difficult to control these work items one after another, in the crew, there will inevitably be a relative person in charge, but in the final analysis, these things require the director to be meticulous and grasp the overall situation a little bit, Yang Mingjue will not be a technician, she can only engage in director work, so the requirements for her are higher.

In addition to 2D animation and 3D animation, there is also a relatively niche category called stop motion animation.

Stop-motion animation is the process of shooting objects frame by frame and then showing them continuously, resulting in characters that seem to come to life or any bizarre character you can imagine. Stop-motion animation, as it is commonly referred to, is performed by clay puppets, puppets or mixed-media characters. The history of this form of animation is as long, if not older, than the history of hand-drawn animation in the traditional sense.

The requirements for stop-motion animation will be slightly different from two-dimensional animation or three-dimensional animation, or it makes sense to think of stop-motion animation as a miniature version of a normal movie.

For example, it has hardware requirements, including a set platform, a professional lighting system, an intelligent shooting camera, a stop-motion professional shooting track, a gimbal professional photography gimbal, etc., which are almost the same as normal movies.

In terms of software, StopMotionStudio stop-motion animation production software provides all the functions of shooting stop motion animation, such as unique counterpoint animation, onion skin, and real-time keying, which can monitor the effect of shooting in real time, and effectively avoid post-production rework during the pre-shooting process. The toolbox provides all the tools and accessories you need for stop motion animation, such as intricate metal character skeletons, eyeballs, clay modeling tools, acrylic foam landscaping tools, and more.

The resolution of a single frame of DV is not as high as DC, but because it is directly connected to the computer by FireWire and captures the picture at any time through the software, it is more intuitive to look at, easier to operate, and can fully meet the requirements of TV broadcast quality. The imaging quality of the DC is quite good, and it can completely exceed the quality of TV broadcasting. However, since you have to shoot the footage and then import it to the computer to see the shooting results clearly, it is relatively troublesome to operate.

Other tools include, but are not limited to, clay, rubber, silicone, soft pottery, as well as plaster, resin clay, etc., which can be used as the main materials for character crafting. Tools such as aluminum wire, acrylic, model paint, and sculpture knives are also common materials in the process of making characters.

It's just a small crew, a small shooting scene, and if you can't catch up with all the actors, you won't move by yourself.

And the difficulty of filming is very high, the process is very complicated, although the effect is quite good, and it is also very popular with some people, but in the film market or animation market, stop motion animation has never been the mainstream choice.

The reason is simple, the advantages and disadvantages of stop motion animation are simply too obvious.