Modification of Visual Styles in Computer Animation

Abstract

Modern digital technologies applied in animation have reached a level which allows for attaining maximum realism in recreating invented worlds and characters.
While facilitating and accelerating the production process, 3D modeling programs, motion capture technologies, game engines, simulations of natural phenomena and physical properties of objects hamper the creation of the director’s authorly visual style. To solve this problem, animators and production companies tend to modify the visual style of their work by employing the artistic techniques typical for cel animation.
The combination of artistic techniques with technological innovations allows the animators to add a unique visual style to computer animation.
The analysis of modern animated works made it possible to identify the main methods and means used by the authors to correlate the visual solution with the director's conception. Stylization of 3D computer graphics as 2D is made by using non-photorealistic rendering and game engines that process images in real time, e. g. the employment of a «cel-shading» render, which uses a solid color fill, explicit chiaroscuro borders, a limited number of colors, and an outline stroke.
The addition of two-dimensional lines created on top of three-dimensional objects in three-dimensional space is also applied. Mixing animation with other types of graphics, such as comic book, helps achieve stunning up-to-date results. The emphasis on decorativeness, “artistic” images, the texture of the materials, light and shadow let you get the picture in the "hand-paint" style.
Experiments with artistic design via the latest computer technologies change the approach to new imagery. The fusion of artistic means and the technological possibilities of modern CGI is becoming mainstream in creating a unique visual style