Post by jeffwaynefan on Sept 10, 2005 13:16:06 GMT
INTERVIEW
Jennifer Emberly talks to Paul Helman about the huge undertaking that was creating the FX and models of the Tripods for Steven Spielbergs War Of The Worlds
Source: www.3dyanimacion.com
Jenn Emberly - War Of The Worlds
Jennifer Emberly arrived at ILM in 1994. Before this, she studied in the Sheridan College of Toronto, in Canada, where she earned two degrees in Classical and Computer Animation, and she worked as freelance in Graphical and Character Design.
Among the films in which Jenn has worked, we can find a few of classic ones, like 'Mars Attacks!', 'The Mummy', 'The Phantom Menace', 'Men in Black II' and 'Peter Pan'. Her last project has been 'War of the Worlds', in which she has been invoved as Associate Animation Supervisor.
Continuing with the interview with Paul Helman, we have asked Jennifer Emberly on the setups, the controls and the animation of the Tripods and Aliens of 'War of the Worlds'.
El Portal del 3D y la Animacion - What kind of rig and controls managed the animators for animating the Tripods? How was the animating process of these digital characters and which were the main difficulties that animators found?
Jennifer Emberly - Where does one start when they want to build a Tripod? It began as a difficult task because they are made of many rigid and bendable pieces. The Tripods were completely unique creatures which required more than the standard rigging setup from ILM. The main spacecraft part of the head
was a huge mechanical structure that housed a variety of rotational joints activating pistons that allowed the neck to compress, extend and pivot over the fenders which were like hips. The Tripod creature developer, Keiji Yamaguchi, was always adding controls and rigging
because the animators continually created new pieces that would look great bending or moving in interesting ways. We added controls for venting of gases, control for the lights and even for the hairs on its head which were used to indicate aggression like a mad dog as well as for the baskets that opened and swallowed prey thru a gigantic sluglike hole. In addition to this, a series of steel structured teeth needed to move in an agitated manner, opening and closing for the port of the tentacles to appear. Every little thing we added needed a control for the animator or a mathematical expression to drive it. In the end we had over 1000 constraints and controllers for each Tripod.
The most interesting and unique characteristic of the Tripods were the legs and tentacles. The design was long and lean with a massive, ominous head on three bendable legs and feet. We worked very hard to adapt a mix of both mechanical and aquatic motion into the Tripods using line and silhouette to infuse the shots with a dark and fluid feel. They were extremely heavy and the challenge was to animate a sense of weight atop legs that were bendable. If they were too bendable they looked like rubber hoses without much ability to hold weight and if they were too stiff they lacked the aquatic motion Stephen Spielberg designed. The tentacles were retractable and therefore had a fairly complicated rigging system so that we could animate them explicity or have a simulation to drive their motion. Each had it's own function and had unique tools at their tips. For example, there were suction Grabbers to pick up people, Probes to search around such as in the cellar sequence and Needles for sucking blood.
The toes and feet were in themselves a complicated set of controllers and expressions. Each foot had 3 of its very own bendable toes, with toe tips that could spread and close. Behind the footguard there was a series of metallic bands that compressed together as weight was baring down on them. All of these little details helped indicate the sense of pressure and weight of the tripod as it moved.
By constantly having movement and being aware of the sequencing of each event we were able to portray the enormity and heaviness of the tripods as well as incorporate a creepy, underwater feel that captured the unearthliness of the Tripods.
3DA - In the film, at Harlan's house, we can see how the Aliens walk using their three legs. What could you explain to us on the animation of these characters? Was specially challenging to animate them?
Jenn - It is always a bit of a locomotion conundrum when you have a creature with three legs. In fact, if you notice, there aren't many creatures with three legs because it's not the most efficient or balanced design. So coming up with a mode of movement for a three legged Alien with a huge head was the challenge. We tried every series such as left arm, back leg and then right arm, the opposite, and finally chose to go with arms first and then back leg. This made the most visual sense on screen and allowed us to use the back leg for sitting or squatting while leaving the front two arms free to guide the aliens thru the cellar. We used the long arms to add some creepiness to the walks as they reached far out in front of themselves splaying their fingers and gliding thru the hallways. Their large heads were animated with a bit of an insect like quality which created a more interesting mixture of motion with their lankiness and added to their curious nature. The Aliens second set of smaller arms were then used as either a secondary motion to help with the sense of weight or to aid in picking things up.
All the creatures such as the Tripod, the Probe and the Aliens were animated with a sense of creepy intent, there was a visual texture to their motion that contrasted with the motion of everything on earth. Our goal was to bring these two worlds together taking into consideration character, design and composition, always paying attention to the terrain and live action situation to decide how they would move and exist in it. This approach helped provide the unearthly and iconic context of the film.
We want to thank Jennifer Emberly and Pablo Helman, their help and support doing possible this interview. From El Portal del 3D y la Animacion, we wish the best for them.
Jennifer Emberly talks to Paul Helman about the huge undertaking that was creating the FX and models of the Tripods for Steven Spielbergs War Of The Worlds
Source: www.3dyanimacion.com
Jenn Emberly - War Of The Worlds
Jennifer Emberly arrived at ILM in 1994. Before this, she studied in the Sheridan College of Toronto, in Canada, where she earned two degrees in Classical and Computer Animation, and she worked as freelance in Graphical and Character Design.
Among the films in which Jenn has worked, we can find a few of classic ones, like 'Mars Attacks!', 'The Mummy', 'The Phantom Menace', 'Men in Black II' and 'Peter Pan'. Her last project has been 'War of the Worlds', in which she has been invoved as Associate Animation Supervisor.
Continuing with the interview with Paul Helman, we have asked Jennifer Emberly on the setups, the controls and the animation of the Tripods and Aliens of 'War of the Worlds'.
El Portal del 3D y la Animacion - What kind of rig and controls managed the animators for animating the Tripods? How was the animating process of these digital characters and which were the main difficulties that animators found?
Jennifer Emberly - Where does one start when they want to build a Tripod? It began as a difficult task because they are made of many rigid and bendable pieces. The Tripods were completely unique creatures which required more than the standard rigging setup from ILM. The main spacecraft part of the head
was a huge mechanical structure that housed a variety of rotational joints activating pistons that allowed the neck to compress, extend and pivot over the fenders which were like hips. The Tripod creature developer, Keiji Yamaguchi, was always adding controls and rigging
because the animators continually created new pieces that would look great bending or moving in interesting ways. We added controls for venting of gases, control for the lights and even for the hairs on its head which were used to indicate aggression like a mad dog as well as for the baskets that opened and swallowed prey thru a gigantic sluglike hole. In addition to this, a series of steel structured teeth needed to move in an agitated manner, opening and closing for the port of the tentacles to appear. Every little thing we added needed a control for the animator or a mathematical expression to drive it. In the end we had over 1000 constraints and controllers for each Tripod.
The most interesting and unique characteristic of the Tripods were the legs and tentacles. The design was long and lean with a massive, ominous head on three bendable legs and feet. We worked very hard to adapt a mix of both mechanical and aquatic motion into the Tripods using line and silhouette to infuse the shots with a dark and fluid feel. They were extremely heavy and the challenge was to animate a sense of weight atop legs that were bendable. If they were too bendable they looked like rubber hoses without much ability to hold weight and if they were too stiff they lacked the aquatic motion Stephen Spielberg designed. The tentacles were retractable and therefore had a fairly complicated rigging system so that we could animate them explicity or have a simulation to drive their motion. Each had it's own function and had unique tools at their tips. For example, there were suction Grabbers to pick up people, Probes to search around such as in the cellar sequence and Needles for sucking blood.
The toes and feet were in themselves a complicated set of controllers and expressions. Each foot had 3 of its very own bendable toes, with toe tips that could spread and close. Behind the footguard there was a series of metallic bands that compressed together as weight was baring down on them. All of these little details helped indicate the sense of pressure and weight of the tripod as it moved.
By constantly having movement and being aware of the sequencing of each event we were able to portray the enormity and heaviness of the tripods as well as incorporate a creepy, underwater feel that captured the unearthliness of the Tripods.
3DA - In the film, at Harlan's house, we can see how the Aliens walk using their three legs. What could you explain to us on the animation of these characters? Was specially challenging to animate them?
Jenn - It is always a bit of a locomotion conundrum when you have a creature with three legs. In fact, if you notice, there aren't many creatures with three legs because it's not the most efficient or balanced design. So coming up with a mode of movement for a three legged Alien with a huge head was the challenge. We tried every series such as left arm, back leg and then right arm, the opposite, and finally chose to go with arms first and then back leg. This made the most visual sense on screen and allowed us to use the back leg for sitting or squatting while leaving the front two arms free to guide the aliens thru the cellar. We used the long arms to add some creepiness to the walks as they reached far out in front of themselves splaying their fingers and gliding thru the hallways. Their large heads were animated with a bit of an insect like quality which created a more interesting mixture of motion with their lankiness and added to their curious nature. The Aliens second set of smaller arms were then used as either a secondary motion to help with the sense of weight or to aid in picking things up.
All the creatures such as the Tripod, the Probe and the Aliens were animated with a sense of creepy intent, there was a visual texture to their motion that contrasted with the motion of everything on earth. Our goal was to bring these two worlds together taking into consideration character, design and composition, always paying attention to the terrain and live action situation to decide how they would move and exist in it. This approach helped provide the unearthly and iconic context of the film.
We want to thank Jennifer Emberly and Pablo Helman, their help and support doing possible this interview. From El Portal del 3D y la Animacion, we wish the best for them.