任务型阅读
Toy Story, Cars, Finding Nemo, Wall-E—you have probably watched all these films. Let's go through the process of creating a cartoon film.
Creating the storyboard
The first step is to write down the main ideas of the story. Based on the storyboard, the art department creates the first draft for the characters, their clothing and emotions, and the design sets.
Making characters using 3D modelling
A special computer program is used to create 3D shapes of the characters, sets and props—this is called modelling. The decorations of the sets and props are created using a software. Special equipment is used to record points on these shapes. With the aid of the software programme, the 3D shape is recreated.
Creating the movements
The layout crew (摄影构图组) decide how these characters should move and then the cartoonists take over. They use 3D software to create the movements of each character, the skeleton's (骨架) movements, facial expressions and more, between key frames (帧) in the story.
Dressing up for the show
The skin and hair for the characters, their costumes as well as special lighting effects such as shadows, shining reflections are also created.
Letting the show begin
Remember too, that the movements have to be smooth! The computers draw each frame one by one, with each frame slightly different from the previous one. Each frame takes 5-6 hours to create—imagine how much computing power and time it will take to create 24 frames per second of a 2-hour film!
A.From that, storyboards are drawn.
B.All these films have cost a large amount of money.
C.The sets and props are "decorated" according to the designs.
D.Some of these creations are simple but some are complex.
E.This information is then sent to a software programme.
F.CGI is often applied in film-making to make special effects.
G.Have you ever wondered how these amazing cartoon films were made?