If you think *your* long hair is high maintenance ...

[Kerynna]

... try being a cartoon character! ;)



Audiences flocking to "Shrek Forever After (http://www.nbcdfw.com/topics?topic=Shrek+Forever+After)" this weekend will see a new look to the world's hottest ogre, Fiona, voiced by Cameron Diaz (http://www.nbcdfw.com/topics?topic=Cameron+Diaz). In Fiona's alternate universe, which plays out in the film, she's a warrior who lets her beautiful ogre hair fall to her very capable shoulders. The seemingly simple hair-departure was a major deal for the Dreamworks (http://www.nbcdfw.com/topics?topic=DreamWorks+Animation+SKG+Inc.) film.

"That's actually really, really difficult to do," director Mike Mitchell (http://www.nbcdfw.com/topics?topic=Mike+Mitchell) tells PopcornBiz. "I was really excited to do it, it fit her character. But to take her hair down was a really special thing."

It turns out that animating long hair is an incredibly difficult (and expensive) process. Mitchell had to clear the decision by Dreamworks brass. "I had to prepare like a lawyer and say, 'This is worth it. We need to take the hair down.'" When it was cleared, a team of 20 people were put on the task of handling Fiona's lovely hair.

"People know what long hair looks like. So if you have to do it, you have to do it right," says Mitchell. "You have to individually animate each one." Indeed, the hair looks great, even if Mitchell still does not comprehend how. "I have sat with the animators and watched them do it, but I still don't understand the process," says Mitchell. "I still don't know how they do it.

"But it's pretty amazing."

http://www.nbcdfw.com/blogs/popcornbiz/Why-Fiona-Taking-Her-Hair-Down-Is-a-Really-Big-Deal-94165809.html

[Tangerine]

That's really interesting, thanks for posting!

[missmandy]

I want a team of twenty people working on my hair.... *pout* LOL

[Loreley]

Thanks for sharing! :smile:

[BritishBraider]

This explains alot of character designs in CGI films.... thanks for posting!

[jel]

So Fiona cut her hair? I seem to remember that her (very thick) braid was at least waist length. Which would make her hair at least tailbone!


Yes, I know this is a cartoon character. I'll get me coat.

[BunnyBee]

I want a team of twenty people working on my hair.... *pout* LOL

ditto, and if it can be animated to look perfect all the time, not a hair out of place and perfect shine? Damn I want to be a cartoon character!

[Peter]

Cool article, thanks for posting. :)

I didn't know it was so difficult to animate hair.

[Juliannaissance]

Wow, every single strand has to be animated? That's crazy!! I love it!

[JenniferNoel]

Wow! That's really neat. Animation has really made great progress over the years, it's so crazy how they have to animate each strand. Haha.

[Bethie]

Wow! that is really cool. Thanks for posting it.

[GRU]

On the original Shrek DVD, they have "outtakes" on the extras. You'd think that a cartoon wouldn't have oopsies, but they had some really interesting animation goofs.

For example, the way the dress moves is independent of the body underneath it, to account for the skirt swaying as the person moves. One time, they didn't have the timing down right, so the body would move but the skirt didn't keep up, so you'd see the "computer nekkid" legs with a skirt off to the side!

Another time, they goofed some settings when they rendered Donkey, and he came out super-duper poofy, like a Chia Pet with an all-over afro! LOL

[Fethenwen]

Animated every strand :thud:

[Rowanne]

So Fiona cut her hair? I seem to remember that her (very thick) braid was at least waist length. Which would make her hair at least tailbone!

You took the words right out of my mouth. :) Here (http://images1.fanpop.com/images/photos/1400000/Princess-Fiona-and-her-husband-Shrek-princess-fiona-1460273-1024-768.jpg)'s her braid in her ogre form.

[Ava711]

Wow! I can't wait to see that in the movie!
:)
Thanks fo sharing!

[EdG]

Yes, animating long, loose hair requires a lot of computation.

I often joke that the computer industry could sell more computers if CGI characters had long hair. :D
Ed

[Nymphie]

Yup, every strand needs to be animated by itself, so shorter hairs and braids is cheaper and often easier to make good looking in computer animated movies. Traditional animation is a bit easier considering you can make a chunk of hair as one unity that still looks good (Ariel, Odette, Esmeralda). There is a whole chapterpart in "The Animator's survival kit" that describes how to animate clothes, hair and other parts of the body that isn't easily to control (boobs and the behind as example) I'm gonna study to become an animator, and finds these things facinating XD

[naereid]

Back in 2001 I remember reading an article on the just-released Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within. It said that the character had to have straight shoulder-length hair, because even a simple ponytail or something longer than shoulder-length would drive the costs even further through the roof. They spent like a fourth of their budget and time just on her hair. I think that was the first movie to tackle the problem of realistic CGI hair and humans.

With the breakneck speed that technology is advancing at, it surprises me that 10 years later (!) animators still face the same problems.

[enfys]

DH is a qualified games designer so I've heard all these things from him. It really explains the stylised looks of animated characters in games and films/tv. It's the problem of uncanny valley; the better the animation the more critical we get.

Bring back the markers and cells!

Anyone else think it would be funny if 20 people had worked on this an not one noticed that the loose hair can't be shorter than the braid?

[Rowanne]

Anyone else think it would be funny if 20 people had worked on this an not one noticed that the loose hair can't be shorter than the braid?

Perhaps they did it on purpose? I've understood that the longer the hair gets the more difficult it is to animate it. Maybe this is a kind of a compromise: give Fiona hair that can be considered long but don't make it too long so that it can still be managed (then wish that the audience won't notice the difference).

On the other hand, Fiona the warrior might just have shorter hair than Fiona the princess. It would still fit the plot. ;)

[beez1717]

geez. in second life you get awesome hair that works quite well by using what are knwon as Primitives, and using textures and other illusions to make the hair work out quite well. For my avitar's ankle length hair it looks quite good :)

I should show you all a picture some day hehehe.... Or maybe not....

[Renbirde]

On the original Shrek DVD, they have "outtakes" on the extras. You'd think that a cartoon wouldn't have oopsies, but they had some really interesting animation goofs.

For example, the way the dress moves is independent of the body underneath it, to account for the skirt swaying as the person moves. One time, they didn't have the timing down right, so the body would move but the skirt didn't keep up, so you'd see the "computer nekkid" legs with a skirt off to the side!

Another time, they goofed some settings when they rendered Donkey, and he came out super-duper poofy, like a Chia Pet with an all-over afro! LOL

Wasn't there a set of Fiona's hair doing strange things? I think it all stuck straight out at one point, and then started flapping around like a butterfly...

[Arriens]

I want to see a preview/trailer of this loose hair. :D

[Pallas]

Oh man. Animating being my dream, I totally get how hard that is... Respect man, respect. And I can't really blame them for chopping off her hair. More length = more movement = more brain-killing work.

[thriftesfai]

Aha, that's awesome, thanks for sharing!

[KBG]

very cool!

[birthmarkie]

Saw it last night! :cheese:

Computer animated hair has always looked doll-like to me, but in this her hair (at least from the back) did look very human or lifelike, well conditioned and shiny. It was also extremely layered and the tips were between bsl and waist, it appeared. It moved beautifully!

The way the storyline went, there was no reason the hair had to be the same length as it would have been with the long braid she normally has.

What can I say? She was one hot ogre, taking charge and letting her hair down! :D

I've always thought Shrek movies were smart and creative. I enjoyed it.

[MissManda]

I can't imagine all of the time and money it took to animate Final Fantasy VII's Sephiroth's knee-/calf-length hair!

Thanks for sharing! Cant wait to see the movie!