Computer Graphics World

3D Printing•Animation n n n n were a lot of technical things that had to be worked out for them to do that scene," says Vaughan, noting that the students had to con- tend with a variety of CG elements in that as well as other shots, including subsurface scattering, hard- and soft-body dynamics, hyphervoxels, global illumination, volu- metric lighting, and more. "They weren't given a watered-down project, but rather a real project, and they had to sink or swim." Luckily for Vaughan, the students did the latter—which is not always the case at this school or any other. "Lee and I pushed them hard. We told them this was their job. We were preparing them for production," says Vaughan. "What you see in the short is 100 percent of what they did in those two and a half months. We didn't make any changes [to the finished animation.]" Ap- proximately 20 students worked on the short. The eight-minute short was rendered on a network of approximately 60 workstations and the school's renderfarm. To lighten the load, the team tried to keep times down to five minutes per frame, although some shots went well over that limit. One of the bigger technical challenges came at the very end of the movie, when the camera pulls back from the scene in the dining room, out to the adjacent library, to the outside of the house. Because of the sheer number of polygons in the scenes, it could not be ren- dered on the school's renderfarm; instead, Vaughan had to do it on his then brand-new Boxx computer. made quite an impression at this summer's Comic-Con, where Vaughan signed the deal for the Tofu graphic novels and where he sold out of everything Tofu related, from plushies to T-shirts to figurines. "Usually Teddy Scares Students at The DAVE School turned Vaughan's vision into an animation, which contains a plethora of geometry—no matte paintings were used. Second Life Some time has passed since Tofu and Teddy Scares were made into animated shorts, and the properties have been growing in popular- ity ever since. Both are now the subjects of graphic novels—Teddy Scares already has five in print, with another five ready to be released, and Tofu soon will begin its journey to print. "Yes, I am handing the baby over again," Vaughan says of his IP, noting that like Apple- head did with Teddy Scares, Tofu will be turned over to a graphic artist well versed in the 2D medium. In addition, Vaughan is continuing to pur- sue the broadcast market, hoping for a Tofu TV show. Meanwhile, Teddy Scares and Tofu 3D Toy Factory Applehead Factory Design Studio is known for its so-called twisted teddy bear toys and now zombies. However, it also offers a full range of CG services, from 3D animation and rendering, to concept art and storyboarding. And for several years now, the company has been playing in the novelty game space and toy business. On the outside, these novelty games look like typical games in a box—plastic bits, paper bits, cardboard bits. But as cre- ative director William Vaughan points out, on the inside they were created using 3D computer graphics. "There are cards and plastic tray pieces that we prototyped and printed in 3D for game testing," he says. In fact, Applehead produces a number of novelty products, all created using NewTek's LightWave and then 3D printed. Each year, Applehead produces a unique Teddy Scare bear for the top-rated haunted attraction Terror Behind the Walls at the now- closed Eastern State Penitentiary in Philadelphia. "This is so different from working on a TV show or movie," says Vaughan, who not long ago worked on the Disney/Pixar short film "Partly Cloudy." "There are more technical consider- ations from the manufacturing standpoint to consider, but you are still using the same tools and skill sets. " Vaughan notes that, for the most part, people think of TV or film when they hear the word "CGI" or "animation." But a 3D artist can use his or her skills with 3D software in markets they might not even be aware of—games, print, product visu- alization. With a 3D printer, they can even start their own toy company. "We do toys because we love them and have a passion for them. We are not rolling in cash, but we hope to be one day," Vaughan says. "The value is not in the plastic or plush, however; it's in the IP. And having a product helps build the IP faster than just having a short. At least that's my plan, and I will tell you if it worked out once I have a TV show or movie deal." —KM October/November 2011 55 dominate the show, but this year people wanted Tofu," says Vaughan. Why this sudden surge of interest in the character? One possible fac- tor could be the current popularity of zombies in the hit primetime TV show "The Walking Dead." Whatever the reason, Vaughan, that bril- liantly "mad" animation professor and computer sci- entist, continues to breathe new life into the character he created in his virtual laboratory. n Karen Moltenbrey is the chief editor of Use your smart- phone to review related video and article. Computer Graphics W orld.

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