Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/1011494
10 cgw | e d i t i o n 3 , 2 0 1 8 triangle with springs. Using more than 120 controls in a control panel, they could give instructions to the triangles that changed the behavior of the springs. The result was fabric that could be light, stretchy, bendy, and so forth. "On the first pass of the simulator, the garment moves, but there's no color," Kalal says. "It's just functional. "We use color maps to define the shininess and so forth." For Helen's new supersuit, the designers referenced vintage wetsuits. SHADES AND SIMS "I noticed that on this show, everything gets very shiny very quickly," Imagire says. "We can get a realistic look quickly, but we have to put a lot of effort into variation in spec- ularity when light grazes across surfaces, whether skin, wallpaper, or a dress." For texture mapping, the artists use Pix- ar's proprietary shading and look develop- ment application called Flow, to paint and shade individual 3D objects. "It's kind of funny," Imagire says. "That's what I did when I started on Bug's Life. We had a model of a tissue box in a circus. I painted each side by hand so we could move the camera around, put that pattern on the box, and do displacement in alpha channel maps to get the folds. Flow is the same idea. We've gone back and forth on painting props, and we're coming back to doing that. But, it's much better now." Now, the artists can see a rendered image as they work, with the image becoming more refined as it computes. They don't have to paint and wait. "If we want something more bumpy, we can change it on the fly and see the results fast," Imagire says. "We haven't done this for sets yet, but we did use Flow for props. It's nice to make changes and be done with it." Pixar's tailors and cloth-simulation artists have also gone back and forth be- tween using 2D patterns and 3D patterns for the costumes. "We used 2D patterns on the first In- credibles and for Up, 3D patterning for Toy Story 3, and then after Brave and all the way to now, we're navigating a space in between," Kalal says. "We're building the costumes with flat pieces, but Evelyn's coat has a cool collar modeled as a ring in 3D space. The collar is a flat plane stitched in place. The simulator says that's super stretched out, so make the triangle relaxed, and the collar lays on top of the coat." For simulation, Pixar artists use FizT, an evolution of the system written originally by Andy Witkin and David Baraff for Monsters, Inc., and modified by David Eberle for Coco and this film. "David made huge improvements," Kalal says. "We have better collision detection, so we can have more layers. He developed a new spring called 'slide on surface.' We can stick a logo on something and it will keep the same size and aspect ratio as it slides around. "Another thing David Eberle wrote in our simulator for this show is a new way to do dynamic shrinking," Kalal continues. "He calls it '3D alterations.' It works just like you'd alter a shirt." Audiences might not notice the change in the characters, which is, of course, the in- tention, but 14 years has made a difference. "We used the technology available to us now to create the looks that were always intended back then," says character art director Matt Nolte. In doing so, the crew was able to help Brad Bird tell another blockbuster story. "The methodology is different, but the goal is the same," Bird says. "We still have to worry about the audience understanding the characters; creating the mood; using color, music, and sound; making it clear on the page to the actors so they know when they're going from A to B; communicating with collaborators. That's all the same, and hopefully each movie makes you less stupid. But, I always feel mystified by the process. The more I understand, the more magical and impossible it seems." Barbara Robertson (BarbaraRR@comcast.net) is an award-winning writer and a contributing editor for CGW. EVELYN DEAVOR, FROZONE, ELASTIGIRL, AND MR. INCREDIBLE LISTEN TO WINSTON DEAVOR'S PITCH.