Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/691968
8 cgw m ay . j u n e 2 0 1 6 Maya and Katana. The render- ing and detailing of the hair was generated in Katana, while the curve building and map paint- ing, as well as the simulation, was done in Maya. "These are feathered crea- tures, not really birds. Rovio wanted them to look so and fluffy, which is difficult to do if you are just using feathers," says Danny Dimian, visual effects supervisor. "They kind of resemble how birds look when they are first born: fluffy and hair-like. Huggable." The wings, however, are smooth and appear feathery. For consistency in the charac- ters' aesthetic, the entire groom is hair-based. On the wings, the hairs are lined up in a feather shape, and there is a fluffy layer of hair in between that is clumped to look like feathers. Animation controls within the groom system enabled the group to puff out the hair or flatten it down. The Mighty Eagle, a former bird superhero that Red and his two friends seek to help them stop the pigs, is the most anatomically-based bird char- acter in the film, though it had to look and behave similarly to the other birds. It, too, is made of hair, but the hair is lined up in geometric-looking quill shapes to resemble feathers. In flight, Mighty Eagle's proportions are more anatom- ical; when on the ground, he is more cartoony. The wings transform, becoming more anthropomorphic, like hands, when he is around the other birds. "The transition affected both the groom and the rig," says Dimian. "We needed flex- ibility in the [bird] grooms as it related to the rigs. We needed more control over the grooms relative to what the rigs were doing so there wouldn't be a lot of interpenetration. Because the birds are not ana- tomical, the layout was hard to plan because the animators were not limited in the range of motion." The judge – which was ac- tually two characters perched atop each other, masked with a really long coat of feathers – presented a challenge, as well. "He had something like seven million hairs," says Dimian. R E D R U N The birds are incapable of flight (without the assistance of a slingshot), and move about the island on their own two feet. "The directors wanted us to think of them more like an ostrich or bird-like creature, but not a real bird," says Nash. So here, as with the hair-feathers, the rules of reality were suspended in terms of the animation. Still, though, the animators would insert bird- like movements and mannerisms when possible – for instance, darting little head turns or an anticipatory little flutter before taking a step. Because he is an outlier, Red had more anthropomorphic movement than the others. "Red is about four feet tall and 100 pounds," says Nash. "In fact, none of the birds are bird size; they are huge. It is a wholly invented world. As long as we obeyed the rules of their weight, they become believable in their movement." The animators used an IK/FK rig for the characters; a switching system enabled them to change between the two effortlessly over a frame to achieve some complex movements. "Our rigs are very flexible, especially the facial rigs," says Nash. "We can pull the corner of the mouth really far. We didn't do that so much for the birds, which have beaks, but we did for the pigs. The pigs have pliable faces, so we wanted to have some form of structure on them. There was a control for every single vertex on the face that you could move if you wanted to." Red, as the central character, became the animators' primary focus, and his anger played a big part in how he was brought to life. "He was the most complex character as far as personality, and the trick was to make him appealing because he is always angry," says Nash. "If he is a jerk all the time, nobody is going to like him, and you need people to identify with the main charac- ter." Through trial and error, the animators discovered that a little anger goes a long way, choosing an understated approach. The animators used reference of Sudeikis performing his lines and his comedy in general. "We saw the little things he does, like THE BIRD-LIKE CREATURES ARE ANTHROPOMORPHIC AND CANNOT FLY WITHOUT THE ASSISTANCE OF A SLINGSHOT.