Making 3D Animation Look 2D - Part 1
ฝัง
- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 27 ก.ค. 2024
- In the (delayed - sorry!) April Undergrads Movie Progress Update, Pete attempts to unruin your childhood by explaining how our 3D character models will translate back into a 2D animation look. This can’t be said enough, but the Undergrads Movie will look like 2D animation. Highlights include:
🎉 5K subscribers!! THANK YOU!
❗️Important Intro
✍️ 3D back to a hand-drawn, 2D look
🧑💻 Creating my own toon look renderer
🧢 Nitz Before & After
🥃 Outro Outtakes
Links
Gimpy Test using Adobe Character Animator:
• Undergrads Movie Updat...
Timecodes:
0:00 - Intro
0:45 - How we're using 3D
2:04 - Toon Look exploration
2:45 - Creating my own Toon Look renderer
4:22 - 3D to 2D Results
5:45 - A variety of techniques
6:53 - Next steps
8:01 - Outro & Outtakes - ภาพยนตร์และแอนิเมชัน
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THIS is how you use AI in your projects. as a TOOL. NOT a replacement!
Man this guy is aging fucking amazingly lol. Like what didn't undergrads come out like 20 years ago?
A little longer than that. When the last episode aired, the Twin Towers were still standing. He's 45 now.
Who’s this guy he was apart of undergrads?? Real question
@@boom_bam5229 Pete Williams was the original creator of Undergrads and voice of all four of the main characters.
Just make sure the framerate is similar enough to the original show that people can't just instantly go "THATS CG" and bitch online for 4 weeks.
Yep, gotta make sure to manually make it go on ones, twos, and threes.
99.999% of the time I hear AI is being used for an animation project I roll my eyes. HOWEVER!
This isn't using AI generated images, it isn't using art from another show, and to know that you drew the source images being put into the program actually makes things easier for me to tolerate.
Sad to say, you're probably one of the rare few doing it like this, where you own everything that is being used.
shader is actually solid, after manual adjustments it'll be perfect.
what I'd alter is some of the movement data. the hand drawn TV animation doesn't have minor interpolation of head angles - it remains at a static angle until there's a noticeable head turn; so the mo-cap input data may need some manual keyframe adjustments.
That “boring technical stuff” is why I clicked on the video
Phantom Menace is in theatres and the Dougler is back. What a time to be alive!
Maybe we'll even get TWO toys in our happy meals eh?
Oh thank god I was legit scared it was gonna be a CGI animation but no it looks good now
While watching this video, it occurred to me that when Season 1 came out, I had just finished my undergrad degree and come September, my eldest kid is off to start 1st year at college.
WAIT WHAT?? how is this the first ive ever heard about this???? dude this show was my teen years! just knowing this show wasnt completely forgotten about brings a huge smile to my face
Can we all please appreciate how much work he is doing on this? 99 percent of people would have called it a day long ago.
You say it was boring, but I found all of that fascinating, and I'm liking how Nitz looks - no complaints from me. Looking forward to how it all blends together (am I'm sure you are too)!
I feel like to really sell it. You will have to lock a lot of the rig in place so specific parts are the only thing moving. the micro movements or jitters really feel fake like obviously someone didn't have a hand in animating that
Hey Pete, loving the updates. To give my advice as a 3D animator is that a big thing that often makes 3D animation stick out in a scene that's 2D, has 2D elements or is 3D trying to come off as 2D is not just how the 3D arts visuals but also movement. I know you were using free animations there as a test and doesn't reflect the product yet. 3D often looks very smooth which contrasted with 2D animation is very noticeable since the computer does all the inbetweens when making the keyframes/poses. Some 3D animations limit or stagnate the frame rate to have it evoke the slight jankiness of 2D, this works with a variety of success. A big thing is that 2D characters only move when necessary (done to save budget) so limit the subtle animations unless really needed and when a character does move, try and make sure the interpolation isn't too robotic and follows the animation's style. If you study some old undergrad eps and get the movement right, it'll go a long way to making sure it feels like the old 2D thing.
Some good references to look at is:
-futurama and invader zim who blended 2d animation with occasional 3d assets very early on at a very early stage
-amazing world of gumball, having characters and art of all different mediums and art styles in the same show whilst looking like everything belongs in the shows world
-pocoyo, a 3D show that demostrates that a 3D animated show can feel incredibly 2D simply through good motion
I'm not sure how I feel about the Duggler not getting a lot of screentime. You know he's got an automatic pencil and the lead never breaks!
In any case, the 3D to 2D conversion looks pretty good! So after this movie is done, you can crank out a bunch more using the same models, right?
(I kid. Kind of)
Obviously these are early tests, and the animation itself isn't the focus of this, but I do think something that would help it feel more "authentic" and less 3d animation is limiting framerate and "inbetween" motions of the animations themselves.
Bro this is like so weird to see, after seeing a cartoon from like 20 years ago coming back for a movie is so strange but
I'M ALL HERE FOR IT, THIS IS HYPE ASF :D
HOW DARE YOU NOT GIVE ME 90 STRAIGHT MINUTES OF THE DOUGLER!?
YES! THE RETURN OF THE DOUGLER! But will we see the return of Bobby Whisky?
I think Rocko killed him.
I still rewatch undergrads whenever I need a pick me up. Captures the peak of the new millennium feeling and showed how technology was once used to accent life, not absorb it. Cant wait to see the movie!
I remember this show when I was in middle school, now over 20 years later I find this channel. the internet is crazy
1. I'm SUPER pumped for this.
2. I can't wait for this to be done!
3. How TF does this channel only have 6k subscribers?
Was going to be very upset that someone was just feeding Undergrads artwork into an AI... But I see that you are the original creator of these characters! Great to see you trying to revive the show, it's a show that made a big impact on my young self and was so different from everything else on TV. Hope this continues to go well!
I think with a good technical artist you could have gotten custom line rendering and shading going instead of relying on AI which tends to produce inconsistent results.
If you utilize custom normals, you can direct the way shading happens on the face. You can use shapekeys that get driven by camera angles and other drivers as well to direct how outlines and shader take place, while keeping things consistent and reproduceable.
What do you think technical do? Ask the artists and engineers on nvidia about DLSS if you don't know.
@@mlgcactus1035 Your comment makes no sense and DLSS has nothing to do with this lmao. A technical artist is someone who has a strong understanding of the software to create better workflows and help achieve desired results that can't be attained by default. They use "technical" expertise to help attain an "artistic" result.
You could use the 3D software to render the pupils, chin hairs and any other problematic areas, then overlay them onto the footage obtained from the training model. This way you won't have to redraw every frame in those areas.
drawing 150 drawings is so worth it though! i love staring at the clips- literally captivating
dude, this is revolutionary, so many studios through out the years have been trying to crack exactly this! this is mad impressive, also question: will the program used become open source? I can see this helping the animation industry so much.
"Hey, wait! The Dougler wants to be fully rendered, too!"
You have no idea how cool that AI shader is to me. As a guy who has been deep diving into AI this is exactly what it should currently be used for, not for generating "Everything" but for cutting a lot of the work out for smaller producers. Honestly if you touch up those Nitz shots in the right way they will look perfect. I loved Undergrads back in the day and I'm very glad it looks like your movie is back on track. Good luck to you and your team Pete!
NOOO I NEED THAT DOUGLER SCREEN TIME
*THE DOUGLEEEER*
Hey, what matters is you got the video out, not when it was posted.
And dang, the dedication to getting this to work shows me you’re taking things slow & steady. I didn’t notice the pupils until you pointed them out, but I do think this method has some great potential once we see these characters with background behind them.
And here’s hoping you can find artists so you’re not breaking your wrists. 😂
WOOT! That's exactly what I was hoping for, I'm super excited to see the final product! Genuinely can't wait to see how this method turns out!
It's hard to impress me with 3D to 2D animation but that was actually very good! the technique used for the hair used for the noses and whatnot. Very stoked for the movie.
The Dougler could push the limits of bathrobe simulation though...
Pupils notwithstanding you are engineering the CRAP out of these processes, way to go Pete!!! VERY IMPRESSIVE :)
I can't believe this project is actually happening. I remember so many good times watching the show on its first run
I was so glad you clarified the animation approach. The comments on the last video were so annoying to see.
I love this approuch to animation.
Now this is a great use of ML! So happy to hear and see you aren't just relying on a toon shader. These tests are looking great already. Perhaps dropping a few frames here and there would further preserve the 2d look?
Looks great!
The results look quite good. For the pupils it would probably be best just to render it in two passes; one without any pupils and then one with only pupils. It's much easier to toon shade an isolated pupil from 3D (or even just pre-toon shade it in the 3D texture) and you won't need to correct every frame.
for the pupils , i suggest to try rendering them into a separate higher definition layer to make the training software focus on that specific part
The 2D result is fantastic! Great job getting to that point, so much effort is paying off
Im not sure what Im more excited for... the movie or just the next update video. Seriously, watching this process is so cool! Thank you for taking us along on this journey.
Good luck with the production. I'd love to see more of "boring technical stuff" in detail at some point too.
Yo WTF I remember seeing something about this what felt like ages ago and this is still a thing. Fuck the Grind is real.
DAWG this show was the bomb in the day, I could only wish to give you my voice to use for anything.
Fucking Fight On Mate Fight On
You can export it with the eyes whited out with a quick material change, and then export just the eyes and compose it
I'm hardly even aware of this show, but this shader you made looks legitimately really good.
This "boring technical stuff" was fantastic!! Thank you for sharing!
You could absolutely still use 3d rigs, but using mocap that is typical human movement isn't the way to do it.
Controlled movements that take into account a 2d space, or hand-animating the motions would do such a better job.
That, combined with layers of 2d effects (line-gen+colors+shadows) instead of just applying one effect to do everything, would come out much cleaner and would still be faster than drawing everything. Possibly even faster than having to do all the hand-drawing to train an AI that you'll just have to do a ton more work to clean up anyways, and doesn't actually solve the problem.
I've seen people do very clean 3d to 2d, but this 'aint it chief.
I am very so freaking loved both 2D and 3D It Looks cool
That is so exciting! The models look so good. Im so hyped for this movie
Man, I have infinite respect for all the work you're putting in this project. These monthly updates are so inspiring!
It all looks great from far away, just those wee details here and there. I love it though, I'm looking forward to seeing more and more about the movie.
This is pretty rad! Like the insight into the process and stoked a movie is coming! Cheers!
The Dougler needs more screen time 😂 All that being said, I love the look this is giving TBH. Embracing newer technology to work smarter not harder. Gimpy would be proud.
holy shit that homebrew shader is so good!
this is a FANTASTIC solution! i was hoping you would be able to do something like this, im so incredibly excited to see the final results!!! good luck!!!!
I've been very excited for this movie from day one.
But seeing what you've done here just has me with the biggest smile on my face. I love many things that are animated, but seeing your obvious passion for animation itself is infectious.
Thanks guy. All the best and can’t wait to see
Thanks for the update. Looking forward to the next one!
Waiting for the June update:)
The fact we're getting fairly regular videos now explaining where you're at is a relief, cool as hell, and appreciated. For those of us who donated to the kickstarter, this helps us feel more connected to it.
Gracias, guy!
This is an awesome update. Your show was a VERY fun part of my childhood. I enjoyed staying up late watching it on TV and then sleeping on the couch only to get yelled at in the morning as to why I was watching TV so late on a school night.
Worth brother, very worth.
I'm just grateful we're getting an Undergrads movie and am excited for the end product!
Where can I apply as a cleanup artist? I fucking adored this show when it was airing…
the thing i worry about with the usage of AI in situations like this is how much effort is gonna have to be done in cleaning it up. because while the eyes look fine, i also noticed the shading tends to be REALLY wonky at times. or is the shader taking light into account and i'm just dumb? a lot of the issue of AI is specifically that it takes so much work to clean up, so i'm worried about how this is gonna turn out
The face looks great, but the hands and feet are still very, very obviously 3D animated. Perhaps skipping some frames could help? Deliberately having things, like the finger especially, animate at a lower frame rate than the rest of the body so it seems more like it's actually being hand-drawn?
The work done so far looks AMAZING seeing nitz getting rendered from 3d to 2d got me buzzed for the movie... "keep at it guy" brilliant work!
What a labor of love :) The process behind this all is so fascinating. Thanks for the update!
Oh, thank God. I was so afraid these updates were gonna stop altogether, just because this one was late!
Getting to follow the production of a film in basically real time like this is awesome. Keep it up.
Thanks for the update! I don't have an ounce of artistic creativity in me, so being able to see you breakdown the process is really interesting and the early results you showed were actually pretty good! Seeing the 3D conversion technique was really reassuring.
I'm super excited all over again! I think a lot of us are interested in these in-depth updates, it's kind of inspiring me to do something creative and learn 3d modeling. I agree that it's perfect timing to take advantage of all the early 2000s nostalgia. I wish we could have a full season, but I'll gratefully accept a movie 😄 Keep going, it's looking great!
Fantastic update that answered a lot of my questions. I'm looking forward to the next video and the movie!
Looks great! Very impressive! Looking forward to future updates
Man, I completely forgot about this show, used to watch Undergrads on Teletoon at night while waiting for Futurama, show grew on me and became one of my favourites! Stoked to have found this channel and that you're making a movie, awesome work!
This is insane I can't wait for this movie! UnderGrads was my childhood, I'm going to have to back and rewatch the original run before this comes out. Keep up the great work UNDERGRADS team!
This is an outstanding update! Love seeing all the tech and work you're doing behind the scenes!
Omg!! I can't wait for this! Thanks for the update!!
I do hope you know what your plan is with the whole motion-capture thing. The 3D model itself looks very amazing with the show-accurate 2D shaded look (even while the pupils are imperfect), but for sure it's how the mocap is done what sells it; You could either be like Gwimbly, or Foodfight.
very cool and educational. great job, thanks for the update!
This is incredible and thank you for keeping in touch with the fans!
Looking great so far, Pete! Keep up the incredible work! Glad you’re feeling better, too!
I watched Undergrads at a later time, but i genuenly respect your still working on this and honestly the fact that its lookin suprisingly fantastic is just a extra suprise ontop of everything
I am happy that you guys managed to finally sort out this technical problems! You people are doing a great job! Keep going!
Really impressed with the blending between the 3D and 2D. Really intrigued to see how more of it comes out with this method.
Very cool, the toon shading looks surprisingly great. I had no idea this movie was being made, and love to see all the behind the scenes tech.
pretty awesome process & you explained in easy to understand words. Hope it works out the way you've planned it. Keep up the great work - looking forward to the movie!!!
looks great so far, so excited to see the final result
This is such an interesting way to produce more accurate 3D to 2D look, and the results looks really great too!
Thanks for the update!! Dude I've been under the weather too. Something's definitely goin around and it sucks!! Everything's looking REALLY good Pete!! Keep up the good work!!
I really dig how transparent you've been about the lengthy animation pipeline experiments, especially in this latest update. I'm also glad to see you still keeping with the updates, even with the delay that admittedly had me worried at first. Can't wait to see where you guys will be once you've worked out all the kinks, and I personally would LOVE more boring technical talk in future vids! Rooting for you
Looking very promising so far. Can't wait to see the finished product!
I heard there would be a movie a few years back but thought it wasn't going to happen. This looks like an awesome new setup and I wish the team well!
This is a fascinating blend of animation styles! Really great video and look forward to the movie!
I had no idea there was an Undergrads movie in pre-production. I remember watching it as a kid, and had totally forgot about it, until just about a month ago when it was included in one of those nostalgia youtube videos. Honestly, can't wait to see how this progresses.
I don´t care them being in 3D toon shading, honestly im just glad this is really comming out after all this years. I was starting college when this show was on air so it clicked me instantly. Now I have a wife and work as an animator for an Ad Agency.
Seems like a great implementation of machine learning (or AI if you must call it that) into animation. Its an independent artist training a model with his own art, to keep budgets low and his vision intact.
How did I not know that this has been in the works!!! One of my all time favorite TV shows ❤️
Man, I haven't heard from you in a while; but I'm glad you're still keep on keeping on with the movie! Glad to see you and the rest of the Undergrads again, Pete!
As someone who has dabbled in Blender, these models look great and super close to the 2D designs. Great job! Kudos for experimenting and trailblazing with new tech, too.