2D Planning for CG Shots
Because posing a CG character involves manipulating a number of individual controls, it can be slightly time consuming and disrupt the creative flow when first exploring the acting. For this reason, I’ll sometimes draw thumbnails of my ideas or make a pose test in 2D before posing the character in CG.
Not only does this workflow help me arrive at my ideas quicker, but also allows me to explore shapes that I wouldn’t necessarily have arrived at had I jumped into the CG first.
If the performance in CG requires something more complex, like dealing with object constraint setups, or posing a unique character rig, I’ve found a 2D pass helps me iterate on my ideas quicker, instead of being bogged down by the technical.
Even if the drawings are rough, it allows me to plan out things quickly so I can invite other departments, like FX, to collaborate earlier in the process, which can lead to great discussion and iteration to improve the original idea. I find it’s a great tool for visualizing things in context, especially when there’s a back and forth interaction between the character and FX.
Here are some things I’ve found helpful when making a 2D planning pass:
-I’ll use a playblast of the layout as the BG for my 2D drawings, especially if there’s a camera move involved. Sometimes I’ll keep the layout animation of the character as reference in the BG so I’ll know the size of the character when I draw it.
-Sometimes I’ll draw with more detail when I’m “feeling” out the idea, and other times I’ll draw extremely scribbly to keep things loose and keep the flow going. One time, Mike Gabriel told us a story where he found he was more efficient with his 2D animation by enlarging his thumbnails in the xerox machine, cutting them out, taping them to his animation paper, and using them as his animation keys. When I was on Moana, I tried the modern equivalent of this by shrinking down my digital canvas size so I was forced to make thumbnail drawings. I found the thumbnails forced me to keep the poses clear and not get too focused on the details.
-When I’m done with my 2D planning pass, I’ll add the mov file as an image plane to the camera, but I’ll have the image plane off to the side as reference, not directly behind the CG character. I’m not rotoscoping the CG to the 2D, but instead I’ll want to match the spirit of the pose/idea using the rig.
-I consider my 2D planning as the step before the actual Blocking Pass. If I feel there’s a better option as I’m posing in CG, I’ll pose that instead. If you look at the video at the top of this post, you’ll see I’m sometimes deviating from either the timing or poses in the planning for a better idea (Note how the baby raccoon reacts differently in my final version in the gif below). These ideas can come from directors, yourself, or your peers. Just remember, your 2D planning pass is like a rough draft. Don’t be precious about it or unwilling to change it. It’s just another tool to help tap all the entertainment potential in your shot!
