Graphics Programs Reference
In-Depth Information
Sound effects, such as footsteps, are inserted to match the action on the screen. This
type of sound is also known in film as
Foley sound
. Music is scored and added to match
the film. Quite often, the dialogue or musical score inspires a character's actions or body
language. Again, this is much the same procedure as in film, with one exception. In the
event that a CG project requires dialogue, the dialogue must be recorded and edited
before
CG production can begin. Dialogue is a part of the preproduction phase as well
as a component of post production. This is because animators need to hear the dialogue
being spoken so they can coordinate the lip movements of the characters speaking, a pro-
cess known as
lip-synch
.
How It All Works Together
The process behind making a
South Park
episode is a perfect workflow example. Although
the show appears to be animated using paper cutouts, as was the original Christmas short,
the actual production work is now done using Maya. In preproduction on a typical epi-
sode, the writers hammer out the script, and the voice talent records all the voices before
the art department creates the visuals for the show. The script is storyboarded, and copies
are distributed to all the animators and layout artists.
At the beginning of the production phase, each scene is set up with the proper back-
grounds and characters in Maya and then handed off for lip-synch, which is the first step
in the animation of the scene. The voices are digitized into computer files for lip-synch
animators who animate the mouths of the characters. The lip-synched animation is then
passed to character animators who use the storyboards and the soundtrack to animate
the characters in the Maya scene.
The animation is then rendered to start the post, edited together following the boards,
and then sent back to the sound department for any sound effects needed to round out
the scene. The episode is assembled and then sent off on tape for broadcast.
The CG Production Workflow
Because of the nature of CG and how scenes must be built, a specific workflow works best.
Modeling almost always begins the process, which then can lead into texturing, and then
to animation (or animation and then texturing). Lighting should follow, with render-
ing pulling up the rear as it must. (Of course, the process isn't completely linear; you'll
often go back and forth adjusting models, lights, and textures throughout the process.)
Chapters 4 through 11 follow this overall sequence, presenting the major Maya opera-
tions in the same order you'll use in real-world CG projects.
Modeling
Modeling, the topic of Chapters 4 through 6, is usually the first step in creating CG. It's
the topic that garners a lot of coverage in publications and captures the interest of most
