April - 1999 - issue > Cover

Since the mid-1990s, computer graphics has emerged from crude line drawings to beautifully realistic images, and has come into its own as an area of research and production. Computer graphics are everywhere, from video games and movies to hospital medical imaging systems to military flight simulators to the Internet. The computer graphics that dazzled audiences in Jurassic Park and Terminator 2 prompted increased interest in the use of computer graphics (or CG, as it is popularly known) to entertain, to educate and to explore new possibilities in visual images.

From Real-World to 3D Life

There are many ways to load raw images into a computer. Hand-drawn paintings or photographs can be scanned into the computer. Popular paint programs like Adobe Photoshop/Illustrator or CorelDRAW allow you to create (and modify) images directly on the computer. Stunning images like those seen in the recent films Antz and A Bug’s Life reveal the real power lurking within computer graphics — the heady feeling of creating a whole new world inside your own computer.

The new worlds created by the CG artist are based on complex mathematical equations and are stored in the computer in terms of precise mathematical descriptions. In this computer-simulated world, you are the “photographer” who defines the lighting, camera positioning and object (known as models) placement. When you “click” the camera, the computer will generate the desired image for you (using a process called rendering) based on the light and camera position (point of view) data you have specified. If we can define the models (or the camera) in our CG world to move in time, and also continue to shoot sequential images, these images can be played back to generate a movie, or what is known as a CG animation.

That’s Entertainment

3D graphics have exploded into the entertainment industry. George Lucas started the trend with Star Wars, for which computer science grads worked hand in hand with artists to generate the spectacular effects seen in the film. In 1995, PIXAR Animation Studios became the first company to produce an entirely computer animated movie, Toy Story. Video games and theme park rides also draw from the rich and realistic imagery generated by the computer to delight their audiences. The Internet has caught even more CG converts in its Web.
Education is an area that stands to gain much with the use of computer graphics. “If CG is appropriately used it can greatly enhance the learning process – and the operative word is ‘appropriately!’” says Arati Nagaraj, an educational consultant working in Boston. “While at Addison Wesley Longman, I managed the development of a college-level physics course. We used animations and simulations to explain the hard-to-demonstrate concepts like harmonics, the Doppler effect and so forth. The use of CG made the student think, reason and problem-solve, thus making it a more lasting experience.”

Skills and Schools

Computer graphics requires an exciting blend of left brain creativity with right brain logic. Most companies hire two broad categories of employees to work together to create aesthetically pleasing productions: the computer scientist and the artist. There are also those gifted few who excel in both areas – if you are one of those lucky people, expect your skills to be in great demand.
Those with a strong background in computer science or math normally become technical directors or TDs. A technical director is responsible for all the technical aspects of the production, from modeling and custom-programming objects for the artists’ use, right down to shading and lighting. Sometimes TDs also set up shots for the production, write shell scripts, maintain databases of the production paraphernalia, or write code to transfer images from the computer onto film. TDs generally adapt to the task at hand, depending on what is needed.

Technical directors (TDs) should be comfortable with computers and be able to reason in an analytical manner. Most production houses have their own in-house software tools that are used by TDs. As long as the TD has a general knowledge of basic concepts in programming as well as a good grasp of the principles of computer graphics, it should be easy to gain proficiency with the in-house tools.
Until recently, most production houses worked on SGI machines, so a knowledge of the SGI graphics library was always a plus. These days, with the PC platform evolving rapidly, many production houses (especially game production companies) are moving to the cheaper alternative.

It’s Not All Point and Click

To create superior CG, artists and animators need to have traditional illustration skills, besides the technical expertise. “You don’t have to be great, but it is vitally important to be good at illustration, since digital artists are also required to sketch story boards and propose ideas before starting on the computer,” says Dave Watt senior 3D artist for Z-Axis Ltd. “Usually an artist will go to a school like the California Institute of Art. A student will create a portfolio of drawings and also animate a 2d film,” says Bob Peterson, a story artist at Pixar. He adds: “All story artists can draw – and were usually class clowns when they were in elementary schools.”
“For the artist to be good, he must be a student of many disciplines. Some of these include editing, acting, film-pacing, art composition, comedy, drama, etc.,” says Peterson.

No amount of good computer skills will mask a lack of traditional animation knowledge — which is still the basis on which all computer animators need to build. Animators are not usually ‘required’ to have computer skills — it’s the animation skills that count. At Pixar, the belief is that a good animator can animate using any tool. The tool should be easy enough for anyone to use.

Whether you aim to be an animator or a technical director, a killer demo reel is a must. “Every sequence in your reel should be good enough to put into the cut scene of the production. Leave out anything that won’t blow off the socks of a potential employer,” says Watt.

The ACM Siggraph conference held in late summer every year is the best place to learn more and to find a job. To trace the latest research and keep up with advances in CG, the proceedings of the annual Siggraph and exposition is hard to beat. Find out more about it at www.siggraph.org.

What Does It Pay?

TDs can expect to earn from $50,000, upwards – and experienced TDs can make between $100,000 to $150,000 annually. The ultimate achievement for a TD is to receive the Academy Award, like Bill Reeves for his short film Tin Toy. Reeves was technical supervisor for Toy Story and A Bug’s Life.

The opportunities of being a TD are tremendous. Most game companies now employ 3D CG, including Sony and Nintendo. Almost all movies now contract out some part of their movie budget to a 3D CG company that will work on every stage of the movie to make it realistic, from matting and compositing to hidden wire removal. Most hi-tech companies now employ CG for creating in-house training videos.

Although animators may start off at a lower salary of about $40,000, they can graduate quickly through the ranks, earning up to $200,000 annually. Many production houses hire non-exempt employees, which means that although an employee’s base pay may be lower than industry standard, employees will be reimbursed about twice their salary for overtime. And, of course, with all the workload, the overtime can really add up!

Jan Pinkava, who was recently awarded an Oscar for his short film Geri’s Game, started off as an animator. John Lasseter, director of Toy Story and A Bug’s Life, has received two Oscars, one for his short film Tin Toy and one for Toy Story. Says Pinkava, “I love animated films. Animation has unlimited possibilities for story telling and artistry.”

The Future

Besides the entertainment industry, let’s take a look at the key areas where CG is being used and the areas where it is gaining a foothold.
Virtual Reality: Virtual Reality (VR) is a computer-generated artificial reality that is so enveloping that it is perceived by the mind as being real. VR today represents the extent to which CG is being pushed. In a traditional VR scenario, a headset would transmit simulated sights and sounds, and a data glove would enable you to interact with the virtual world. Although this technology is currently used mostly in games and in some military training equipment, someday it will allow doctors to train on virtual human bodies, allow student to experiment with new ideas.

Medicine: Hospitals and medical research labs are relying more and more on CG to display images of internal organs and tissues. As technology progresses, it will soon be possible for doctors to view these organs as holographic images, as if the real thing existed right in front of them.

Defense: Flight simulators displaying real time graphics images are used extensively to train pilots to fly, fight and defend themselves. NASA does extensive rocket simulations and testing on computers before attempting the actual launch.

Architecture and other areas: Architects have started to create 3D walk-throughs of proposed buildings and architectures. Real estate agents are employing 3D graphics to show prospective clients what their dream home may look like.
Combining CG with the mechanical movement of objects allow companies to simulate the behavior of their product before they start expensive mass production. This idea is catching on with companies ranging from designing shampoo bottles to creating detailed models of a car and testing its internal functionality.

The Internet: Everyone’s using graphics on their Web sites to make them more attractive and garner more attention. With the advent of technological improvements, the Internet will begin to be colonized by faster loading and more complex graphics, the ideal online environment for education, information and fun.
As more and more research and technology develops, the possible CG applications become more complex. If the 90’s was the decade of the PC, expect the 2000’s to be the decade of computer graphics.