Quiet Man 3D animator Dave Shirk recently tackled one of the most challenging projects of his career for the nonprofit World Wildlife Fund . Part anatomy lesson, part fur styling session, the process involved bringing a panda bear to life for the WWF fund-raising campaign. He crawls in, curls up and peacefully goes to sleep. Click for large image Producing the spot with a live panda was not possible, so WWF executives decided to use computer graphics to convey their message.
Animators generally rely on two approaches to create the illusion of life.
Though it was obviously artwork, I needed to ensure the character would still generate empathy in viewers. No matter what the look, if the performance doesn't ring true, I have failed as an animator. We spent a great deal of time creating a stylized look and tuning the panda's performance. Click for large image Evolving a style of motion for a character begins by studying anatomy to determine how its real-life counterpart moves. Shirk developed an understanding of the anatomic details by looking at film footage of pandas.