"Frozen" developed a set of ice and snow engines to create a beautiful ice and snow world, and "Big Hero 6" created a city. So what advancements in animation technology does "Big Hero 6" have compared to "Frozen"?

Disney Animation Studio began preparing for this movie three and a half years ago. Not only did they have to work hard on the story, but the technical department also worked hard to develop new technologies specifically for "Power Rangers" , they have developed more than 50 kinds of new software alone. As early as the Pixar period, John Lasseter summed up this wise saying: Art challenges technology, and technology inspires art. (The art challenges the technology, and the technology inspires the art.) This sentence is vividly reflected in "Power Rangers".

If you ask all the creators of "Power Rangers" what is your most awesome technology this time, they will all tell you in unison: Hyperion. The candy forest in "Wreck-It Ralph" and the ice and snow castle in "Frozen" are all weak in comparison. This new rendering tool was created specifically for Power Rangers and took nearly two years to complete. Why so much trouble? Mainly because Baymax is different from all previous animated characters. He is translucent, and he is also a translucent fat man. When light is projected onto Baymax, different parts of his body will be reflected at different angles. At the same time, some light will penetrate into the body and then scatter out from the other side. Such complex light and shadow effects cannot be satisfied by the original software.

Another reason is that this time they want to create an extremely precise and large modern city. How big is San Francisco? In the words of technical director Hank Driskill: You could put models from both the worlds of "Tangled" and "Frozen" in it, and you would still be dissatisfied. There is a set of official figures to prove it: there are 83,000 buildings, 260,000 trees, 215,000 street lights, and 100,000 means of transportation in this city. The rest of the flowers, plants, cats, dogs and horses are too lazy to be counted.

Having said so much, where is the so-called Hyperion? To put it simply, Hyperion is like a senior gold medal photographer hired by the crew to achieve the look of light that is closest to its natural state. Before the birth of Hyperion, the light and shadow in almost all cartoons were artificially created, and they only had the simplest few reflections, but the actual situation was much more responsible. For example, in a river that is directly exposed to the sun, the leaves on the riverside reflect the sunlight, and the river water reflects the sunlight. At the same time, the river water and the leaves also project the reflected light onto each other, and the leaves are rhythmic, the river water is undulating, and the light is happening endlessly every second. Endless variations. Hyperion can restore the true state to the greatest extent. (Click on the image on the right to see an enlarged diagram) With the support of this technology, "Power Rangers" is definitely a visual feast for animation fans. The charming city night and the flying light and shadow under the sunset cannot be fully appreciated on a home theater or laptop.

Although Disney has achieved this level of technology, what makes producer Roy Conli most proud is not here. Instead, it is how the CG team "does subtraction" - "Our Animators are the best. Most animations nowadays have characters constantly moving around, but our animators try to slow down the movements. "Baymax is really slow, especially when not equipped with a director. Said, "He is the complete opposite of a superhero." Baymax's expression is also super simple, limited to blinking his eyes. In fact, he originally had a mouth, but when John Lasseter came to make suggestions, he simply removed the mouth. . Don Hall later said that this "mouth-removing brush" was the real "finishing touch". Such a minimalist style could force the painters to express themselves in the most original way. What's amazing is that when you see a simple giant standing there, the soft light emitting from its body has actually been processed by the most complex rendering tools in history. This wonderful relationship between "minimalism" and "extreme complexity" is perhaps the most touching part of the film.

Baymax in the film was invented by Hiro's brother, and Hiro came to equip him with equipment. The process of their creation and arming of Baymax actually coincided with the creative process of the entire behind-the-scenes team. The members of Super Marines’ love for high technology is written all over the film. From this perspective, "Power Rangers" is also a love poem written by Disney to technology. "Never before have we celebrated science and technology with such sincerity as in this film," Don Hall said.