As an animator who’s specialised in 2D, I’m bored of contemporary 3D modelling and rendering and feel that most movies now look similar (Spiderverse, Arcane, TMNT, Mitchels VS The Machines, Wish….), but since watching Sergio Pablo’s contemporary Christmas classic Klaus, I’ve been fascinated by their 3D-esque lighting effects that have brought out this new visual style.
Eager to replicate the concept art’s aesthetic within the film’s final render, SPA studios, in collaboration with Les Films Du Poisson Rouge, were forced to innovate a new lighting pipeline that replicates 3D volumetric lighting in a 2D space. In doing so, SPA creates this sense of charm and realism whilst having the expression of movement that only 2D can provide- I wonder if this incorporation of modern technology with traditional techniques will mean the rejuvenation of the 2D industry.
Each frame was drawn by hand in Toon Boom Harmony with a traditional pipeline. Typically, shadows and highlights would then be animated by hand onto the characters, frame by arduous frame, and often, this would mean limited shadows as it was so labour intensive.
Afterwards, the keyframes were used to paint greyscale versions of the characters to indicate where shadows and highlights would be, as if under a light source. These are essentially a rudimental 2D version of 3D normal maps, which usually would give the illusion of 3D depth and directional lighting information.
These ‘normals’ were then placed into the Klaus Light and Shadow tracking software to calculate in real time a simulated light change through both drawn vector and bitmap lines- meaning the artists wouldn’t need to paint lighting on each frame for each character. The real-time aspect I find particularly impressive, but it would need a substantial physical setup and would require the financial backing of a studio to complete this stage.
To maintain a sense of the hand-painted textures, this automated lighting was used as a basis; eye specs, rim lights, etc., were handpainted, solidifying the ‘hybrid’ pipeline. I feel that keeping some aspects hand drawn gives the director and art director a better sense of control whilst maintaining the efficiency granted from digital integration. Additionally, the ink and paint team were able to remove outlines as they were able to rely on light, contrast and value rather than line to indicate shape and volume- often, only the face and hands would keep their linework.
Finally, the scenes were put under extensive comp in Nuke and AE to add ambient occlusion, glows, grains, and subtle shadows to blend characters into their backgrounds, without which the characters would look overly rendered above these environments and wouldn’t feel ‘baked. ’ The comp also means the artists were able to authentically recreate the concept art and colour scripts, following the emotional journey of Jesper in particular. In total, over 8 layers of light sources (ambient, occlusion, subsurface scattering, rim, specular, and bounce) were on separate layers at any one time!
Knowing all this, I doubt I’ll be able to get my hands on the Klaus Light and Shadow tracking system, but I’d still love to incorporate this lighting technique in my work and play with different visual styles to see how this 3D lighting would interact with them. In fact, several artists online have been able to replicate similar results using MoHo at a much smaller scale as an open source solution. Although this MoHo technique is now 4 years old, I feel that it’s still relevant to my learning; I’m eager to learn how to rig in 2D, and this style of lighting appears much more efficient than what I can achieve now.
References
https://www.lostmarble.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=33459&fbclid=IwY2xjawIz6G1leHRuA2FlbQIxMAABHRLan6ztgkYeXUu9w_KOMKDnHxlqooE0qh3IknYk1aC3xxN7Fga0fBKL_Q_aem_vjZv2k95hmZVZpDsDACU2A
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BlU49dJhfcw&t=156s
https://www.awn.com/animationworld/how-klaus-uniquely-combines-cg-lighting-techniques-traditional-2d-animation?fbclid=IwY2xjawIz6GpleHRuA2FlbQIxMAABHRLan6ztgkYeXUu9w_KOMKDnHxlqooE0qh3IknYk1aC3xxN7Fga0fBKL_Q_aem_vjZv2k95hmZVZpDsDACU2A
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2XZbYNCjmqo
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qiN5tniJe0w
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3jjMd3Y16XY&t=2s
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A9UAiOPHMB0&t=2s
https://beforesandafters.com/2019/11/14/heres-what-made-the-2d-animation-in-klaus-look-3d/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bBtdVF0NIxc
https://vimeo.com/368036395
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vZEjXlY4-aM