Wait, they're making different styles of 3D now?

3D animation is of course kind of limited in the sense of artistic freedom and expression you really have. Not to say you have to abide by specific rules, but do you really see much variation in how Pixar and Dreamworks present their films? Sure you can be a bit different with how you render. Vector style 3D is one of my favorites, and you can get creative with texturing, but what else is there you can really do? Well Pixar has addressed this and is now developing ways to really let the ideas flow into polygons through different base styles.

-Putting in the personal touch. They're setting it up to where an artist can employ their own individual style into a 3D model and environment. Different linework, paint strokes, you name it. This is all overlain the polygonal structures and presented as the outer skin. On top of that, with just a few frames manually done, the computer can then replicate that style for the remainder of the frames automatically. Convenient.

-Photorealism isn't a style. When we watch cartoons, it's easy to tell each apart by art style. It's incredibly easy to pick apart a Hanna Barbara work from a Warner Brothers production. You see specific nuances and accents that the other guys don't use. In 3D? Not exactly. Sure you can render in different engines and softwares, but there's not too much that differentiates 3D filmmakers in terms of appearance. This is why people constantly think Pixar did Frozen. Now with these new ideas being employed, we may be able to see these same differences in style and execution come to fruition again, and really make movies and shows stand out among the rest.

-Is it really an advancement? In terms of what we're doing with our technology, not exactly. It's kind of an unspoken rule in 3D that it's more superior tech if the output is more representational of reality. When you go to hand-drawn styles, it's kind of going backwards considering the less realistic you get, the more differences in interpretation there are. In the end though, it's certainly a step out there.

I'm really happy to hear about this development and think it's awesome Pixar is doing a push towards the unique abilities of individual artists in comparison to simply trying to look more advanced. We'll be seeing more unique works, and likely be more motivated to see them.

I feel 3D animation has especially stagnated as of late when you really look at all the movies launched. Sure, there's difference in style, but it's not as significant as back in the 2 dimensional days.

My only question is how long will it take until we see this stuff at the movies? I can't wait!