| Formerly | CAPS |
|---|---|
| Company type | Animation Computer animation |
| Predecessor | Walt Disney Feature Animation Pixar |
| Founded | 1989; 37 years ago (1989) |
| Defunct | 2006; 20 years ago (2006) |
TheComputer Animation Production System (CAPS) was a proprietary collection ofsoftware, scanning camera systems, servers, networked computer workstations, and custom desks developed byWalt Disney andPixar in the late 1980s. Although outmoded by the mid-2000s, it succeeded in reducing labor costs forink-and-paint andpost-production processes oftraditionally animated featurefilms produced byWalt Disney Animation Studios (formerly known as Walt Disney Feature Animation). It also provided an entirely new palette of digital tools to animation filmmakers.
The Computer Graphics Lab at theNew York Institute of Technology developed a "scan and paint" system for cel animation in the late 1970s. It was used to produce a 22-minute computer-animated television show calledMeasure for Measure. Industry developments with computer systems ledMarc Levoy ofCornell University andHanna-Barbera Productions to develop a video animation system for cartoons in the early 1980s.[1]
The first usage of the CAPS process was Mickey standing on Epcot'sSpaceship Earth for "The Magical World of Disney" titles. The system's first feature film test was in the production ofThe Little Mermaid in 1989 where it was used in a single shot of the rainbow sequence at the end of the film.[2] AfterMermaid, films were made completely using CAPS; the first of these,The Rescuers Down Under, was the first 100% digital feature film ever produced. Later films, includingBeauty and the Beast,Aladdin,The Lion King, andThe Hunchback of Notre Dame took more advantage of CAPS' 2-D and 3-D integration.[3][4]
In the early days of CAPS, Disney chose not to discuss the system in public, being afraid that "the magic would go away" if people found out that computers were involved.[5] Computer Graphics World[6] magazine, in 1994, was the first to have a look at the process.[7]
In 1992, the team that developed CAPS won anAcademy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Scientific and Engineering Award. They were:[8]
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CAPS was adigital ink and paint system used in animated feature films, the first at a major studio. Using CAPS, enclosed areas and lines could be easily colored in a computer environment using an unlimited palette. This replaced the expensive process of transferring animated drawings tocels usingIndia ink orxerographic technology, and painting the reverse sides of the cels withgouache paint. It also allowed for sophisticated new techniques such astransparent shading and blended colors.
The completed digital cels were composited overscanned background paintings, and camera or pan movements were programmed into a computer exposure sheet simulating the actions of old-style animation cameras. Additionally, complexmultiplane shots giving a sense of depth were possible. Unlike theanalog multiplane camera, the CAPS multiplane cameras were not limited by artwork size. Extensive camera movements never before seen were incorporated into the films. The final version of the sequence was composited and recorded onto film.
Since the animation elements existed digitally, it was easy to integrate other types of film and video elements, including three-dimensionalcomputer animation. CGI in hand-drawn animation had been used for some years, but it first had to be plotted onto individual sheets of punched paper, one frame at a time, cleaned up and transferred to animation cels with the xerox-proocess, and was then photographed by an animation camera. With CAPS, CGI could be included directly onto the movie without the requirements of being plotted on paper first.[9]
CAPS was capable of a high level of image quality using significantly slower computer systems than are available today. The final frames were rendered at a2Kdigital film resolution (2048 x 1234 pixels at a 1.66:1 aspect ratio), and the artwork was scanned so that it always held 100% resolution in the final output, no matter how complex the camera motion in the shot. Using thePixar Image Computer, images were stored at 48-bits per pixel. The compositing system allowed complex multi-layered shots that was used almost immediately inThe Rescuers Down Under to create a 400-layer opening dolly shot. DALS (Disney Animation Logistics System)[10] made use of one of the first large-scale, customRAID systems in the film industry.
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Treasure Planet (2002) andHome on the Range (2004) under-performed financially in their theatrical runs. This, combined with the success ofCGI-animated feature films fromPixar Animation Studios and competitorDreamWorks Animation, eventually prompted Walt Disney Feature Animation's management team to close down their traditional 2-D animation department in 2004. The CAPS desks were removed and the custom automated scanning cameras were dismantled and officially scrapped. By 2005, only one desk system remained, and that was only for reading the data for the films that had been made with CAPS.
In 2007,John Lasseter became the studio's new head of the management team and called for the 2-D animation unit's reopening. Rather than return to CAPS, however, Disney's subsequent traditionally animated feature and short film production projectsHow to Hook Up Your Home Theater (2007),The Princess and the Frog (2009),The Ballad of Nessie (2011), andWinnie the Pooh (2011) were produced usingToon Boom Animation'sToon Boom Harmony commercial animation computer software, which offered a more up-to-date modern contemporary digital animation system.
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December 1991 Although 3-D graphics debuted in earlier Disney animations, Beauty and the Beast is the first in which hand-drawn characters appear in a 3-D background. Every frame of the film is scanned, created, or composited within Disney's computer animation production system (CAPS) co-developed with Pixar. (Premiere: (11/91)
DECEMBER 1991: Beauty and the Beast is the first Disney film with hand-drawn characters in a 3D background. Every frame is scanned, created, or composited within CAPS.
