I have chosen to compare the visual
effects of hair from two films: Final
Fantasy: The Spirits Within (2001) and Brave
(2012).
Final Fantasy
First film with human
leads played by non-actors
Aki, the main
character had CG photorealistic hair
First time a
character’s hair could bounce, flip and refract light
20 % of production
spent on time animating Aki’s 60,000 hair strands
1 second of film = 36
hours of render time
A huge leap forward
in special effects
Film created using
Maya
Still stiff in today’s
standards
Brave
Merida’s hair
symbolizes her character
Flowing, curly tangled
mass of hair
New technology
developed to enhance heroine’s hair
111,700 hair strands
1 second of film = 8
minutes of render time
Each strand animated
in Maya
Film’s main focus was
to use this hair technology
The
breakthrough with Aki’s hair paved the way for Pixar to create the rebellious
locks for Merida. Before Final Fantasy,
viewers usually saw one-shape, spiky, strandless hair types. Both films used
the most up-to-date technology available at the time of conception to realize
realistic results. Even though groundbreaking at the time, Final Fantasy today
seems somewhat outdated, while Brave pioneered
a new generation of hair strand technology.
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