Talk:Computer Animation Production System

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

	Film Portal This article is within the scope of WikiProject Films. This project is a central gathering of editors working to build comprehensive and detailed articles for film topics on Wikipedia. If you would like to participate, you can edit the article attached to this page, or visit the project page, where you can join the project and/or contribute to the discussion.
Start This article has been rated as Start-Class on the quality scale. ??? This article has not yet received a rating on the priority scale.
Editing Guidelines Please remember these guidelines when editing a film article: If a non-film article already exists with the name of the film that you are trying to create an article for, disambiguate and use (film) in the title: Film Title (film) For more information see: Wikipedia:Naming conventions (films) When writing an article about a particular film, the general format should be a concise lead section, followed by a plot summary of no more than 900 words, production details, a cast list, a reception section, and references. Create an Infobox that tells all pertinent information about the film.
Additional Information: This article has been checked against the following criteria for B-Class status: Referencing and citation: not checked Coverage and accuracy: not checked Structure: not checked Grammar: not checked Supporting materials: not checked To fill out this checklist, please add the following to the template call: <!-- 1. It is suitably referenced, and all major points are appropriately cited. --> |B-Class-1=yes/no <!-- 2. It reasonably covers the topic, and does not contain major omissions or inaccuracies. --> |B-Class-2=yes/no <!-- 3. It has a defined structure, including a lead section and one or more sections of content. --> |B-Class-3=yes/no <!-- 4. It is free from major grammatical errors. --> |B-Class-4=yes/no <!-- 5. It contains appropriate supporting materials, such as an infobox, images, or diagrams. --> |B-Class-5=yes/no Related task forces (general): Filmmaking task force

Could the Computer Animation Production System be used by other animation companies, like Nickelodeon and Cartoon Network? --User:Angie Y.

Nope. It was a proprietary system; Disney only allowed themselves to use it. Nick & CN could certainly have made some use of it; as it is, most of their modern shows are made with similar, yet less powerful, computer systems and programs like Toonz, U.S. Animation, and (in some cases) Macromedia Flash. --FuriousFreddy 23:22, 13 August 2005

Contents 1 The Little Mermaid 2 100% resolution? 3 Title of Article 4 Regarding the lack of references

[edit] The Little Mermaid

In this arcticle that the first usage of the CAPS process was the ending rainbow scene of The Little Mermaid. However I'm pretty sure that a few other shots in that movie used the CAPS system. They appear in 3D and much smoother then the other shots. The few others I can think of are; the very first scence when the boat crashes against the waves, when the villian turns grows about thirty times her size, when Ariel runs down a few stairs, and near the end when the crab and Flounder are underwater when the ink is flowing around them. I'm sure that these do use the CAPS system and I'm sure also sure that I've read an article on it before, but I unfortunately cannot find it. It may be worth adding to the article if anybody can confirm these.

No, only the rainbow scene uses CAPS. Those scnees you named are either done with traditional ink and paint, or are generated using three-dimensional computer animation (the ship, the stairs). To create the 3D animation in those scenes, the studio would use computers that would print outlines on cels, which would then be painted as if it were handrawn. These scenes were still photographed under the traditional camera stand. CAPS doesn't use cels or cameras; everything is composited inside the computer, and the computer prints out film, not cels. --FuriousFreddy 18:49, 13 November 2005 (UTC)

Actually, those "traditional" CG elements were output onto animation paper using a plotter. They went through the rest of the production process (Xerox, Ink & Paint, etc.) just like traditional artwork. Hondo77 18:28, 11 July 2007 (UTC)

[edit] 100% resolution?

What does "artwork was never scanned at less than 100% resolution" mean? 100% of what, the atoms on the piece of paper? This should be clarified. mvc 16:42, 1 September 2006 (UTC)

fixed: scanned so that the final image always had the full output resolution available even if the source material went through various camera moves.

[edit] Title of Article

The title of this article should be "Disney CAPS System" as this is how it is referred to. "Computer Animation Production System" is a generic term not specific to the Disney system.

Pixar mentions their Academy Award for CAPS being awarded for a Computer-Assisted Production System at [1]. Is that the correct name of that system? --89.56.248.119 19:54, 22 March 2007 (UTC)

No, it was originally "Computer Animation Production System". There were only four people up at Pixar who worked on it so it's not surprising the name has gotten munged fifteen years later. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by Hondo77 (talk • contribs) 23:55, 29 March 2007 (UTC).

[edit] Regarding the lack of references

CAPS was kept secret, especially in its first several years of use. Consequently, there are few or no articles that give details about the system. Given that, I don't see how the tagging for lack of references is going to be resolved--especially now that CAPS is going to be superseded by something off-the-shelf. Hondo77 22:36, 15 February 2007 (UTC)hondo77