{"id":25898,"date":"2018-12-07T23:53:35","date_gmt":"2018-12-08T07:53:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ourstarblazers.com\/vault\/?p=25898"},"modified":"2018-12-14T22:30:59","modified_gmt":"2018-12-15T06:30:59","slug":"356a","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ourstarblazers.com\/vault\/356a\/","title":{"rendered":"CG Studio interview, October 2018 Part 2"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"1812icon\"<\/p>\n

Gigazine is an online source for some of the most in-depth Yamato 2202<\/em> interviews anywhere. In the days just before the premiere of Chapter 6, they topped themselves with a huge 2-part interview with the wizards at CG studio Sublimation. In this part, they take a tour of the studio and dig deeper into their intricate work on the series.<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

Studio tour of Yamato 2202<\/em>\u2019s CG production company Sublimation<\/h2>\n

A detailed explanation arises of Cosmo Tiger Version K<\/span><\/h3>\n

Published by Gigazine, October 31, 2018. See the original article here<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n

Read part 1 of this interview here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The CG production company Sublimation<\/a> announced new capital and a business alliance with Sunrise, the anime production company that handles the Gundam<\/em> series, on September 29, 2018. They are involved in a number of works including Yamato 2202, Love Live! Sunshine!!<\/em> And The Wizard\u2019s Wife.<\/em><\/p>\n


\nFrom left: Yuuto Uwabo, Taichi Kimura, Yasushi Honma<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

This time, we had an opportunity to interview CGI Director Taichi Kimura, Project Manager\/CG Animator Yuuto Uwabo, and CG Designer Yasushi Honma as Chapter 6 Regeneration Chapter<\/em> was about to premiere in theaters. Our main guide was Mr. Uwabo, seen at left in the photo.<\/p>\n

The 4th Floor: around the Yamato<\/em> production team<\/h3>\n

Kimura:<\/em><\/span> This is the team making Space Battleship Yamato<\/em>. There aren\u2019t many, but there is some outsourcing to a few other companies overseas.<\/p>\n

Interviewer:<\/em><\/span> In your March 2017 interview with D Storm<\/em><\/a>, you said \u201cabout ten to fifteen people.\u201d Do you still have the same number of people for Chapter 6?<\/p>\n

Kimura:<\/em><\/span> That\u2019s right. It\u2019s being made with the same basic number of people.<\/p>\n

Interviewer:<\/em><\/span> Since the number of ships that appears is steadily increasing, I thought the number of staff members would increase along with it.<\/p>\n

Kimura:<\/em><\/span> Of course, I\u2019d like to have a lot of people (laughs), but we somehow manage with this.<\/p>\n

Interviewer:<\/em><\/span> Isn\u2019t it tough without more people?<\/p>\n

Kimura:<\/em><\/span> Management gets tougher. But it gets easier for people to leave as we get closer to the end. The experience is different and the orders start to decrease.<\/p>\n

Interviewer:<\/em><\/span> Are these the same team members who did Chapter 1?<\/p>\n

Kimura:<\/em><\/span> There are a few new faces, but they\u2019re mostly the same.<\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n

Interviewer:<\/em><\/span> Indeed, as they accumulate more and more experience, it gets easier later on.<\/p>\n

Kimura:<\/em><\/span> If it was like this at the beginning\u2026I don\u2019t know what we\u2019d do. (Laughs) We were dying for the first six months. (Laughs) But recently a lot of people have been bouncing back really well.<\/p>\n

Interviewer:<\/em><\/span> Are changes in technology a part of those skills, or was it something you established back at the beginning?<\/p>\n

Kimura:<\/em><\/span> It takes a lot of time to get used to it. A newcomer may be accustomed to CG, but they need to get accustomed to the taste of a specific project. That’s also a skill.<\/p>\n

Interviewer:<\/em><\/span> They gradually get the taste of a project.<\/p>\n

Kimura:<\/em><\/span> That\u2019s right. It\u2019s hard to get it right away when you start.<\/p>\n

Interviewer:<\/em><\/span> Is there anyone who came in for Yamato<\/em> and grew up all the way through Chapter 6?<\/p>\n

Uwabo:<\/em><\/span> I didn\u2019t come in at the start of Yamato<\/em>, but here\u2019s someone who joined up in midstream. Mr. Matsumoto, Yamato<\/em> is your first project, right?<\/p>\n

Matsumoto:<\/em><\/span> That\u2019s right.<\/p>\n

Uwabo:<\/em><\/span> He started at the Nagoya studio as an intern, then came to Tokyo and is working hard as a full-time employee.<\/p>\n

Interviewer:<\/em><\/span> I see.<\/p>\n

Kimura:<\/em><\/span> He\u2019s only worked on Yamato<\/em> so far.<\/p>\n

Interviewer:<\/em><\/span> And does it have the feeling of, \u201cJust a little more Yamato<\/em>\u201d?<\/p>\n

Uwabo:<\/em><\/span> That\u2019s right. Our team currently has two student interns.<\/p>\n


\nTokyo, Sendai, and Nagoya buildings, each containing an office of Sublimation.<\/em><\/p>\n

Interviewer:<\/em><\/span> You said Mr. Matsumoto is from Nagoya, and Sublimation has studios in three places; Tokyo, Sendai, and Nagoya. Why these three?<\/p>\n

Uwabo:<\/em><\/span> As for Nagoya, there was a company that used to work on projects for pachinko machines while also cooperating with schools and lecturers, and since I had a relationship with schools for interns, I opened a studio there. I already had people to collaborate with, so setting it up went quite smoothly.<\/p>\n

Kimura:<\/em><\/span> Mr. Koishikawa (Sublimation\u2019s managing director) has a relationship with Sendai.<\/p>\n

Uwabo:<\/em><\/span> And because there was an invitation for companies to revive the area after the Tohoku Earthquake, that\u2019s how the studio was formed.<\/p>\n

Interviewer:<\/em><\/span> I see, there are various relationships at work.<\/p>\n

Editor\u2019s note:<\/em><\/span> Further information about Nagoya and Sendai was provided by President Jun Koishikawa. There were few competitors, so it was easy to secure talented people, and Nagoya and Sendai were chosen after many students were found in those locations. It\u2019s also important to have convenient access, and travel time to Tokyo by bullet train is about the same for each.<\/p>\n

Uwabo:<\/em><\/span> We have about 20 people in Nagoya and 5 or 6 in Sendai. Basically, Tokyo runs the main projects, shot work, and modeling work.<\/p>\n

Kimura:<\/em><\/span> That\u2019s right. There are two people working on Yamato<\/em> in Nagoya. Each project feels like it\u2019s on \u201cremote control.\u201d<\/p>\n

Interviewer:<\/em><\/span> I see, that\u2019s how it is. You come to the Tokyo studio as a baseline.<\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n

Uwabo:<\/em><\/span> I keep both my eyes open, but there are still some losses. It\u2019s best to have everyone in one place, but some people\u2019s circumstances don\u2019t allow them to come to Tokyo. Also, there are some exchanges with Chukyo Television in Nagoya. The teaser site<\/a> for the original work Shikizakura<\/em> launched recently. (This refers to a 2020 TV anime series for Chukyo TV, co-produced by Sublimation.)<\/p>\n

Interviewer:<\/em><\/span> Is it difficult to exchange data between remote locations?<\/p>\n

Kimura:<\/em><\/span> Not really.<\/p>\n

Uwabo:<\/em><\/span> The line speed is pretty fast, so we don\u2019t have much trouble.<\/p>\n

Interviewer:<\/em><\/span> If you\u2019re a company that makes CG, is there an overwhelming amount of image data to be handled?<\/p>\n

Uwabo:<\/em><\/span> Sure there is. (Laughs)<\/p>\n

Kimura:<\/em><\/span> The delivery data gets really huge, so we thought it was going to be hard with Xebec. (2202<\/em>\u2019s animation studio)<\/p>\n

Interviewer:<\/em><\/span> That means you send a huge amount of data for every episode.<\/p>\n

Kimura:<\/em><\/span> There are some very heavy shots. There are a lot of materials. 10GB and so on\u2026<\/p>\n

Uwabo:<\/em><\/span> The heaviest was about 50GB, wasn\u2019t it?<\/p>\n

Interviewer:<\/em><\/span> For one shot?<\/p>\n

Uwabo:<\/em><\/span> Just one shot.<\/p>\n

Interviewer:<\/em><\/span> 50\u2026<\/p>\n

Kimura:<\/em><\/span> With compression.<\/p>\n

Uwabo:<\/em><\/span> That was a particularly heavy shot. Most shots are around 1 or 2GB, but of course there are a lot of explosions and a lot of ships. The more you have, the more it will increase.<\/p>\n

Kimura:<\/em><\/span> Because the materials accumulate.<\/p>\n

Interviewer:<\/em><\/span> With such circumstances, Yamato<\/em> is basically heavy, isn\u2019t it\u2026?<\/p>\n

Kimura:<\/em><\/span> (Laughs) That\u2019s right, and the cinematographer says, \u201cWhy do you send such heavy things?\u201d but it can\u2019t be helped, right? (Laughs)<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Interviewer:<\/em><\/span> It can\u2019t be helped. You certainly can\u2019t reduce the number of ships that appear.<\/p>\n

Uwabo:<\/em><\/span> You can\u2019t shoot a beam without an explosion.<\/p>\n

Interviewer:<\/em><\/span> I guess not, huh? (Laughs)<\/p>\n

Uwabo:<\/em><\/span> And if there\u2019s an explosion, I want to see flying debris\u2026then the amount of data goes up.<\/p>\n

Interviewer:<\/em><\/span> And I would think that when the amount of data goes up, it adds production time. From that point of view, when Director Habara says, \u201cabout this much\u201d do you reduce it and say, \u201conly this much\u201d?<\/p>\n

Uwabo:<\/em><\/span> Basically, we don\u2019t do that. If the rendering time goes up, we can lower the resolution a bit and make it go a little faster.<\/p>\n

Kimura:<\/em><\/span> We have ways of doing that. Sometimes we managed it with the power of the rendering server at my house.<\/p>\n

Uwabo:<\/em><\/span> He means when we were in a worst case scenario and in a real jam.<\/p>\n

Kimura:<\/em><\/span> Perhaps I did it using abilities within myself even I didn’t know about. (Laughs)<\/p>\n

Uwabo:<\/em><\/span> What Mr. Kimura doesn\u2019t know is that was because even the provisionally-rendered stuff he did often had no quality issues and made it through the check as-is.<\/p>\n

Interviewer:<\/em><\/span> Perhaps you could say that. (Laughs)<\/p>\n

Kimura:<\/em><\/span> If you look carefully, there probably aren’t any! But now I’m nervous that there are. (Laughs)<\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n

Interviewer:<\/em><\/span> Since everything was checked and okayed by Mr. Kimura and then checked by the director, it must be fine. By the way, the air is getting warm in here. Is it from the PCs everyone is using?<\/p>\n

Uwabo:<\/em><\/span> It could be. These PCs have decent specs. Basically, 32GB of memory is required.<\/p>\n

Interviewer:<\/em><\/span> Ah, got it.<\/p>\n

Kimura:<\/em><\/span> Sometimes 32GB isn\u2019t enough.<\/p>\n

Uwabo:<\/em><\/span> The NVIDIA Quadro 600 is the center of the graphics board. The Quadro 2000 is becoming the main thing lately. The basics are standardized in Quadro. The CPU system is an Intel Core i7 6 core, and since the 6 core wasn\u2019t available for a while, it was set up so some people used a 4 core.<\/p>\n

Interviewer:<\/em><\/span> Do the PCs run all right in the summertime? Do you have to cool them down?<\/p>\n

Kimura:<\/em><\/span> The air conditioner bangs away.<\/p>\n

Uwabo:<\/em><\/span> The temperature gets pretty high, doesn\u2019t it? We moved to a new building, and the air conditioning has improved. The previous studio was packed with people, and it got so hot in the summer I was fanning myself with my shirt.<\/p>\n

Kimura:<\/em><\/span> There was an electric fan in the corner of the room, always turning.<\/p>\n

Uwabo:<\/em><\/span> We don\u2019t use it here.<\/p>\n

Interviewer:<\/em><\/span> The whole room can warm up when you turn on the electric fan.<\/p>\n

Uwabo:<\/em><\/span> It was effective in the middle of the room. The power of the air conditioning breaks down when you get into the corners. Everyone has big monitors lined up on their desks, so they become walls. That\u2019s why the cool air doesn\u2019t spread evenly, and you get that difference in temperature.<\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n

Kimura:<\/em><\/span> Hot in the corners.<\/p>\n

Uwabo:<\/em><\/span> It gets up there\u2026<\/p>\n

Interviewer:<\/em><\/span> Does everyone have one basic display monitor?<\/p>\n

Uwabo:<\/em><\/span> They\u2019re usually 27 inches, but the number depends on the person. For someone who has to look at the colors, it\u2019s a little higher, and some use a solid color monitor, too.<\/p>\n

Interviewer:<\/em><\/span> When you watch a disc on an NEC, Phillips, or Iiyama monitor, they are not unified. Since you have to align the color calibration, are there any particular problems?<\/p>\n

Kimura:<\/em><\/span> I do the calibration.<\/p>\n

Uwabo:<\/em><\/span> Also, the CG work for anime isn\u2019t that strict about the color. Depending on the project, the color specs come in with RGB values, so we make it according to that.<\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n

Kimura:<\/em><\/span> With Yamato<\/em>, effects are the area where I really want everything to be aligned.<\/p>\n

Uwabo:<\/em><\/span> It\u2019s a tough spot, since it creates budget problems for a company.<\/p>\n

Interviewer:<\/em><\/span> It\u2019s hard to unify with large-scale displays from the same maker\u2026<\/p>\n

Kimura:<\/em><\/span> But for those in charge of effects, the monitors with more reliable color are preferred. There are a lot of differences between color and background.<\/p>\n

Interviewer:<\/em><\/span> Indeed, there are such circumstances.<\/p>\n

Uwabo:<\/em><\/span> Over here on this desk is the body of a Type 2 Mobile Space Armor made with a 3D printer.<\/p>\n

Kimura:<\/em><\/span> There\u2019s a guy we outsource to named Tetsuya Watanabe, who has a 3D printer. He made that and sent it to us.<\/p>\n

Uwabo:<\/em><\/span> He\u2019s also the one who made the Andromeda<\/em> glasses the director wore at an event.<\/p>\n


\nAt left: 3D-printed Andromeda glasses, photo posted on Twitter by Tetsuya Watanabe<\/a>.
\nAt right: Houko Kuwashima (Yuki) at the May 2018 advance screening for Chapter 5.<\/em><\/p>\n

Interviewer:<\/em><\/span> Oh! 3D printers are amazing, aren\u2019t they?<\/p>\n

Uwabo:<\/em><\/span> Mr. Watanabe was also responsible for the 3D modeling of the Type 2 Mobile Space Armor. He said, \u201cI also gave this a try\u201d and then he sent it. (Laughs)<\/p>\n

Interviewer:<\/em><\/span> It\u2019s amazing, huh?<\/p>\n

Uwabo:<\/em><\/span> He printed a smaller version and gave it Assistant Director Kobayashi for Winter Wonderfest, and he painted it up for display.<\/p>\n


\nMobile Armor and Cosmo Tiger II models displayed at the 2018 Winter Wonder Festival<\/em><\/p>\n

Interviewer:<\/em><\/span> Huh. When I look closer at it, the surface certainly appears to have the pattern you get from a 3D printer when it\u2019s output. It\u2019s common to use a little bit of that to make a plastic model look better.<\/p>\n

Uwabo:<\/em><\/span> But its mobility wasn\u2019t really considered, so it doesn\u2019t move much. The arm moves a little.<\/p>\n

Interviewer:<\/em><\/span> If it was moveable, you could totally make this a product for sale.<\/p>\n

Kimura:<\/em><\/span> Mr. Watanabe convinced Mr. Honma to buy a 3D printer. I took home all the things we output when we moved offices.<\/p>\n

Honma:<\/em><\/span> I made a Cosmo Tiger I and a Cosmo Tiger II<\/p>\n


\nCosmo Tiger I model displayed at the 2018 Winter Wonder Festival<\/em><\/p>\n

Kimura:<\/em><\/span> The Kanada pass version, or the regular one?<\/p>\n

Honma:<\/em><\/span> Both of them.<\/p>\n

Uwabo:<\/em><\/span> Director Habara was happy. He said, \u201cWhoah, this is great\u201d and took it with him. (Laughs) When you draw storyboards, it\u2019s different if you have a solid object for reference. The thing is, the plastic model kits come out a while before, so it seems we end up saying \u201cWell then\u2026\u201d and use Mr. Honma’s output for reference.<\/p>\n

Honma:<\/em><\/span> The thing that compelled me to make it was Director Habara muttering, \u201cI want it.\u201d (Laughs)<\/p>\n

Interviewer:<\/em><\/span> How often do you hear, \u201cI want it\u201d?<\/p>\n

Honma:<\/em><\/span> I haven\u2019t done any new modeling lately.<\/p>\n

Uwabo:<\/em><\/span> They\u2019re all present now. There have been a lot since the Cosmo TIger II.<\/p>\n

Honma:<\/em><\/span> A Cosmo Tiger II and a Dessler ship, right? I made a Ginga<\/em> for Assistant Director Kobayashi.<\/p>\n

Interviewer:<\/em><\/span> We’ve also heard \u201cI want it\u201d from Mr. Kobayashi. (Laughs)<\/p>\n

Honma:<\/em><\/span> Once in a while. (Laughs) If you watch Twitter, he\u2019ll say, \u201cI got this output.\u201d<\/p>\n


\nFrom Makoto Kobayashi\u2019s Twitter feed, January 2018<\/em><\/p>\n

Interviewer:<\/em><\/span> Oh, that\u2019s what it was. At the head of a table or on a desk by the wall, they\u2019d all be lined up in a row…<\/p>\n

Uwabo:<\/em><\/span> Those were at Mr. Kimura\u2019s and my seats. At my seat, all of those were ones that I built.<\/p>\n

Interviewer:<\/em><\/span> Oh, wow! Can I get a picture?<\/p>\n

Uwabo:<\/em><\/span> Please do. It\u2019s easy to have a meeting when you have a solid object. As soon as I bought it, I built it and painted it.<\/p>\n


\nMr. Uwabo\u2019s desk. The display at upper left became an exhibit space.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

Interviewer:<\/em><\/span> It\u2019s much more convincing when it\u2019s a real thing, isn\u2019t it? \u201cWill this appear?\u201d<\/p>\n

Uwabo:<\/em><\/span> Yes, it has great impact.<\/p>\n

Kimura:<\/em><\/span> After checks, I get modeling lectures from Assistant Director Kobayashi.<\/p>\n

Uwabo:<\/em><\/span> We get advice like, \u201cYou should do it more like this here.\u201d (Laughs) Thanks to that, my latest Ginga<\/em> model came out beautifully.<\/p>\n

Interviewer:<\/em><\/span> We\u2019ve arrived at your desk, so I have a general work question. How long do you sit down in a given day?<\/p>\n

Kimura:<\/em><\/span> Generally about ten to twelve hours.<\/p>\n

Uwabo:<\/em><\/span> It depends on the person, but it\u2019s basically that.<\/p>\n

Interviewer:<\/em><\/span> Almost half the day sitting\u2026<\/p>\n

Uwabo:<\/em><\/span> I don\u2019t stay overnight, but I can get busy and may have to take the last train. If I come in at noon and take the last train back, it\u2019s about 12 hours, isn\u2019t it?<\/p>\n


\nStoryboards for Episodes 21 and 22.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

Interviewer:<\/em><\/span> Isn\u2019t it hard to just sit for long periods of time?<\/p>\n

Uwabo:<\/em><\/span> I bought this chair as a personal item for that. It\u2019s my own property, so I wanted to buy a good one. Thanks to that, it became quite comfortable.<\/p>\n

Interviewer:<\/em><\/span> Is there some technique for sitting and working for all that time that amounts to, \u201cI\u2019m saved because I do this.\u201d<\/p>\n

Kimura:<\/em><\/span> Mine is taking off my shoes. It\u2019s bare feet and slippers in this office.<\/p>\n

Interviewer:<\/em><\/span> I went barefoot as soon as I got here.<\/p>\n

Uwabo:<\/em><\/span> If there\u2019s a little time available, I try to stretch. You freeze up if you spend a long time with the same posture.<\/p>\n

Interviewer:<\/em><\/span> There\u2019s a little space next to the Yamato<\/em> group right now. Will it be immediately filled by a desk?<\/p>\n

Kimura:<\/em><\/span> Well, there are plans to increase the number of people.<\/p>\n

Uwabo:<\/em><\/span> My previous studio filled up and I borrowed a larger space, so there are still many vacant seats.<\/p>\n

Kimura:<\/em><\/span> I\u2019d say it will take about three years to fill this end of the floor.<\/p>\n

Uwabo:<\/em><\/span> We\u2019re still using only about half of the floor above this one.<\/p>\n

Kimura:<\/em><\/span> But it\u2019s going to increase there, too. (Laughs)<\/p>\n

Interviewer:<\/em><\/span> When you showed me the digital materials a little while ago, the number of folders was quite large. I thought it seemed difficult. I\u2019d think each file has a lot of volume. What\u2019s the total storage capacity of the company?<\/p>\n

Kimura:<\/em><\/span> I did a backup the other day\u2026<\/p>\n

Uwabo:<\/em><\/span> We use part of it to ship delivery data, but altogether it\u2019s about 12TB.<\/p>\n

Kimura:<\/em><\/span> Yeah, backup was hard when we moved.<\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n

Uwabo:<\/em><\/span> It took a whole week.<\/p>\n

Interviewer:<\/em><\/span> A week!<\/p>\n

Uwabo:<\/em><\/span> I started the backup on the last day before moving, from the point where I finished work. I copied the episodes that are currently in progress, and proceeded in order. It overlapped with the time we were working on Chapter 6, so we couldn\u2019t stop.<\/p>\n

Interviewer:<\/em><\/span> 12TB of backup\u2026<\/p>\n

Kimura:<\/em><\/span> This was partly because our moving time had shifted.<\/p>\n

Uwabo:<\/em><\/span> It was related to the construction of this new office.<\/p>\n

Interviewer:<\/em><\/span> How do you usually store data?<\/p>\n

Uwabo:<\/em><\/span> We rely on a RAID server. When the amount of data is bulky and encroaches on our free space, we do a backup and delete it.<\/p>\n

Kimura:<\/em><\/span> The base data is mirrored on the FTP server for outsourcing. That\u2019s also sort of like a backup.<\/p>\n

Uwabo:<\/em><\/span> That\u2019s right. Since we don\u2019t transfer the data of all shots to the outside contractors, the situation being that they only have the shots that they\u2019re individually responsible for while we have our shots, while they aren\u2019t technically mirrored, things like the Yamato<\/em> 3D model and the gun turret movement base data are uploaded, so they\u2019re effectively mirrored.<\/p>\n

Interviewer:<\/em><\/span> We just recently moved our office, and it was hard to deal with the company server.<\/p>\n

Uwabo:<\/em><\/span> We originally used an 18TB server (with 24TB total capacity) and I thought that would be enough, but there were quite a lot of projects running and the amount of data increased. When we moved, we increased it to two 38TB servers (48TB total capacity).<\/p>\n

Interviewer:<\/em><\/span> Two at 38TB!<\/p>\n

Uwabo:<\/em><\/span> We separated the top floor and the bottom floor to make use of the existing server. We moved all the Yamato<\/em> data to the new server and resumed work.<\/p>\n

Kimura:<\/em><\/span> When it used to be just one server, the capacity display was always turning red. \u201cI\u2019m full!\u201d<\/p>\n

Uwabo:<\/em><\/span> When that happened, I\u2019d have to clean out unneeded projects. \u201cThis is no good! Delete data!\u201d (Laughs) After a project was over, I backed it up and wiped it.<\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n

Kimura:<\/em><\/span> Now we can afford all of it. (Laughs)<\/p>\n

Uwabo:<\/em><\/span> But in a year or two, I think it will start saying \u201cNot enough space\u201d again. After all, the amount of data is bulky, and it\u2019s all full HD size, so that\u2019s pretty tough.<\/p>\n

Kimura:<\/em><\/span> It can\u2019t be helped.<\/p>\n

Uwabo:<\/em><\/span> But we still haven\u2019t done any 4K work yet.<\/p>\n

Kimura:<\/em><\/span> 4K is rough\u2026<\/p>\n

Uwabo:<\/em><\/span> I\u2019m afraid to ask, \u201cWill the amount of data increase even more?\u201d<\/p>\n

Kimura:<\/em><\/span> There are also things like 8K and 10K, too.<\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n

Yamato 2202<\/em> Bonus Interview<\/h3>\n

Interviewer:<\/em><\/span> I\u2019d like to go back to you taking over 3D models and combat. There was some talk about it, but at the time of transfer, were there any orders like, \u201cBe careful with this\u201d or did they simply hand over the data?<\/p>\n

Uwabo:<\/em><\/span> There were text memos for each model. As for the effects, I got an instruction like, \u201cAt such time, this effect uses something with this color,\u201d and I remade them in-house. Since it couldn\u2019t be understood at all without data, I wrote it out in detail and saved it.<\/p>\n

Interviewer:<\/em><\/span> In the D Storm interview, there was a story where you said, \u201cIn anime, a pass [flyby] can be exaggerated and deformed, and it\u2019s a huge amount of work to create a model to match this, so it was convenient to cover it with lattice deformation.\u201d Do you use this lattice variation on the Cosmo Tiger Version K [Kanada pass]?<\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n

Kimura:<\/em><\/span> The Version K was deformed with a lattice at first, but as its handling has become heavier, I solidified the Version K\u2019s lattice as something that morphs up to a certain point.<\/p>\n

Translator’s note: The K in version K stands for Kanada, specifically animator Yoshinori Kanada<\/a> who brought his unique style to the Cosmo Tigers in Be Forever Yamato<\/em>. The “Cosmo Tiger Version K” is a CG model that changes shape to match his style.<\/p>\n

Uwabo:<\/em><\/span> Since it\u2019s a fighter squadron, a considerable number of them can appear on screen, and the small data for each one can become quite heavy. First, this is the regular design.<\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n

Kimura:<\/em><\/span> This is the design model.<\/p>\n

Uwabo:<\/em><\/span> The story was, \u201cWe want to exaggerate the pass\u201d and it became the Version K we mentioned earlier.<\/p>\n

Kimura:<\/em><\/span> We got a request from Director Habara to do it this way as its final form, but depending on the shot there are times when you can\u2019t fly the Version K, so that\u2019s when we change its value. For example, the nose would hit the floor if it remained as the Version K during a launch scene, so the feeling is that it becomes the Version K in flight.<\/p>\n

Uwabo:<\/em><\/span> The numerical value changes as it approaches from the background. It changes from normal (0% transformation) to Version K (100% transformation) during the shot. If it went from 0% to 100% suddenly, it would be clearly obvious and it would be confusing. Sometimes we tinker with the values in a shot. Something like 25%, 50%, 75% in sequence.<\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n

Kimura:<\/em><\/span> It became much lighter as a morph, and it could be used in various places.<\/p>\n

Interviewer:<\/em><\/span> If I show you a 100% Version K, I feel like you\u2019re already familiar with it. \u201cIsn\u2019t it supposed to be like this?\u201d<\/p>\n

Kimura:<\/em><\/span> But it\u2019s a lie. (Laughs)<\/p>\n

Interviewer:<\/em><\/span> When you move the slider from 0% to 100%, it certainly is quite different.<\/p>\n

Uwabo:<\/em><\/span> Basically, it\u2019s at 0% in the hanger.<\/p>\n

Interviewer:<\/em><\/span> It gets so exaggerated.<\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n

Kimura:<\/em><\/span> Actually, we recently fixed it a little. (Laughs) It\u2019s at a level that I almost didn\u2019t understand, but when I had something I wanted to discuss with Director Habara and Assistant Director Kobayashi about using the Version K data for a plamodel, I said \u201cI just want to fix this here a little,\u201d and I made some fine adjustments, so its current state is \u201cVersion K2.\u201d<\/p>\n

Uwabo:<\/em><\/span> The upper surface of the fuselage became straightened and the throttle at the center of the fuselage got a little tighter. I don\u2019t think that would be understood even if you saw it in a shot.<\/p>\n

Kimura:<\/em><\/span> It\u2019s a really fine level of adjustment, but my commitment is, \u201cIf this gets output as a plamodel, I\u2019ll correct it a little.\u201d<\/p>\n

Interviewer:<\/em><\/span> If the shape is fixed when it appears as a plamodel, I think it will be understood.<\/p>\n

Uwabo:<\/em><\/span> As for when the Version K2 appears\u2026does the timing work out so it comes up in the latter half of Chapter 6?<\/p>\n

Kimura:<\/em><\/span> In Chapter 7.<\/p>\n

Uwabo:<\/em><\/span> The point is that it looks like the \u201cFinal Chapter Version.\u201d (Laughs)<\/p>\n

Interviewer:<\/em><\/span> It feels sort of special.<\/p>\n

Kimura:<\/em><\/span> But I don\u2019t think anyone will notice. If I didn\u2019t point it out, we\u2019d certainly miss it.<\/p>\n

Uwabo:<\/em><\/span> You might be able to compare it if there are two shots that look exactly the same, since the impression changes with a slightly different angle, but I think it would be very difficult for people to see it and say, \u201cI understand the difference!\u201d<\/p>\n

Kimura:<\/em><\/span> Or they may call out a place that isn\u2019t different and say, \u201cThat\u2019s different!\u201d (Laughs)<\/p>\n

Interviewer:<\/em><\/span> The story goes that the large Gatlantis battleship was modified considerably at the design stage. Have you made any changes?<\/p>\n

Uwabo:<\/em><\/span> The basics are solid. However, as an example of changing the impression, the color of the main battleship\u2019s bridge went to orange in Chapter 5. It entered a state of war, so the bridge went to emergency lighting.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Kimura:<\/em><\/span> The Andromeda<\/em> also changes color.<\/p>\n

Uwabo:<\/em><\/span> In the case of Andromeda<\/em>, it was an adjustment in taste to light the windows of the flagship. But Andromeda<\/em> isn\u2019t in a state of emergency, so it\u2019s not orange. There\u2019s no fiddling with the basic design.<\/p>\n

Kimura:<\/em><\/span> I like to make them slightly deform when they pass by the camera. It\u2019s a feeling I usually give them.<\/p>\n

Interviewer:<\/em><\/span> Deform! Is that normal?<\/p>\n

Kimura:<\/em><\/span> I do it when I do it. I don\u2019t do it when it can\u2019t be seen.<\/p>\n

Uwabo:<\/em><\/span> I feel like we\u2019re not putting enough into it if the ship doesn\u2019t feel like it\u2019s three times longer. (Laughs)<\/p>\n

Interviewer:<\/em><\/span> Director Habara has said, \u201cRather than showing what is mathematically accurate in a shot, I want to show things clearly.\u201d<\/p>\n

Uwabo:<\/em><\/span> In Episode 1, there\u2019s a shot where the large battleship gets a bit longer.<\/p>\n

Interviewer:<\/em><\/span> It is pretty long, after all.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Uwabo:<\/em><\/span> In Episode 2, there\u2019s a shot where the Cosmo Tiger II gets longer. It gets longer when it\u2019s flying toward the camera while in a flight exercise. Some may notice it, but it\u2019s only in one or two frames.<\/p>\n

Interviewer:<\/em><\/span> But the overall impression changes even if it\u2019s a frame or two.<\/p>\n

Uwabo:<\/em><\/span> The momentum changes, doesn\u2019t it?<\/p>\n

Kimura:<\/em><\/span> Its \u201cWhoosh!\u201d comes out. (Laughs)<\/p>\n

Uwabo:<\/em><\/span> Director Habara and Assistant Director Kobayashi often say that the perception of the human eye falls off when we speed things up. Part of their directing theory is, \u201cIt will look good if we dare to make it visible over a longer time.\u201d I hear various things like that when we do the 3D checks.<\/p>\n

Kimura:<\/em><\/span> We\u2019ve made things five times or even ten times longer, and we can\u2019t judge it in-house, so we ask, \u201cWhich do you prefer?\u201d And it\u2019s usually, \u201cThe longer one.\u201d And even if we think to prepare something at half the length, it\u2019s \u201cThe long one!\u201d (Laughs) \u201cAll right then! I\u2019m making anime! If they do it with drawings, then it\u2019s OK.\u201d<\/p>\n

Interviewer:<\/em><\/span> In Mr. Kimura\u2019s interview in a movie program book<\/a>, a story came up about the near-miss scene with Yamato<\/em> and Andromeda<\/em>, that a shot was five seconds in the storyboard, and at Sublimation\u2019s judgment it was doubled to ten seconds. As you mentioned earlier, the nose stretched as it passed the camera. Did you make it by deciding, \u201cI\u2019ll do it this way\u201d ahead of time?<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Uwabo:<\/em><\/span> We asked the director, \u201cWhat kind of stance do you want to take?\u201d \u201cWhat kind of visual do you like?\u201d We\u2019ve often heard, \u201cIt\u2019s cool to stretch this\u201d and \u201cYou should stretch that,\u201d so several of the workers shared their opinions in the office beforehand, and there were many examples of stretching in fast takes. We didn\u2019t really know what the preference was at first, so we felt our way through it.<\/p>\n

Kimura:<\/em><\/span> At the beginning, we didn\u2019t know whether we could do it or not.<\/p>\n

Uwabo:<\/em><\/span> Some directors hate that kind of thing. There was also a part like, \u201cWhatever we do, let\u2019s have faith in what we make and then decide from there.\u201d<\/p>\n

Interviewer:<\/em><\/span> Were there a lot of instances where you varied from what Mr. Habara was seeking, from the \u201cfaithfulness\u201d that he preferred?<\/p>\n

Uwabo:<\/em><\/span> Because Director Habara was originally an animator, he incorporates the \u201cdrawing of lies\u201d method by exaggeration with anime-like movement. There are a lot of things like that in his directing, mostly done from his instructions. Assistant Director Kobayashi gives us proposals to solve problems, such as giving it more energy. We inherit the experience Director Habara got from drawing anime as an animator, and there are places where we take the “drawing lies\u201d method and say, \u201cLet\u2019s do it on the 3D side.\u201d<\/p>\n

Interviewer:<\/em><\/span> When you got to Chapter 6, did you come to fully understand, \u201cThis is how it should be done\u201d?<\/p>\n

Uwabo:<\/em><\/span> There are a lot of places where I know something like, \u201cWe\u2019ll definitely get an OK from the director if we do it this way.\u201d (Laughs)<\/p>\n

Interviewer:<\/em><\/span> \u201cThese are Mr. Habara\u2019s key points.\u201d<\/p>\n

Kimura:<\/em><\/span> Well, as the guy running the camera, I have a pretty good grasp of his taste.<\/p>\n

Uwabo:<\/em><\/span> We have fewer retakes these days.<\/p>\n

Kimura:<\/em><\/span> At first, even the director was nervous, wondering \u201cCan we do the finishing work properly?\u201d but it feels like he may have come to trust us and the okays became easier to get. Before the editing, even while we only had a rough performance, he\u2019d say \u201cIt\u2019s okay to do the editing.\u201d I think the check itself became different.<\/p>\n

Uwabo:<\/em><\/span> It\u2019s like \u201cfeeling at home.\u201d<\/p>\n

Kimura:<\/em><\/span> Yeah, \u201cfeeling at home with a live sense.\u201d<\/p>\n

Uwabo:<\/em><\/span> Occasionally, we think \u201cThe shot would look better like this\u201d and \u201cThis angle tells the story better,\u201d and the visuals stray from the storyboard.<\/p>\n

Interviewer:<\/em><\/span> The storyboard is a blueprint for anime, but there are things like that, too!<\/p>\n

Uwabo:<\/em><\/span> There are. After the storyboard is created, there is talk at the meeting stage when they place the order for 3D, and new storyboards with revisions might come up at a later date.<\/p>\n

Interviewer:<\/em><\/span> You change things at the meeting and say, \u201cThis is the way to go\u201d?<\/p>\n

Kimura:<\/em><\/span> If a new effect comes in after the storyboard, there are things like, \u201cWhat do we do now?\u201d<\/p>\n

Uwabo:<\/em><\/span> Sometimes there’s a really rough storyboard that says, \u201cThis is the feeling of the effect\u201d but if we still don\u2019t understand it then Assistant Director Kobayashi may send an image that says, \u201cLike this\u201d and \u201cWe trust you with it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Kimura:<\/em><\/span> It may also be better to have a meeting to discuss it after seeing it.<\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n

Uwabo:<\/em><\/span> For example, there might be things like, \u201cI want that plasma to be sparking\u201d or \u201cThis effect doesn\u2019t need to spark.\u201d With Ginga<\/em>\u2019s firing scene that\u2019s in the Chapter 6 trailer, there were sparks but they said, \u201cIt shouldn\u2019t have that impression\u201d so we took the sparks out. For effects we might make 3-4 patterns with subtle differences, and ask \u201cWhich one is the closest?\u201d and go through that process a few times to refine the image.<\/p>\n

Interviewer:<\/em><\/span> Going back to something you said earlier, when the number of people increases I\u2019d think it would become difficult to manage communication successfully. Is there any kind of \u201cinvention to make it work\u201d? Something that gets everyone to gather in a single place?<\/p>\n

Kimura:<\/em><\/span> Well, it\u2019s better to gather in one place if you can. Other than that, we try to arrange a Skype meeting every week or two.<\/p>\n

Uwabo:<\/em><\/span> We\u2019re outsourcing to more people who work out of their homes, so we exchange information through Skype video calls more often.<\/p>\n

Kimura:<\/em><\/span> The people we outsource to will come in for checks, too. You don\u2019t lose any nuance in the message game if they come in directly.<\/p>\n

Uwabo:<\/em><\/span> Instead of communicating in writing or a message, the director\u2019s message of \u201cI want to do it this way\u201d comes through to them.<\/p>\n

Interviewer:<\/em><\/span> Does that mean they talk with the director?<\/p>\n

Uwabo:<\/em><\/span> We use our meeting room for 3D checks with the director, the assistant director, the episode director, Animation Producer Mr. Komatsu from Xebec, and the director and sub-director from Sublimation and others who work with me. When it\u2019s your turn to check, you go forward and get retake instructions directly from the director. Or the director can ask, \u201cWhat\u2019s happening with this?\u201d and the worker answers directly. There\u2019s no time loss like we get when, for example, we send out a movie and get the checkback, and there\u2019s no messenger to filter it. We hear \u201cI want to do it this way\u201d from the director, and we can hear his impressions directly, like \u201cThis shot is cool\u201d and \u201cVery good\u201d and the motivation is completely different.<\/p>\n

Kimura:<\/em><\/span> Even if you have different opinions, they can be settled on the spot.<\/p>\n

Uwabo:<\/em><\/span> When everyone at the top is in one place, we can say, \u201cIf you think about the connection and meaning of this shot, I think it\u2019s better to improve it this way,\u201d and then discuss it. It\u2019s a big deal to get it done with no waiting.<\/p>\n

Kimura:<\/em><\/span> Different people have different preferences, after all, and unifying the different opinions on the spot is a shortcut to getting an OK.<\/p>\n

Interviewer:<\/em><\/span> Do you get advice there like, \u201cYou should do it this way here\u201d from Habara and Kobayashi?<\/p>\n

Kimura:<\/em><\/span> Yes. The advice is also helpful if the staff people who are participating have similar shots.<\/p>\n

Uwabo:<\/em><\/span> They can all understand that \u201cThey\u2019ll like it because it\u2019s similar\u201d and \u201cThis will make it a better visual\u201d and \u201cThis is the kind of visual the director prefers.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n

Kimura:<\/em><\/span> It\u2019s not just for me, but for all the others who need to study it.<\/p>\n

Uwabo:<\/em><\/span> There are many projects where I do checks with the director and the 3D director, and then the staff gets feedback later, but I think we\u2019re truly blessed that everyone on the 2202<\/em> 3D staff participates in checks, so this project gets a lot of study.<\/p>\n

Interviewer:<\/em><\/span> Previously I talked with Director Atsushi Matsumoto about Gatchaman\/Infini-T Force<\/em>, and he said he could do various kinds of lighting since \u201cIn CG you\u2019re working with light anyway.\u201d I like live-action as much as anime, so I was very happy that it could be done. I thought it would be difficult for a camera. You can also have hand-drawn anime, but a flicker occurs if you move the camera, so there are parts where the camera speed is slowed down. I\u2019ve heard talk like, \u201cFlickering is fine since it happens even in live-action, so it comes off as convincing.\u201d Have you devised countermeasures for flickering?<\/p>\n

Kimura:<\/em><\/span> Flicker can happen when we do a check. We can fine-tune it with color in the photography.<\/p>\n

Uwabo:<\/em><\/span> It\u2019s easy to get rid of the flicker when you adjust the contrast, and the compositor has a lot of know-how when it comes to solving the various parts of that.<\/p>\n

Kimura:<\/em><\/span> Assistant Director Kobayashi might also give some advice.<\/p>\n

Uwabo:<\/em><\/span> We have discussions like, \u201cIt\u2019s hard to get rid of it this way.\u201d<\/p>\n

Kimura:<\/em><\/span> In the end, the compositor does the adjustment. It\u2019s mostly full-frame, and the flicker will occur if you drop it to 2-frame. It was done by frame-dropping in the beginning, but because there was too much flickering, it gradually became full.<\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n

Uwabo:<\/em><\/span> It became full-frame after some checks accumulated, so the image is now released at full frame.<\/p>\n

Kimura:<\/em><\/span> Really, double-framing is more like anime, but in the midst of it we asked, \u201cIsn\u2019t full-frame actually better?\u201d<\/p>\n

Uwabo:<\/em><\/span> Flickering becomes more rare with full frame than it is with double-framing.<\/p>\n

Kimura:<\/em><\/span> Yeah\u2026 Even using full frame, when it happens, it happens. (Laughs)<\/p>\n

Interviewer:<\/em><\/span> (Laughs) These last comments really ended up going into minute detail, but thank you very much.<\/p>\n

Translator’s technical note:<\/em><\/p>\n

That last exchange about flickering, full-frame, and double-framing discusses the phenomenon of visually integrating CG footage with anime. It goes back to the reality of film running at 24 frames a second and the need to economize animation by drawing less than 24 frames per second. The most common solution is to \u201cdouble-frame\u201d the animation, meaning 12 images per second, shot two frames at a time. Over the decades, this became an accepted part of the craft and we\u2019ve come to see it as a natural artifact of hand-drawn animation. <\/p>\n

CG, on the other hand, renders at \u201cfull frame\u201d (24 frames per second) creating a smoother image akin to live-action film. Unfortunately, it can create a mismatch when you edit it together with hand-drawn animation. To reduce the mismatch, anime directors have experimented with frame-dropping; rendering CG at 12 frames a second to look like anime. This process naturally creates \u201cflicker,” or “stutter” in the movement. As we learned here, the 2202<\/em> staff tried it at the beginning, but eventually settled on \u201cfull framing\u201d for smoother motion. Incidentally, the American animation term for this is \u201csingle-framing\u201d or \u201canimation on 1\u2019s.\u201d Since it increases production costs, it is usually reserved for feature films.<\/p>\n

Special thanks to Neil Nadelman for translation support.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[123,135],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-25898","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-yamato-2202","category-yamato-2202-interviews"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ourstarblazers.com\/vault\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25898","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ourstarblazers.com\/vault\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ourstarblazers.com\/vault\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ourstarblazers.com\/vault\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ourstarblazers.com\/vault\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=25898"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/www.ourstarblazers.com\/vault\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25898\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":25995,"href":"https:\/\/www.ourstarblazers.com\/vault\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25898\/revisions\/25995"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ourstarblazers.com\/vault\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=25898"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ourstarblazers.com\/vault\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=25898"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ourstarblazers.com\/vault\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=25898"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}