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A Photorealistic CGI TV Series Coming Real Soon Now

Posted by Hemos on from the ja-the-tv-is-gut dept.

ziggy_zero writes "SoulPix has revealed their project named "SoulFire", a photorealistic computer-generated TV series created entirely with 3ds max. Here's a trailer (it's in German). Looks pretty cool, better than those CGI cartoons I've seen - although definitely not even Final Fantasy quality. Note - apparently the DivX version was encoded using a weird codec that doesn't work on all players, so you might be better off getting the Quicktime version."

11 of 259 comments (clear)

  1. photorealism by MJArrison · · Score: 5, Interesting

    I just watched the trailer (thank god for slashdot articles "from the future") and noticed that not a single one of the charcters blinked in the entire preview. Whether it's blinking, or speed of limb movement, or A/V sync, minute body motions are going to continue to seperate live action from CGI for a few more years to come. Photorealism exists only in still frames for the time being.

    1. Re:photorealism by visgoth · · Score: 5, Insightful
      The problem with attempting photorealistic humans is that the closer to "real" you get, the lower the tolerances for what is acceptable are. A creature that is only 50% human looking will be far more "real" looking than a 99.9% accurate looking human. Why? Because each and every human is hardwired to know exactly what a person looks like and moves like. It'll take some time until we get to the point where flesh and blood actors are out of a job.

      That being said, cgi is great for things like Gollum, dinosaurs and other such stuff. It's also great for stunt doubles, where some things are just too damn dangerous to pull off with a real live human.

      --
      My patience is infinite, my time is not.
    2. Re:photorealism by lingqi · · Score: 5, Insightful

      I remember reading somewhere that there is a chasm when the models gets too near "realistic." Like from no resemblance to real world (cartoon networks' toonami robot) to "100% human-like" models, the "realism" would scale linearly until you get to about 95%, which the realism just falls because the models simply "don't look right," or something. of course, eventually it would be possible to climb back the chasm to reach 100%, but I suppose that's really hard. =)

      I read this in wired a while back, I believe; and no blinking is not a fault of the CG tech, but rather that of the guys doing this stuff - in better CG things (final fantasy for one - heck even in games they put in blinking characters now), they put in the details.

      Btw, FF (movie) seemed weird and creepy but you CAN'T explain what's no "not real" about it - a good example of the "chasm."

      And for another example - for anybody who seen the promotional video of Final Fantasy X-2 where there is a comparative track between the real singer doing her song and dance number, and cutting to the CG (Yuna) doing the same, you can see how strangely unreal the CG version is - though looking at CG version alone does not necessarily give you the idea.

      --

      My life in the land of the rising sun.

    3. Re:photorealism by Thorgal · · Score: 5, Informative

      Well, it lacked subsurface scattering, which is pretty important thing when rendering stuff like human skin. Check it here.

      --
      "Man in the Moon and other weird things" - wfmh.org.pl/thorgal/Moon/
  2. What's the point... by rsilvergun · · Score: 5, Interesting

    ...not to troll or anything, but what makes cartoons and simular endevors neat is that they don't look real. There's a lot to be said for stylized animation. On the other hand when these techniques are used to make shots posible that otherwise wouldn't be (like about half of Episode II) then I appreciate it.

    --
    Hi! I make Firefox Plug-ins. Check 'em out @ https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/youtube-mp3-podcaster/
  3. No anime... no support ;) by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny
    I'm sorry, but this TV series is not anime. As a member of the geek community, I believe we should stand up and say "NO!" to the non-Japanese people who wish to animate stuff.

    --M. Oshii

  4. The details by Spytap · · Score: 5, Interesting

    ...are the reason CGI from Pixar, although less than photorealistic (and with a definite cartoony primary-colored look) can feel more photorealistic than projects where a company tries to fool the eye using computers.

  5. Can't wait to see... by smittyoneeach · · Score: 5, Funny

    ...the actor's guild on strike against beings that do not exist.
    That will be a triumph of surreal/dada-ism.

    --
    Get thee glass eyes, and, like a scurvy politician, seem to see things thou dost not.--King Lear
  6. Uh-oh... by yozzle · · Score: 5, Funny

    Soon we'll have to deal with a computer generated version of Friends.

  7. Final Fantasy Quality by phorm · · Score: 5, Insightful

    although definitely not even Final Fantasy quality

    Many fans' primary beef with the FF movie was the thin plot, not the lack of impressive CGI. For a movie, a lot of effort can be invested in minute details etc to render with realism.
    For a TV series, I would expect less quality simply because there is less time to rollout, and continuous rollouts as opposed to one big event.

  8. Be gentle... by heli0 · · Score: 5, Informative

    I am mirroring the video: www.btrig.com/share/FINALTRAILER_720_divx.avi [35MB; Divx5.0.3]

    --
    Whenever the offence inspires less horror than the punishment, the rigour of penal law is obliged to give way...