Toy Story 5's Character VFX Are Next Level Thanks to Tech Advances. And No, It's Not AI
Key takeaways
- For Toy Story 2, Pixar wanted to animate 50 Buzz Lightyears at a time.
- In the opening scene of the new movie, due for release on June 19, a gang of Buzzes patrols a dense desert-island jungle, each moving individually, while remaining roughly in sync.
- To ensure that every Buzz looked the same but different, the animation team created a library of Buzz Lightyear short animation loops that could be reused across multiple shots and then layered on top of one another.
For Toy Story 2, Pixar wanted to animate 50 Buzz Lightyears at a time. In Toy Story 5, it finally succeeded.
In the opening scene of the new movie, due for release on June 19, a gang of Buzzes patrols a dense desert-island jungle, each moving individually, while remaining roughly in sync. It's a complex feat of animation -- the kind Pixar has dreamed of achieving for years, said Thomas Jordan, the company's VFX supervisor, while speaking at SXSW London.
To ensure that every Buzz looked the same but different, the animation team created a library of Buzz Lightyear short animation loops that could be reused across multiple shots and then layered on top of one another. "Sequels are an appealing testing ground for technology because the look of the movie is already established, and we can reuse characters and their environments from past films," said Jordan.