Computer Animation Production System
Digital ink-and-paint system for Disney traditional animation.
The Computer Animation Production System (CAPS) was a set of proprietary tools—including software, scanning cameras, servers, networked workstations, and custom desks—created by Walt Disney and Pixar in the late 1980s. Though it became obsolete by the mid-2000s, it cut labor costs in the ink-and-paint and post-production stages of traditional animated features from Walt Disney Animation Studios, while giving filmmakers a new range of digital capabilities.
The system’s roots trace back to a "scan and paint" setup developed in the late 1970s at the New York Institute of Technology’s Computer Graphics Lab, used for a 22-minute computer-animated TV show, *Measure for Measure*. In the early 1980s, Cornell University’s Marc Levoy and Hanna-Barbera Productions built a video animation system for cartoons. CAPS first appeared in the titles for "The Magical World of Disney," showing Mickey on Epcot’s Spaceship Earth. Its first feature-film test came in 1989’s *The Little Mermaid*, used for a single shot in the rainbow sequence. After that, all subsequent films were made entirely with CAPS; *The Rescuers Down Under* became the first fully digital feature film. Later movies like *Beauty and the Beast*, *Aladdin*, *The Lion King*, and *The Hunchback of Notre Dame* increasingly used CAPS’ ability to blend 2-D and 3-D elements. Initially, Disney kept CAPS quiet, fearing that revealing computer involvement would ruin "the magic." *Computer Graphics World* magazine finally got a look in 1994.
In 1992, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences gave a Scientific and Engineering Award to the CAPS development team: Randy Cartwright, David B. Coons, Lemuel Davis, Thomas Hahn, James Houston, Mark Kimball, Dylan W. Kohler, Peter Nye, Michael Shantzis, David F. Wolf, and the Walt Disney Animation Studios Department.
CAPS was the first digital ink-and-paint system used by a major studio for animated features. It let artists easily color enclosed areas and lines on a computer with an unlimited palette, replacing the costly process of transferring drawings to cels with India ink or xerography and painting their reverse sides with gouache. It also enabled new techniques like transparent shading and blended colors.
Quick Facts
- Former Name
- CAPS
- Predecessor
- Walt Disney Feature Animation / Pixar
- Defunct
- 2006
Facts from the source article.
Lore & Background
The Computer Graphics Lab at the New York Institute of Technology developed a 'scan and paint' system for cel animation in the late 1970s, used to produce a 22-minute computer-animated television show called Measure for Measure. Industry developments led Marc Levoy of Cornell University and Hanna-Barbera Productions to develop a video animation system for cartoons in the early 1980s. The first usage of the CAPS process was Mickey standing on Epcot's Spaceship Earth for 'The Magical World of Disney' titles. The system's first feature film test was in the production of The Little Mermaid in 1989, used in a single shot of the rainbow sequence at the end of the film. After Mermaid, films were made completely using CAPS; the first of these, The Rescuers Down Under, was the first fully digital feature film. Later films, including Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin, The Lion King, and The Hunchback of Notre Dame, took more advantage of CAPS' 2-D and 3-D integration. In the early days of CAPS, Disney chose not to discuss the system in public, being afraid that 'the magic would go away' if people found out that computers were involved. Computer Graphics World magazine, in 1994, was the first to have a look at the process.
Reader's Guide
CAPS was a digital ink and paint system used in animated feature films, the first at a major studio. Using CAPS, enclosed areas and lines could be easily colored in a computer environment using an unlimited palette, replacing the expensive process of transferring animated drawings to cels using India ink or xerographic technology and painting the reverse sides of the cels with gouache paint. It allowed for sophisticated new techniques such as transparent shading and blended colors. The completed digital cels were composited over scanned background paintings, and camera or pan movements were programmed into a computer exposure sheet simulating the actions of old-style animation cameras. Complex multiplane shots giving a sense of depth were possible, and unlike the analog multiplane camera, the CAPS multiplane cameras were not limited by artwork size. Since the animation elements existed digitally, CGI could be included directly into the movie without the requirements of being plotted on paper first. CAPS was capable of a high level of image quality using significantly slower computer systems than are available today. The final frames were rendered at 2K digital film resolution, and the artwork was scanned so that it always held 100% resolution in the final output. Using the Pixar Image Computer, images were stored at 48-bits per pixel. The compositing system allowed complex multi-layered shots, used almost immediately in The Rescuers Down Under to create a 400-layer opening dolly shot. DALS (Disney Animation Logistics System) made use of one of the first large-scale, custom RAID systems in the film industry.
Did You Know?
- The Rescuers Down Under (1990) was the first fully digital feature film, made completely using CAPS.
- In 1992, the CAPS development team won an Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Scientific and Engineering Award.
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