Coraline Artists Use Objet Technology to Break New Ground in Animation

Objet’s 3D printing technology was recently used in the creation of new stop-motion animation movie Coraline – an innovation that has literally changed the face of animation.

The benefits of Objet’s technology can be seen from the opening scene, all the way through the film, especially in the fluid, life-like facial animation of the characters. Talented artists at the LAIKA animation studio used several Objet 3D printing systems to create hundreds of models with individual facial expressions that were exchanged on puppet characters to create the illusion of all manner of actions and emotions, from talking and smiling to laughing and crying.

Coraline was the first time 3D printed replacement faces were used in a feature-length film. Thanks to the use of Objet’s Eden260™, Eden500V™ and Connex500™ 3D printers during development and production, the main character, named Coraline, had the potential to exhibit over 208,000 facial expressions. This is a dramatic improvement over what has been available for previous movies that, when they were created, were on the cutting edge of stop-motion animation. For example, the main character in The Nightmare Before Christmas was able to show only 800 expressions. 

One of the key advantages available to the filmmakers in using Objet technology was the capability to print multiple materials, each with different mechanical and physical properties, simultaneously. Objet’s Connex500™ is the only 3-D printing system on the market that can do this. In addition, Objet’s patented PolyJet™ and PolyJet Matrix™ technologies enabled the jetting of photopolymer materials in ultra-thin layers that were cured immediately with UV light, speeding up the production process and offering unmatchable levels of detail.

The use of Objet technology in the creation of Coralline created several “firsts” in film history, including:
• The first feature-length movie ever made using replacement faces printed on
  a 3-D printer.
• The first-ever computer aided stop-motion animation morphing sequence.
• The first-ever stop-motion fire to be created with physical, replaceable models.

Beyond faces, Objet was also utilized in the creation of, among other elements, prop silverware, doorknobs, door hinges and food spreads, and its technology made possible the first-ever sequence of computer aided stop-motion morphing, a special effect that seamlessly transforms one image into another. In another first, the technology also enabled a fire to be created with physical, replaceable models, and allowed the film-makers to generate vast numbers of near-identical characters, eliminating the need for computer duplication.