Because they're often targeted at children too young to appreciate art, animated movies can be undervalued. Big productions like "Avatar" (2009) get lots of coverage because of advances in computer graphics and special effects, but let's step back from the blue alien life forms and the fantastical battle scenes for a moment. Consider what makes a cartoon seem lifelike. There are all of the details of facial expressions and synchronizing mouth movements to voice tracks. Animators have to deal with hands, which are notoriously troublesome to render, and prevent gestures from being choppy and awkward. And then there's hair: a universal mammalian characteristic.
As anyone with long locks can tell you, hair has a life of its own. It has a particular affinity for wind and gum. It's weird because it's attached to your head and it's growing out of your body, but compared to your other extremities you have relatively little control over it. It goes through mood swings (good and bad) and gets reshaped by humidity (good and bad). How then do you capture the intricacies of hair?
With all of the work that goes into producing a movie, it's not surprising that every detail is given careful consideration. In live?action films, a single actor can have an entire staff of stylists devoted solely to his hairdo. It's the same for animated characters. Welcome to the world of hair simulation specialists, a particular subset of computer animators devoted to bringing the texture, density and color of hair to life.
Simulating human hair is widely recognized as one of the most difficult types of animation, along with simulating fabric. Indeed, the two disciplines share some of their complex computer algorithms. Both hair and fabric are solids and cannot be modeled in the same way that fluids can be, but they move in flowing patterns and have unique properties of elasticity. Computer scientists take an academic approach, presenting at conferences and in scientific journals about the equations needed to model hair motion. They've thought of hair strand by strand, as a classical mass?spring system or as chains of rigid bodies. One group in France recently published an algorithm for different variations of hair, assuming each resembles a superhelix structure. Their work is more versatile for wavy, curly, straight and wispy hair.
Hair animators got their moment in the spotlight with Disney's "Tangled" (2010), a retelling of Rapunzel that emphasizes the personality of her magnificent mane. According to the animators, Rapunzel's hair is an estimated 70 feet long and over 100,000 strands thick. It would probably weigh more than 10 pounds! (But let's suspend our disbelief - the fact that she can keep her neck straight is perhaps the least magical trick in the movie.)
According to the U.S. Department of Labor's Bureau of Labor Statistics, hair simulation supervisors earn a median wage of $70,000 annually in the motion picture and video industry. This figure depends on whether they are full?time or on contract. Hours vary considerably, too. In terms of future job outlook, the field of animation is growing faster than most sectors in art.
Tufts students tend to have a diverse array of interests, balancing arts with sciences. Animation seems like a prime opportunity for computer geeks to show off their aesthetic sides. (Especially if they've always had a penchant for cosmetology.) If you find yourself in Halligan late into the evening, but you also happen to be your dorm's resident pre?Winter Bash stylist, perhaps hair simulation is your calling. Movies like "Tangled" aren't just for kids, just as hair animation isn't child's play.
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Alyson Yee is a senior majoring in biology and French. She can be reached at Alyson.Yee@tufts.edu.
