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The biggest trends in animation today are both driving and driven by the same thing: an evolution in storytelling. We see directors now who are just as comfortable behind workstations as they are behind cameras, and they’re experimenting with all kinds of techniques to create new experiences for audiences. This blending of techniques—CG, stereo 3D, live action, stop motion, miniatures, machinima, performance capture, and other approaches—requires that we, as creative companies, expand our thinking and capabilities too. The days of "this is our pipeline" are over. There’s no formula that works for every challenge.

In the past year alone at Digital Domain, we’ve created animated characters for Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen—the movie and tie-in commercials—using hand-animation techniques; completed a campaign for the Gears of War 2 videogame using machinima; combined performance capture, image analysis, and hand animation for The Curious Case of Benjamin Button; used performance capture and hand animation for G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra; and implemented stereo 3D for a Super Bowl commercial. To aid filmmakers and storytellers in creating the best possible audience experience for that story, animation and visual-effects companies have to be able to work with every possible technique. Below, I’ve listed some of the trends we see unfolding.

Stereo 3D
It’s fantastic to see stereo moving beyond gags and in-your-face visuals to the way directors are using it now: to enrich the story and the viewer’s experience. While we’re seeing stereo’s impact hitting hard in features today, clearly we’re in the early days of something that will grow beyond the theatrical experience to be available to consumers at home. As the demand for stereo content grows, creative companies need to expand their expertise in stereo workflows for movies, TV shows, commercials, special venue productions, and even games, and to mature in the artistry to create story-enhancing images that go beyond gimmicks.

Performance capture
In the past five years, we’ve seen incredible advances in performance-capture technology, again driven by the desire to enhance the audience’s experience of CG characters and the overall story. Digital Domain’s focus on this area for Benjamin Button brought us great success, but it also convinced us that animating a human character is still the hardest thing to do. Even with new techniques, it’s incredibly difficult for a team of animators to re-create the nuanced performance of a talented professional actor.

Because of the cost and time required, the most impressive performance-capture examples are still in the feature world. While rendering in games has come a long way, animation in videogames is somewhat behind features in the level of sophistication of the performances. Improvements are coming quickly, though.

Production is leading innovation
We have seen a great deal of development from manufacturers in the performance-capture arena, but commercial animation tools have not evolved as quickly in recent years. Production companies with inhouse R&D are delivering the major innovations in this area today. Every studio needs to think about the internal development that will be required to execute a project and what building those tools will add to the cost of production. It’s become a necessity to creating the type of work we’re all looking to do.

Games and movies: still no convergence
Despite a lot of discussion about convergence and the advantages of developing games and movies simultaneously, these processes are still separate. Great movies often still lack a great game. The barriers to convergence are not technical or creative—they’re rooted in the way the industry does business. Games are still treated like a license, an afterthought to the creative process rather than an integral part. The creative development of a movie should be driven by a common vision and developed along a parallel process with the game. Both are complex, and both require a lot of time and iteration. We have to overcome the barrier of traditional business practices to reach the creative goal of a movie and game that deliver an equally high-quality experience.

Shorts
Shorts are incredibly important to animation production—they’re probably the most important tool for grooming talent and trying new techniques. I love seeing them in front of every Pixar film, and I love the shorts that people are doing using videogames and posting on YouTube. The tools are so much more accessible; it’s easy to get your ideas and stories out there online. The ease of being able to experiment in a short format is helping to build the industry’s animation talent base for the future.

Starting out
In terms of talent, we (and probably every studio out there) are often asked by aspiring animators and artists what they should do to prepare for a career in animation. Our advice is to understand basic filmmaking techniques—performance, acting, facial expressions, body dynamics, and motion—as well as learning the typical software tools. Understand the camera, as it’s as much a character as any you’ll develop.