Catlu – LookingOutwards02

The thing that may have most inspired me to begin to learn coding was the program Meander that was used in Disney’s short film, Paperman. I have always loved animation, but before I saw Paperman, there was always such a clear distinction for me between 2D and 3D. 2D had distinct stylistic advantages, while 3D could achieve gorgeous and realistic effects. Although the new wave of 3D animation was exciting, there was a bit of nostalgic longing for the old 2D movies that always stayed with me. Hand drawn lines have an appeal and stylish nature that I’ve never seen really matched in a 3D film. With certain nuances, most 3D films give off the same sort of feeling. With Paperman, it was different. I was amazed. Even if the style was classic Disney, the feeling the animation gave off, the atmosphere of the lighting and lines, was unique. I looked up the short later and found that the effect was achieved by using a program called Meander that was made in Disney’s R&D department. Meander made it so that the short could be animated in 3D, but that 2D lines could be hand drawn on top, that would morph, contour, and follow the curves of the 3D spaces and characters. They had essentially given a 3D movie a further 2D appeal. It was because of Paperman that I realized the possibilities that computer science brought to the field of animation, and that by learning computer science, I could open up those possibilities for myself.