Behind the Creature: Creating Animals for DreamWorks' The Wild Robot

Introduction 

Hi! My name is Hannah Kang. I am a 3D character artist currently working at DreamWorks Animation. The start of getting into actual 3D character work began when I discovered Gnomon School of Visual Effects through a friend. Through the school, I was able to dabble in different areas of visual effects and modeling.

My art gravitated to anything character-related very early on. I always knew from the start I wanted to work in feature animation. However, I took an unconventional route to eventually get to Dreamworks. Upon graduating, I was able to get my foot into the industry through the Legacy Effects studio.

Legacy is a special effects studio that has brought some of the most iconic films to screen, such as Terminator, Jurassic Park, Avatar, and many more. While feature animation was the dream at that time, being able to soak up any knowledge by working with some of the most talented people in the industry was something I was seeking. I wanted to grow as an artist. Here, I became aware of the power to fluctuate from stylization to realism. I was able to work on tentpole films such as Guardians of Galaxy 2 and Avengers, fast-paced commercials, and TV. Working with designers early on and learning how to speak within the context of design was something I learned over at Legacy as well. When an offer was made at DreamWorks, I took all of the knowledge with me to start my path in feature animation.

Coming in, I was eager to learn how films were created at the studio and the process of how their models and characters come together for the final look. Supervisors like Tony Williams and Bear Williams and production designers like Pierre-Olivier Vincent were a huge support system for my path of working on characters here.

The films I have very fond memories of working on are Puss in Boots 2, Ruby Gillman, Teenage Kraken, and The Wild Robot. I like to attribute some of the skills I have acquired to working on personal work (even if they're just for me) outside of working hours. Practicing during my own time and putting that to the test on work assignments was a great way to gauge my growth and see where my gaps were.

I have been jumping into the art department to help in pre-production with art models and also jumping back into the modeling department to help with production. Every project that I have jumped on serves a different set of challenges. Whether that is design, form, appeal, or technical, they are all aspects I love about being an artist. It keeps you on your toes and I don't think I will ever get bored in life! It's been an amazing ride so far, and I can only aspire to keep growing as an artist and as a person. I can’t wait to show more work in the future that DreamWorks is cooking up!

The Wild Robot

I hopped onto The Wild Robot right after Ruby Gillman. Production started to roll, but it was still very early on in the process. Coming onto the project, the first character I was able to tackle was the weasel. The big question with every artist on the team was the fur. It was either choosing the path of sculpted fur or going the route of adding groom.

Personally, with my workflow, I felt sculpted fur wasn't going to best represent the character. Never having worked with groom, I had to quickly get up to speed. It was staying up late hours, scouring the internet for any information, and messaging other artists technical questions that helped me have that skill set in my toolbox. Shout out to Omar Hesham!

Every artist was launched with the concept, then real-life references of the animal. During the launch, some animals were grabbing the elements of several concepts or sticking with one concept.

Through references, it was kept in mind how to make sure the merge of stylized characters and actual animals was grounded in the real world, especially the anatomy and mechanics of the animal. The main thing I wanted to make sure of with every animal was to capture the appeal first from the face to the forms, then add fur to the package look very early on in the process. What I love about the pipeline at DreamWorks is you have the freedom to be an artist and show what a finished visual development character or model can look like.

Real-Life References

Referencing real-world animals was very important in the process. Some proportions were exaggerated but were still very grounded in the real world. They weren't formed with tubular shapes, but looking at anatomy references to see what the legs of a rabbit look like, how the nails bunch together, and the correct structure of the teeth. During reviews such as director meetings or meetings with riggers and animators, references were often pulled out to make sure design, along with the real world, was lining up.

The time to finish a model is always dependent on the complexity of the animal. When budgeting for time, this will be something that would be discussed with my supervisor, Hyun Huh. So give or take, a model without fur will get 1 week, fur and render will be another 1-2 weeks, and then it will go into production modeling. The main challenge was the fur, the many crashes, and how tedious the process can be. But when you hit that render button and see the results, it was very much worth going through the pain.

If we look at animals versus humans, they are just different challenges, so I don’t necessarily see one as more difficult than the other. They’re both challenging in their own way. I think having a huge appreciation for anatomy has helped me on this project. The nice thing about fur is that it can literally make anything look so adorable!

Tips for Artists

I teach classes at CGMA, and I always tell my students to get their foundational skills down. Students often mistakenly think that, since its stylization, things such as anatomy do not need to be learned. However, that's a big misconception, especially in 3D, because with almost all levels of stylization, you can't hide behind details. You are working a lot in first and secondary forms. Get this understanding, and it's going to be a superpower later instead of a wall.

Also, if you want to work in a pipeline, you have to understand topology. Amazing tools like ZBrush make it easy to create beautiful models, but you have to understand the base language of 3D modeling.

Every artist gets into a big studio differently, whether that's through internship, word of mouth, referrals, or straight applying and getting an interview. Think of the studios that you want to work for and curate your portfolio that way. It doesn't mean you have to put all your eggs in one basket, but having a target helps.

Hannah Kang, Character Artist

Interview conducted by Gloria Levine