The Good Dinosaur: A Technical Triumph in CGI Filmmaking
Summary
In this article, we explore the technical achievements of Pixar’s 16th CGI film, The Good Dinosaur, which showcases stunningly realistic landscapes and natural environments. The film’s success lies not only in its stylized characters but also in the ultra-realistic world they inhabit. The use of accurate data from the US Geological Survey and virtual cinematography by DOP Sharon Callaghan, along with outstanding natural vegetation and cloud simulation, make this world come to life. The film sets a new benchmark for natural beauty in CGI while delivering an honest and genuine story.
Table of Contents
- What if the meteor missed the Earth?
- Ultra-realistic environment
- Stylized characters
- Accurate data and virtual cinematography
- Outstanding natural vegetation and cloud simulation
- Modular elements of the river
- Conclusion
What if the meteor missed the Earth?
The Good Dinosaur tells the story of a lost hero’s long trip home while finding himself on the way. He’s accompanied by a faithful sidekick, a loyal dog. The film starts with a what-if premise: What if the meteor that killed off the dinosaurs many years ago had actually missed the Earth?
Ultra-realistic environment
From a technical point of view, the film’s most successful triumph is not centred around the dinosaur, but around the incredible environment in which they inhabit. The landscape in this film is just stunning, perhaps more beautiful than any studio has yet ever managed to render to the big screen. And it plays several key roles in the plot. It really is a character in its own right.
Stylized characters
The CGI world could be called realistic, but ultra-realistic would perhaps be more accurate. And this is in stark contrast to the characters themselves, such as Arlo and Spot, who are, well, very stylized. And neither could be described as realistic. Yet, of course, they work perfectly, carrying the emotional sort of weight of the storytelling of the film.
Accurate data and virtual cinematography
The world is actually built on accurate data from the US Geological Survey, but it’s the wonderful virtual cinematography by DOP Sharon Callaghan, herself a landscape artist, that really brings this world to life. This stunning work is coupled with outstanding natural vegetation and cloud simulation. Pixar sourced the topographical data of Wyoming and then used it to create 280 square kilometres of natural landscape, accurate all but for the addition of Arlo’s home, Clawtooth Mountain.
Outstanding natural vegetation and cloud simulation
The library of vegetation contains some 3,500 simulations alone. That’s 20 terabytes of data. And animators simply got to pick the amount of wind they wanted when adding any vegetation to any new part of the landscape. Above our hero, there are 180 different fully volumetric cloudy skies, based again on government cloud satellite data, but also the special accurate light scattering clouds made in RenderMan. The weather actually gets baked into every shrub and tree with the instance geometry containing varying levels of wind-blowing movement.
Modular elements of the river
Nearly a third of the over 900 effect shots in The Good Dinosaur involved the river or water. The river was made from Houdini’s Flip water solve, but as those water simulations are just so expensive, the river was assembled much like a Lego set, broken down into smaller, reusable pieces. This means that most of the shots of the river were just cleverly reconfigured parts of the same stretch of river. But those modular elements were made quite separately from the foam and whitewater spray, which was actually separately simulated at a one-centimetre scale across the entire distance, sometimes a quarter of a mile in some shots.
Conclusion
The Good Dinosaur sets a new benchmark for natural beauty in CGI while delivering an honest and genuine story. The film’s technical achievements are impressive, with ultra-realistic environments, accurate data, and virtual cinematography, outstanding natural vegetation and cloud simulation, and modular elements of the river. Pixar continues to push the boundaries of what is possible in CGI filmmaking, and The Good Dinosaur is a testament to their creativity and technical expertise.
