Q&A with Cla udia Chung
Brave’s simulation supervisor discusses the main challenges
How long did you work on the R& D for this hair system?
We worked on Merida’s hair for about two and half years. It was important during this time to test our hair system on both Merida’s curly locks and Angus’ straight mane and tail.
What was the biggest challenge?
When it comes to Merida’s hair, the biggest challenge was how to move curly hair in a realistic but appealing way while still maintaining the volume and structure that supports Merida’s character. Curly hair is a paradox in some ways to our simulator. Curls need to be stiff enough so they never unwind, but the way curls move as a whole is soft, bouncy and dynamic.
How did you solve the many problems?
Other than going into the physics model and technical solutions that are part of the final simulator, perseverance and ingenuity of some really smart people is how we solved the problems. In the beginning of the journey, it was a tight partnership between our hair lead, Lena Petrovic, and the main researcher, Andy Witkin. They would be in each others office looking at results and testing ideas. As the issues grew, the pressures to deliver to production increased, and more artists and engineers came on, we switched to weekly meetings where we’d look at extensive testing done by all sides on both Merida and Angus. There, we would talk about all the technical problems, viable solutions, and the uncompromising artistic bar.
Did you do anything wrong?
Many things went wrong or took longer than expected when developing the simulation system for Brave. At one point we even considered cutting Merida’s hair if we couldn’t get the technology in place in time to finish the film. Everyone on the team, from the researchers to the simulation artists to the animators, learned to be completely honest about what expectations they had about Merida’s hair. Researchers needed to be honest about what was actually possible versus just theoretical. Simulation artists needed to communicate about what problems they were facing instead of trying to bear the weight of fixing all problems while struggling with the artistic intent. And animators had to voice when and what they weren’t satisfied with in terms of the behaviour or acting or Merida’s hair. These notes were difficult to hear, especially for the simulation artists who were ultimately responsible for Merida’s hair. We all had to accept that cutting her hair was not an option and that facilitated everyone involved to have a common goal.