What Animation Software Does The Simpsons Use

Woo Hoo! The Simpsons Idiot box Bear witness and Adobe Brand Alive Animation Boob tube History

Back in 1997 in The Simpsons episode "The Itchy & Scratchy & Poochie Show", Homer Simpson got an upwards-close look at the world of animation when he became the vocalism talent backside the animated domestic dog Poochie. When Homer asked whether the episode was ambulation live, a veteran voice histrion dryly replied, "Very few cartoons are circulate live. It's a terrible strain on the animators' wrists."

It may surprise long-time viewers of The Simpsons to discover out, Homer was actually on to something!

At present, almost xx years afterwards, his prophetic question is reality as The Simpsons team—using Adobe Character Animator—aired the program's first ever live segment ever on May fifteen, 2016. The setup: Homer, with help from his phonation actor Dan Castellaneta, improvised a 3-minute live segment, sharing his takes on current events and responding directly to questions submitted by fans.

The episode, smartly titled "Simprovised", broke new footing for The Simpsons, the show's legions of fans, and live televised blitheness.

How did they do information technology?

Believe it or not, the process is relatively simple, with the right tools. Castellaneta delivered the live functioning and Adobe Character Animator (a relatively new feature in Later on Furnishings CC, part of Creative Deject) made the magic through realistic lip sync and keyboard-triggered animations. The talented teams at Fox and The Simpsons had early admission to the upcoming version of Character Animator, which debuted (and will send soon … go on an eye out) when our Digital Video and Sound team barnstormed the NAB trade show.

"The Simpsons has always pushed the boundaries of what'due south next and what'due south possible in entertainment," says Van Bedient, senior strategic development managing director at Adobe. "They're not afraid to take risks. When it came to putting a live segment into their wildly popular program, nosotros couldn't imagine a better opportunity to show what's next in technology."

Adobe Character Animator literally lets designers bring 2D characters to life. A professional animator or whatever designer can create a layered graphic symbol in Photoshop CC or Illustrator CC, bring them into a Character Animator scene, and then act out the character'southward motility in front of a webcam. Fifty-fifty subtle facial expressions show up instantly, forth with recorded dialogue and other actions triggered past a few simple keystrokes. All of this combines to create animations that have real-globe, existent-time elements, as characters collaborate or as people collaborate direct with their favorite characters. Smile, and your character smiles correct dorsum at you.

"People don't normally associate animation with speed and simplicity," says Bill Roberts, senior managing director of product management DVA for Adobe. "Traditional animation takes a huge amount of time to do well. It's non easy to convey emotion and action, and if you lot pattern as well fast, you adventure losing all those great 'in-between' moments. Character Animator is a game changer."

Graphic symbol Animator began with a lunchtime conversation which grew into brainstorming sessions between Afterwards Furnishings engineers and Adobe researchers. The engineers had noticed that After Furnishings users were pushing the limits of rigging animations by hand; the researchers had invented tools to make that process faster and easier. Their vision for the product took off when they arrived at the concept of making Photoshop and Illustrator artwork interactive.

"Nosotros're always inspired by our customers' piece of work, which includes some of the world's most beloved cartoon characters," says David Simons, co-creator of After Effects. "We realized there was the chance to create a product specifically for rigged animations."

The team set out to make creating animation as easy every bit acting, or performing a musical instrument, but could not predict how customers would utilize Grapheme Animator in live blitheness. "We created a live interface so animators could get immediate feedback on their performances, but every bit more people asked nigh live broadcasts, we knew we had something special. I've been a fan of The Simpsons since the early 1990s, so, when they contacted us, nosotros jumped at the opportunity to piece of work with them on their first live circulate," says Simons.

Simple, fast, real-fourth dimension animations. Information technology'south not surprising the reaction to Grapheme Animator has been so positive.

"Adobe Character Animator is the commencement product I've ever worked with where everyone—from CEOs to kids—smiles when they see it. It's easy and fun to make animations come live. Creatives now have more means than ever to transform how audiences view and respond to their characters," says Roberts.

Acquire More

Find for yourself why people are and so excited about the potential of Adobe Character Animator past creating your ain animation.

Lookout Dave Werner's NAB 2016 presentation Breathing Life into 2D Blitheness

Acquire more virtually Bringing 2D characters to life with Adobe Character Animator

Other press coverage:

The Wall Street Periodical: http://blogs.wsj.com/speakeasy/2016/05/13/how-the-simpsons-will-pull-off-a-live-episode/
Telly Technology: http://world wide web.tvtechnology.com/news/0002/simpsons-prepare-for-animations-first-alive-broadcast/278589

Source: https://blog.adobe.com/en/publish/2016/05/15/the-simpsons-tv-show-and-adobe-make-live-animation-television-history

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