How Futurama Makes It From Paper To The Screen: Cgi & More...

Fans of Futurama would agree that it is one of the most underrated and shows since the original Star Trek series. The plots are uncommonly deep, the scripts are clever and no one can deny that the show's animation is of exceptional quality. But have you ever wondered how it all comes together from the first pencil marks to your screen?

While the voices of some animated films and shows are made to match what has already been rendered by animators, Futurama is one that is animated to match what has already been written and recorded under the episodes chief director. This allows for a greater range of expression and creative input from the show's talented voice actors such as Billy West who when given room really brings life and humor to their characters.

Once the show's soundtrack is completed it is given to the animation team at Rough Draft Studios in Glendale California along with the script. Overseen by supervising director Rich Moore various departments work in different areas but their input all comes together in the end.

First the story board department - or the "Story Board Empire" as they are called at Rough Draft Studios - renders what is basically a series of comic book like sketches called the story board. Each change of "camera" angle and all major motions are represented in the story board which is then used as reference for the layout department to "rough in" the scenes. A layout is a rough draft version of the animation. The story board and layout departments work with the animation director until they match the animation to the soundtrack fulfill chief director's vision.

The layout is then used as the basis for the finished animation. The animation for Futurama is still mainly penciled, inked and painted cell by cell in the traditional way. With Futurama a good amount of computer graphics and 3D modeling is integrated with drawn animation. There is even a separate effects department for Futurama that creates electricity, explosions, space warping and other dazzling effects.

Futurama's CGI sequences are created with PowerAnimator which is an industrial grade highly-integrated 3D modeling, animation and visual effects suite. Made by Alias, PowerAnimator is the same program that was used for Terminator 2, the Jurassic Park films, The Abyss, Star Wars Episode I, South Park, Batman Returns, James and the Giant Peach and more and is the precursor to the commercial programs Maya and Studio Tools.

The CGI department's computer graphics and special effects are integrated with the hand illustrated animation and shading. The director of computer graphics says, "The challenging part about doing 3D work on Futurama is making the 3D look like the 2D painted cells style so we use a special rendering process and special shaders that create that look."

These various elements are brought together, layered and matched in RenderFarm. Everything is "color keyed" to make all the coloring and shading consistent between the CGI and hand-painted layers and the from one scene to every other scene. These all go into an "animatic" to lock together all the visuals and to synchronize the visuals to the sound.

As the supervising director of animation Rich Moore says, "What I find very satisfying about this show is that it is very ambitious, you know, to create something so complex on a weekly schedule. It's a lot of hard work and lots of late hours but to see the final product is very satisfying and I love it!"

Futurama fans love it too!