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MillimeterDebug the Rugrats
Mar 1, 1998 12:00 PM, Michael Goldman
As they work to ready Paramount's The Rugrats Movie for a November release, Hollywood animation studio Klasky Csupo has become "a film company, firmly involved in the digital business," according to CEO Terry Thoren.
Klasky Csupo gained fame for its outrageous TV commercials, its recruitment of Soviet and Eastern European animators, and for its TV success, including work on The Simpsons, Duckman, and Rugrats.
The upgrade began about a year ago, specifically for the Rugrats feature. Following its multi-million dollar investment in SGI workstations, UNIX software and a digital, high-speed network, Thoren says Klasky Csupo is negotiating to produce animation for several movies in the next few years.
The new equipment also has implications for the company's TV and spot work. Klasky Csupo can now "deliver in every kind of medium there is," according to Jerry Mills, the company's digital technology manager.
That's a far cry from the digital situation the studio was in less than two years ago. "Back then, the only computers they had in-house were a few Macs that were used for design and development work," says Mills.
The upgrade has brought Klasky Csupo's digital department from two people to 15, along with 20 SGI computers-two Origin 200s and 18 SGI 02 workstations. Almost every phase of production on the Rugrats film is being done on the new hardware, running version 4.2 of the USAnimation 2-D, ink-and-paint software package from ToonBoom, along with Adobe Photoshop for background work. The film's 3-D elements are being created using Alias|Wavefront tools, including version 8.5 of PowerAnimator and Power Modeling. Compositing is being done through the Camera module of the USAnimation software, along with Wavefront Composer.
Mills' team has also put together a 230-GB RAID backup system. Other products include a Celco Extreme MPX film recorder and Sierra Design Labs Video Disc Recorder. A 100 BaseT Switched Ethernet network has also been installed.
Korea's Sunwoo Studios, which is helping ink-and-paint the Rugrats movie, has also upgraded with SGI hardware, sharing the cost and likely partnering with Klasky Csupo on future films. Klasky Csupo is also creating an all-digital pilot for Nickelodeon.
Continue the discussion on “Crosstalk” the Millimeter Forum.
