Restoring Trust to Animation

There has been a great deal of trust lost between investors and conceptual artists.  This is because many conceptual artists live by the motto, "perception is reality," but it almost never is.  I joke about this quite a bit with engineers who tell me to "do the engineering" to make my concept reality.  While I can "do the engineering," I enjoy telling them, "Why?  I can make a 2 minute video and there you see it, so it must be reality."  I say it as a joke, because they are correct.  Any look at the internet will result in a myriad of images and animations that "look real," but not only are they fake, what they "show" is not physically possible.

"Perception is reality" is a very dangerous modus operandi in conceptual animation, for when reality falls short of perception, as it invariably will, trust is lost.  

Conceptual animation is like a time-traveler who goes into the future and returns with poorly exposed pictures of things happening there.  You see the possibility of something in the future, but it is an unclear image.  NEVER present conceptual animation as reality.

Never presume that conceptual visual arts can deliver substance when it comes to engineering or science.  Even when created by engineers, conceptual animation is always just an approximation of something that might be made real by an engineering team.  Rather than an accurate portrait, it is like an impressionist painting - blurred lines that serve the viewer an essence of what might be brought to life. 

Essence - "the intrinsic nature or indispensable quality of something, especially something abstract, that determines its character," such as "spirit."

Abstract is the key word here.  This is one of the reasons engineers huff over animation being introduced in their project.  Their point is valid - what you have been called in to do is not concrete, but abstract.  Visual arts speak to the spirit, not the corporeal, whereas an engineering team is interested in the corporeal.

It is true that a picture is worth a thousand words, but it may be a different thousand words to two different viewers.  An example of this is the UFO debate.  Even a well-documented image of an "unidentified flying object" is still left a mystery.  We may "see" a strange saucer-shaped object floating above the trees or a halo of lights doing acrobatics over the horizon, but the "how" is buried under a flood of disagreeing voices.  Engineers are absorbed with the substance of a technology.  They are concerned with the language and communication of substance in mathematics, code, and design, not the language of the abstract. 

However, innovative new concepts rarely have the engineering substance to back up a vision, and that is where animation finds its voice.  Just as an analyst is called in to look at a foreign nation's mystery technology, you have to work with what you have, and while you may suggest multiple explanations for what you see, at the end of the day, you may be surprised by what the reality turns out to be.  I am always a bit surprised by the differences in a final product from the conceptual design - the reason is obvious, though, as engineers work within the bounds of the possible to bring the abstract into the concrete.  But the point of utilizing animation is to share vision, not substance.  Sharing vision is where conceptual animation shines.  The very reason engineers sigh over it is the reason it is so important.  It MUST step beyond the limits of the concrete in order to share the vision, the spirit of the concept.  It must step into the future and return with the abstract in order to bring the concrete into reality.

The Power of Limits

In this scene, carefully choosing my perspective and distance
 allowed me to use particle generators for the "seagulls," which
saved incredible amounts of time and money.

3D animation has given us nearly unlimited potential in terms of what we can visualize.  The sky is the limit.  But the human mind craves to face and overcome boundaries.  Boundaries brew creativity.  Limits are powerful allies in animation.  Rather than viewing limits as deficiencies, let your limits drive the creativity.  For example, if character animation is not your strong suit, try utilizing any real world situation that might obscure the character in an animation (i.e. glass, walkways, distance, point-of-view, etc).  A few months ago, I was approached with the challenge of animating a security terminal for new fingerprint analysis hardware.  Character animation being incredibly time consuming for me, I took up the challenge by allowing my limitations to drive my approach and decided animating from someone's point-of-view might be the fastest, highest quality method to visualize the scene.  With timely use of camera motion and simple film-making tricks, I could produce an engaging animation of the technology in a quarter the time it would have taken to utilize character animation.

As a corollary, I often think of how limitations in film-making brought about the innovations in special effects we had in Star Wars, E.T, and Close Encounters of the Third Kind.  It helps me to approach much of my animation from a cinematic or simulating perspective.  In this way, I see myself as a film producer rather than as an animator (depending on the project, I may also serve as the script writer and director).  In my experience, an animator does not always know or understand the whole story they are visualizing - they don't have "ownership" over the "whole."  Whereas, as a producer, you're in charge of every aspect of the whole because you have to make the director's vision come alive - if they say, "I want to see this," you have to figure out how you're going to make it happen with the time and money budget you face, while remaining protective of the story you're trying to tell.  Remember, communicating the desired message should be the objective of any video production, not showing off.  You have to protect the core message when navigating limitations.  This way of approaching a project can be very liberating and empowering.

The Importance of Proximity

Animation of Kraken Thermal Glider UUV

Solid Works model of Kraken Thermal Glider UUV

While I was Director of Business Development at Tusaire, I also had the role of Product Development Manager.  This allowed me to be intimately involved in the technology as it was developed from engineering models to actual lab hardware.  Even if I wasn't working in my capacity as Product Development Manager, I would visit the lab and help in whatever stage of design or testing was ongoing with the technology while an animation was rendering.  This approach kept the lines of communication open with the engineers and scientists and improved my overall understanding of the technology for the video production and customer presentations.  This means that I will be able to speak to questions directed at the presentation.  This experience illustrates the importance of "proximity" in Business Development.  While it may not always be possible, proximity can greatly enhance the effectiveness of presentations by providing a foundational understanding of the technology and goodwill with the engineering team.

Proximity improves communication and communication is the backbone of any Business or Product  Development.  Remember that as a Business Developer, you are the bridge between the people who breath the technology and the customer who may have no idea what the technology is.  It is your responsibility to know what the technology is, so, if called upon, you can speak to it in the context of your presentation or direct the customer to those who can better answer more detailed questions.

Go Artistic Rather Than Hyper-Realistic

Go "artistic" rather than "hyper-realistic"

While it may seem counter-intuitive, video production that is hyper-realistic may harm the business development of a technology.  As an example, a few years ago, I saw a UAV animation from a major defense contractor that involved composites of animation with real actors, set-pieces, green screens, aircraft careers, and airfield footage that was Hollywood style.  I felt a strange feeling seize me while watching the video.  Here were real people "lying" about what they saw or what they were doing, as if the technology was already in existence.  It brought the animation into the realm of TV drama and the effect undermined the concept for me.  I tested my reaction by sharing it with a number of engineers and scientists, who all said they felt the same way.

Strangely enough, the video also produced a level of defeatism to whoever viewed it - the visuals were so realistic, it seemed as if the product already existed and as one engineer said, "Why bother build it?  Looks like it's already been made."  It also aroused suspicion that if a company was willing to invest so much time, money, and energy into producing a convincing, hyper-realistic fantasy, how was the customer to distinguish between reality and fantasy.  Trust was lost. 

While more research should be done on the subject, the initial reaction of this small sample suggested to me that hyper-realism resembling a small TV production should be avoided in the presentation of a concept.  I have postulated this is because it crosses the line customers like to keep between hyper-realistic fantasy for entertainment sake and that which reaches into their wallets in the real-world of business.  This is good news for underdog Business and Product Developers who can't afford Hollywood style productions.  It also emphasizes the importance of communication and trust between Business Developers and customers in the animation process.  Hubris is a paramount sin in the visualization department.

A happy alternative is to go "artistic."  Rather than attempting "hyper-realism," Business Developers should produce artistic visuals that inspire, encourage, and educate their audience.  It is better to make a customer smile with an Enya soundtrack and a beautiful palette than to make them scowl through a presumptuous animation of somebody's idea already on their aircraft-carrier with their sailors oblivious to the what has been done to them.  The artistic approach has the benefit that at no time will the customer feel they are being "hood-winked" - they know they are watching an animation - a vision of the possible, not a messy blur of reality and fantasy that causes confusion and suspension of trust.

Communicate and Manage Expectations

In Business and Product Development, it is crucial to a technical project that videos and animations be presented with reasonable expectations, whether they are presented to scientifically minded individuals or to investment representatives.  When I produce animations introducing a potential technology for Tusaire Incorporated, I always begin with a title that reads, "A Tusaire Preliminary Concept."  As the research or product development progresses and actual Solid Works models are produced and data is constructed from the lab, the title changes to include a greater degree of definition as the animations also change to describe the product's function in the real world.  For example, once tests in the lab verify the basic technology, the titles might change to say, "A Tusaire Tested Technology" and include actual lab video alongside animation.

As a Business Development Video Producer, I have followed many technologies from whiteboard sketches by an engineer or an inventor to an actual product manufactured in the laboratory.  As I follow a project, my animations change from high level illustrations of the technology without any CAD design to go by to Lightwave 3D models I create off detailed Solid Works models produced by the engineering team.  Once lab data and manufacturing begins, the animations are tuned with any new visuals necessary, combined with live video from tests.

In this process the level of reality must be expressed in the presentation to communicate expectations.  

An Animation Success Story

An animation of a Tusaire supercavitating vehicle

With the application of physics knowledge and some knowledge behind what you are trying to present, animation can enthuse even scientists and engineers.  While working on visualizing supercavitating vehicles for a Tusaire Incorporated technology development project, I researched the phenomenon of supercavitation, read papers on the subject, and watched numerical simulation videos from Saint Anthony Falls Laboratory and various other university research productions, which aided my understanding greatly about how to visualize supercavitation as accurately as possible.  I also spoke to a knowledgeable expert in the field and used my own physics training to get a feeling for the rest.

An animation of a Russian supercavitating torpedo

An animation of a Tusaire supercavitating vehicle

When the animation was shown to a Program Manager at the Navy, they repeatedly asked me what numerical modeling software I was using to create the vapor cavity effect because it was so realistic.  They refused to believe my continual insistence that no numerical modeling had been used to create the effect and it was simply the application of a particle generator.  Getting your animation as close to reality as possible, but maintaining low expectations in an audience of technically minded people is crucial to exciting enthusiasm for a project.

Additionally, this approach has huge payoff when investment representatives and customers without any physical knowledge ask a scientist or engineer to vett your animation or video.  I have experienced this many times and while scientist will rarely say, "yes, that is exactly how it will work in real life," they will likely begrudgingly admit that it is a possible and maybe even probable vision.  This is a rare success story with animation and should not be taken as the rule, but it illustrates an approach that can have huge pay-offs in the Business and Product Development of an idea.

Never Present Animation as "This is How it Will Work"

Animation is and always will be a "virtual" medium - a proxy to reality at best.  It must never be presented as "reality," but rather as a loose narrative about real potential.  Engineers and scientists have a tendency to despise any product not backed up by real data.  As a scientist myself, I know this feeling of scorn when I'm watching a video where physics or what we call "reality" is suspended.  Intimate knowledge about the scientific principles underpinning an idea is a huge advantage to "getting as close as possible" to reality, but also helping the animator internalize that no matter how "cool" the visuals are, it most certainly is not "how it will really work," but only an approximation of "how it might work." 

This foundation helps in any ensuing discussion with technical teams.  Building close relationships with other individuals involved with the idea, concept, or technology is essential to building goodwill and support where it is needed in a visualization production for engineering, science, or R&D.