Lights, camera, AI

AI, or Artificial Intelligence, has had a significant impact on various aspects of our lives. As technology continues to advance and AI capabilities improve, its influence is likely to grow even further. AI is also increasingly being used in the entertainment industry for content recommendation, personalized advertisements, and even the creation of art, music, and even filmmaking.

Today, AI was being used to analyse large volumes of data, including audience preferences, box office trends, and social media reactions, to aid filmmakers in making data-driven decisions during the pre-production phase. This allowed them to better understand their target audience and optimise their scripts and casting choices.

AI in the last couple of years has become such an integral part of the filmmaking industry that AI-powered tools are assisting writers in generating ideas, analysing screenplay structures, and even suggesting dialogue lines based on patterns learned from analysing successful scripts!

According to Lalita Chuphal, CEO, Prismart Productions, a globally reputed animation studio and alumna of Apeejay Stya University, AI is being used in the pre-production phase of animation. The integration of AI into animation has enabled studios to streamline processes, automate repetitive tasks, and enhance creative outputs.

She said that AI is of great help in concept art and character design. “Generative AI models can assist artists by producing numerous design variations based on input parametres. These tools can help generate inspiration or speed up the ideation process. AI can analyse scripts for consistency, pacing, and even potential audience reception. This is particularly valuable for animated features that have significant budgets and long production timelines,” Chuphal explained.

AI can also assist in converting script elements into preliminary visual storyboards, helping storyboard artists visualise scene compositions, character interactions. AI can analyse voice samples and match them with character profiles to suggest potential voice actors or even generate temporary voice tracks for animatics. AI-driven tools can even suggest layouts or environmental designs based on script descriptions, historical data, or desired aesthetics.

She also said that AI has had a transformative impact on the field of visual effects (VFX) and computer-generated imagery (CGI) in films. Its ability to handle vast datasets, recognize patterns, and automate complex tasks has enabled innovations that make VFX and CGI more realistic, efficient, and cost-effective.

---

AI has had a transformative impact on the field of visual effects (VFX) and computer-generated imagery (CGI) in films. Its ability to handle vast datasets, recognize patterns, and automate complex tasks has enabled innovations that make VFX and CGI more realistic, efficient, and cost-effective

–Lalita Chuphal, CEO, Prismart Productions, a globally reputed animation studio and alumna of Apeejay Stya University

---

Here are some ways AI enhances these aspects of filmmaking:

Deep Learning-based Image Enhancement: AI can upscale lower resolution images to higher resolutions, making them sharper without the introduction of artifacts. The AI-driven denoising tools can remove noise from CGI renders, significantly reducing the rendering time and improving image quality.

Rotoscoping and Object Removal: The process of manually tracing over footage frame by frame, can be labor-intensive. AI can automate and speed up this process by accurately differentiating and tracking objects from the background.

Facial Capture and Animation: Neural networks can be trained to analyse and replicate the nuances of human facial expressions. This allows for more realistic CGI characters and enhances the performance capture of real actors.

Fluid Simulations: AI can enhance simulations of complex systems like water, smoke, fire, and hair, making them more realistic and reducing the computational time.

Automated Colour Correction: AI can analyse a scene and automatically suggest color corrections to maintain consistency across shots, especially useful in scenes with tricky lighting conditions.

Predictive Rendering: AI algorithms can predict which parts of a scene will require more computational resources, allowing for efficient allocation of rendering resources and faster overall render times.

Crowd Simulations: AI-driven agents can simulate realistic crowd behaviours, ensuring each agent reacts realistically to its environment and other agents, without manually animating each one.

Content-Aware Fill Tools: Inspired by similar features in photo editing software, in video, this tool can intelligently remove objects and recreate the background, making the removal seamless.

Benefits of using AI

Efficiency and Cost-Effectiveness: AI can streamline various filmmaking processes like video editing, colour grading, and special effects, leading to faster production times and potentially reduced costs.

Creativity and Inspiration: AI can be used as a tool to generate new ideas or concepts for storytelling, character development, or even generating musical scores, thereby aiding the creative process.

Accessibility: AI can make filmmaking more accessible to a broader range of creators, as it reduces the need for expensive equipment or extensive technical expertise in certain areas.

“While AI provides powerful tools for enhancing the pre-production phase of animation, it’s crucial to remember that the heart of animation lies in storytelling and artistic expression. As with filmmaking, AI in animation serves well as a complement to human creativity and expertise, not as a replacement,” Chuphal said in conclusion.