Big Screen Effects: LAIKA Studio’s Missing Link, New Interview, Articles

August 20, 2020

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We featured Missing Link on our blog last April 2019. Check out a few cool new things about LAIKA’s Missing Link!

New August 10, 2020: How movie studio Laika and Intel are revolutionizing stop-motion animation with AI. An interesting article from Fast Company stating, “The acclaimed studio behind ‘Missing Link’ and ‘Coraline’ is collaborating with Intel to create an AI tool that could be a big leap in stop-motion animation.” Read it here!

New May 1, 2020: Ask the Artist: Sara Ireland, Compositing Supervisor, LAIKA. Boris FX interviews Sarah Ireland on her work on Missing Link.

Jan 8, 2019: The stop-motion/CG animated feature from LAIKA Studio and director/writer Chris Butler won Best Animated Feature in the Golden Globes! Congrats to LAIKA!

LAIKA Studio were also the creators of personal favorites, Coraline and ParaNorman. Zoe Saldana, Hugh Jackman, and Zach Galifianakis all voice characters in the film. The team used Boris FX Mocha and Silhouette FX in the rotoscoping on the film. Dragonframe is a stop-motion capturing software and it used extensively in production. In addition, thousands of facial expressions were created in Autodesk Maya and were 3D printed for the stop motion.

Missing Link Trailer

If you missed the film in the theatre, below, watch the trailer.

Inside the Magic of LAIKA

More at Cartoon Brew:

Below, there’s more from Cartoon Brew.

Laika Reveals The Hairy Business Of Animating Fur For ‘Missing Link’

Learn about How LAIKI animates Stop-Motion Movies

Movies Insider features Missing Link in this undoubtedly interesting Behind the Scenes look at how Laiki creates stop motion.

Behind the Scenes at Laika with the director of Missing Link

Autodesk Maya used for 3D Printing Characters in Missing Link

I recently read an article at Variety, New 3D-Printing Technology Was ‘Missing Link’ for Laika’s Latest Stop-Motion Project. In brief, they used Maya to create customized facial performances, printed with a 3D printer. Surely, it was not a small job!

The studio began the process of 3D printing of faces to painstakingly fashion expressions for the stop-motion characters in 2009’s “Coraline.” That project was completed with about 20,000 unique faces. For 2016’s “Kubo and the Two Strings”, the number of expressions jumped to 64,000. “Missing Link,” to be released April 12, will feature a whopping 106,000.

Fraunhofer 3D Printing Tech Featured in Laika’s Latest Film

Want to make your own stop motion animation? Check out Dragonframe!

The Premier Image Capture Software for Stop Motion Animation, Motion Design & Visual Effects

Dragonframe is the premier frame-grabbing software for stop motion animation and time-lapse photography. In addition, it has innovated in the world of stop motion software by pushing the functionality beyond frame grabbing to provide a full assortment of production tools.

Dragonframe works with still cameras. Watch the video below. It’s very informative!

Learn more about Dragonframe

Dragonframe Basics

In addition, thousands of facial expressions were created in Autodesk Maya and were 3D printed for the stop motion.

Autodesk Maya

Make it with Maya Computer Animation Software

Maya® 3D animation, modeling, simulation, and rendering software provides an integrated, powerful toolset. Use it for animation, environments, motion graphics, virtual reality, and, of course, character creation.

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Autodesk Media and Entertainment Collection

End-to-end creative tools for entertainment creation

The Media & Entertainment Collection lets animators, modelers, and visual effects artists access the tools they need to create compelling effects, believable 3D characters, and massive digital worlds. Move assets quickly between creative tools with one-click workflows.

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Posted by Michele Yamazaki