R&D for Anime Production: State-of-the-Art and Future Prospects

All presentations are available in the virtual platform on-demand.

Speaker(s):
Jun Kato, Arch Inc., AIST, Japan
Yuki Koyama, Graphinica Inc., AIST, Japan
Tatsuo Yotsukura, OLM Digital, Inc.; IMAGICA GROUP, Inc., Japan
Koya Imamura, Toei Animation Co., Ltd., Japan

Talk Description: アニメ表現の国際的な注目度は極めて高く、制作プロセスのデジタル化によりR&Dの重要性は年々増しています。このセッションではアニメ制作を支援するR&Dの現状と今後の見通しについて議論します。 The global attention to "anime" expression is exceptionally high, and its digitized production process has significantly raised the importance of R&D. This session will discuss its current status and prospects.

Speaker(s) Bio: Dr. Jun Kato is a Senior Researcher at the National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST) and the technical advisor at Arch Inc., leading Arch Research. He has researched Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) and worked on technology transfer, developing and managing creativity support tools for creators and programmers. He has regularly gained academic recognitions, including the Honorable Mention Award at ACM CHI 2013 and 2015 and the IPSJ/ACM Award for Early Career Contributions to Global Research in 2021. 博士(情報理工学)。2014年より国立研究開発法人 産業技術総合研究所 研究員、2018年より同主任研究員。同年よりアーチ株式会社技術顧問を兼務。 Human-Computer Interaction全般、とくにプログラミング体験を向上する研究に従事し、SIGPXを設立。技術移転にも積極的に取り組み、クリエイター・プログラマ向けの創造性支援ツール・サービスを開発、運営。ACM CHI 2013/2015 Honorable Mention、IPSJ/ACM Award for Early Career Contributions to Global Researchなど受賞多数。

Dr. Yuki Koyama is a Researcher at the National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST), Japan. He also started working at Graphinica, in which he is aiming at bridging art and technology in animation production. His research domain is at the intersection between computer graphics and human-computer interaction (HCI), and he has published papers at SIGGRAPH, SIGGRAPH Asia, CHI, etc. His particular interest is to apply computational techniques for formulating and supporting design processes. He received the Young Researcher Award from the Asia Graphics Association in 2021.

Tatsuo Yotsukura is head of research & development div. at OLM Digital. Some of his notable project achievements as production engineer include Pokémon the Movies. Before joining OLM Digital in 2009, He has worked as computer graphics researcher at ATR (Advanced Telecommunications Research Institute International), Japan. He received the Ph.D degree from Seikei University in 2003. 2009年、オー・エル・エム・デジタル R&Dに入社し、社内パイプラインシステムやプラグイン開発に従事。現在は研究開発チーム・社内インフラチームの統括責任者。

General manager of Toei Animation's Research and Development Section, System Section, Art Section, Finishing Section, and Cinematography Section. He started his career as a CG designer, and after working as a CG producer, he has participated in more than 100 titles in total. His specialty is producing and directing 2D and 3D hybrid animation. In recent years, he has been focusing on the spread of digital drawing and has developed a "digital exposure sheet" that is distributed free of charge to the industry. He is also seeking to revolutionize the animation production process, and is engaged in a wide range of research and development, from real-time engines to AI development. 東映アニメーションの研究開発課、システム課、美術課、仕上課、撮影課の統括責任者。 CGデザイナーからキャリアをスタートしCGプロデューサーを経て、総計100タイトル以上に参加。 得意分野は2Dと3Dのハイブリッドアニメーションのプロデュースとディレクション。 近年はデジタル作画の普及に力を入れ「デジタルタイムシート」を開発し業界に無償配布。 またアニメ制作工程の変革を模索しており、リアルタイムエンジンからAI開発まで幅広く研究開発を行っている。