Remote work of "drawing work" that Studio Color challenges -Connected ink 2021

"Shin Eva" was completed after overcoming the corona.Studio colors are currently working on the animator's remote work.

So Shinnosuke Suzuki, a color executive officer technology management, said, "I want to continue to challenge new things in the future."He is currently trying to realize remote work for animators.In the talk session "New Remote Creative by Studio Color" at Wacom's annual event "Connected Ink 2021" (held on November 16-17), he revealed the specific content.

Challenge to realize remote work of "drawing" occupations

The lecture consists of two parts, and at the beginning, Suzuki played alone.After the production of "Shin Eva", we introduced again that a remote work was found in the color.

It is difficult to do "drawing" work like an animator in a remote environment because it is not a general mouse keyboard but a pen tablet drawing.The difficulty is that it was as hard as "paper and pencil" to "digital drawing" (Suzuki).

Therefore, in order to realize remote work of "drawing" creators, we work with multiple companies such as Wacom to build and verify the work environment.

With the cooperation of NTT DOCOMO, connected at 5G, the latest communication network.Instead of bringing out the company's PC out of the company, a method of connecting to an internal PC from the home of each creator using the remote desktop system "Splashtop" is used.

Creators, like their usual work, draws a picture on Wacom's liquid crystal pen tablet (hereinafter, liquid tab).In working in this environment, we are conducting a demonstration experiment to build a comfortable drawing environment as much as possible by losing delays (latency) during screen transfer.

It is easy to say "eliminating the delay at the time of screen transfer", but it is difficult to realize.In the above method, the information of the lines drawn on the liquid tab is skipped to the internal PC, and a time lag occurs before returning to the PC at hand.In that case, from the creator's point of view, the line that should have been drawn will not come out on the screen immediately, which will be a great stress in working.

So, first of all, we focused on the 5G communication with a wide band and large capacity and slow delayed capacity and considered the introduction.Suzuki experienced 5G communication with the cooperation of NTT DOCOMO and praised it as early as "I want to make an antenna at home."

If the communication speed is out, the delay can be considerably reduced.However, the area where 5G communication is currently available is limited to some areas in Tokyo.At the home of creators around the country, and the speed of the full specifications will still be required, and we want to prepare delays due to trouble.

Therefore, as an approach unique to Wacom, the technology called "Project Instant Ink" is currently being developed.At the event booth, the concept was exhibited, as it was an exhibition of a remote environment using 5G during the demonstration experiment.

Wacom's method does not touch the delay of the remote desktop itself.Apart from the delayed "real lines", by displaying local drawing information on the liquid tab, the user can continue working without feeling the delay.

In the booth exhibition, in order to introduce technology, "Local drawing information" was displayed in red, and it was distinguished from "drawing information returned from a remote PC."As a result, he had a mysterious feeling that the red line he wrote would follow the black line later.Since there is no need to divide the color of the line in practical use, I felt that users could draw without being aware of delays unless it was a very extreme delay in practical use.

Looking back on the "emergency" faced by "Shin Eva"

A panel discussion is held in the second part of the lecture.From the studio color, Hiroyasu Kobayashi, a CG animation director and designer, will be on stage in addition to Suzuki.From Wacom, President Nobutaka Ide, EMR Module/Farmware's senior manager Ryunori Kato, and cloud ET core project leader Asada Kazu Kazu.

President Ide progresses in the panel discussion.When asked, "Looking back on the production of" Shin Eva "in Corona's evil?", Suzuki said, "When I come to the company, there is a risk of pandemic, so I have a common understanding that I will reduce the ratio of work first, and in that part.There was no hullation, "he looked back on that time.

On the other hand, Mr. Kobayashi, on the other hand, was forced to do remote work due to Corona measures, saying, "I was in trouble."He knew that remote work was technically possible, but said that it was a matter of how to use the tools used by each staff.

In connection with that, Mr. Suzuki said, "Some young staff did not have a PC. I prepared and lent it at the company, but I felt the flow of the times."He touched on an episode that showed a decline in PC holdings.

Next, when President Ide asked if there was a "remote work wall", Suzuki said, "Because it was urgently required to have a remote work, it was not enough to select and prepare for everyone who could use tools and infrastructure.That's right. In that situation, I consulted with Kobayashi and used Splashtop while talking with people in various industries. "

Mr. Suzuki commented, "I didn't have a big problem in terms of system, but I think the creative was hard," said Kobayashi, "I was able to talk with Suzuki and move quickly on the preparations for machines and software.As soon as possible, I was able to enter the remote system, including Director Anno. At that time (spring 2020), information such as "what happens, what to do" was complicated in the industry, but ""I think this was fast, "he said."

President Ide is excited about such an episode, "It's cool!"At that time, Wacom mentioned that the End Roll has a Wacom corporate logo on the end roll, because Wacom cooperated in the studio color for the production of "Shin Eva" by renting a pen tablet.When I saw Shin Eva, everyone is waiting for that logo. "

In addition, President Ide mentioned a documentary program closely related to the production of "Shin Eva", and Kobayashi said, "There are many places that are not recorded in the second half. There were more things."He shows that there was a struggle on the site that was not included in the camera, including the construction of a remote work system.

"Project Instant Ink" that deceives people's senses and eliminates delays

The topic is Wacom's "Project Instant Ink" and Mr. Kato of Wacom, who is developing the development, says "the technology to achieve how people deceive and feel good without passing through the network."It was described.

Kobayashi said, "It's amazing, the experience is really different," he said, and he confirmed that it was a remote environment.Kobayashi's work was mainly in the direction, and he said, "I want to have a lot of" work drawn ", I want to have the drawing directors try it and hear the reaction."

Mr. Asada of Wacom commented, "I think it is easy to be worried about the delay of the characters to write when the (checked) red is put, so I want you to try it in such a situation."

On the other hand, Mr. Kobayashi responded, "I think the stress of the director (on Project Instant Ink) will be much less. It seems that it can be instruction from Japan in the long distance, even American works."He commented that if there was a handwritten input technology that would be natural to the director who originally had a career from the animator, it would be more efficient.

Suzuki was asked for future roadmaps to end."Delusional delusional delusion" that can quickly output 3DCG rendering, such as the highest hurdle of the work with the drawing (drawing) that we are working on, but can quickly output 3DCG rendering that handles large data.Middle. "

In Japan, the convergence trends are convergent Corona, but it is still rampant in the world, and it is not allowed to predict when it will not be gathered again.Otherwise, the way of working, which tends to concentrate in Tokyo, except for some studios, is one of the issues in the anime industry.

I hope that the DX, where studio colors involve each company, will change not only the anime industry but also the common sense of creators' work style.