�We are going to see more and more computer animation in documentaries and as the quality of the technology improves, it will be possible to combine it with more modern footage.�
(David Abraham, Executive Vice President, Discovery UK)
As CGI technology evolves, it will be possible to accurately recreate scenes not just from the 1940�s, but from the time film was first used to record history right up to the modern day. Footage which was lost or never shot will be recreated to give us a real insight into how and why momentous events actually occurred. David Abraham and his team were determined that their programme would be an accurate representation of what happened on 20th July 1944. David says �CGI could be used in a fantastical way and this could mislead the audience but Discovery believed that Virtual
History must be based on solid, historical fact.�
HP is one of the companies enabling programme makers to accurately recreate historical situations. It soon realised computing was being used increasingly in film and TV and talked to production companies to find out how they would like to take the technology forward. By working in partnership with the film and TV industry, companies like HP help to make directors� ideas become reality on screen.
A process known as rendering becomes a big part of computer animation and HP�s Utility Rendering Service (URS) has made this more accessible to programme makers. A CGI artist will start by creating a model of a
face, for example, which looks like a 3D wire grid on the computer screen. Rendering transforms this model into a finished frame by adding colour, texture, light and other details. Twenty five of these frames are used in each second of footage and when they are put together a believable, 3D image comes to life on screen. This process takes up an immense amount of computer storage and is resource intensive. HP and companies like it provide programme makers with the facilities and technology to render their images.
Rendering is one part of The Digital Media Factory that HP offers. Just as a conventional factory makes a tangible product, the media factory offers programme makers the facilities to create a digital product. Everything is produced and stored on computers which are linked via the internet, known as the Grid Concept. This means that artists could be working on different parts of the same project on computers linked in the same building or with other artists all over the world. And the Grid is expanding and improving every day, as Steve Hinde, from HP�s Project Management, explains:
�HP�s vision is that, in the future, film and animation production houses will have access to utility computing through the internet, piping computing like a utility pipes water or electricity. They will pay for as much as they need when they need it, rather than having to make expensive capital investments for equipment. One exciting consequence of this technology is that it can be made available to independent film directors who wouldn't normally have access to the technology to produce world class 3D CGI animation. Our vision is one of unlocking the creative talent in bedrooms and small independent production houses for animation.�
With continuing research it seems like the sky�s the limit for documentary programme makers who want to use CGI to recreate historical events. Steve Hinde and HP believe �the future holds the promise of whatever can be imagined can be produced. The limitation will be the imagination of the director and the skill of the production team to use this new and powerful technology.�
