Long interview with Hiroyuki Yoshida, CG director! (People in the Middle" of Animation and Games No. 51)

The 51st installment of writer crepuscular's series features CG director Hiroyuki Yoshida. Mr. Yoshida is a creator belonging to Hakugumi Inc. and supervised the CG part of the mecha action and other parts of the popular work "86- Eighty-Six. Nyanbo! the sparkling live action scenes of "22/7" and the eerily shimmering columns of the demon god in "Fate/Grand Order: The Singularity of the End, Solomon, the Temple of the Crown of Time" are also visual beauties created by Mr. Yoshida's team. Shirogumi is one of Japan's top-class 3DCG production companies that has released a wide range of visual works, not limited to animation, and is highly acclaimed both in Japan and abroad. What kind of techniques and persistence do these world-class CG artists use to support the quality of Japanese visuals? In this exclusive interview, we asked Mr. Yoshida about his career, creative theory, work techniques, production episodes, and future challenges. We hope you will read this interview to the end.

CG director who "handles all aspects of visual images," not just animation

Thank you very much for taking time out of your busy schedule for this interview. I would like to focus on Mr. Yoshida as a CG director of animation (editor's note: he is also credited as "CG director," "3D director," "3DCGI director," "3D director," etc.), but the 3DCG production company "Hakugumi," which you belong to, is involved in various other types of visual works in addition to animation. The 3DCG production company "Shirogumi," of which you are a member, is involved in a variety of visual art works in addition to animation.

Hiroyuki Yoshida (Yoshida): Shirogumi's work is truly diverse. We work on movies, dramas, commercials, game movies, promotional videos, event videos (......), and everything related to video regardless of the industry or medium. I love images themselves, so I've done a lot more than just CG for animated films. In recent years, I have done promotional videos for cosmetics and other products.

You are now well known to animation fans as the CG director of "86" (2021) and "Fate/Grand Order - Solomon, the Temple of the Crown Time" (2021). Yoshida: Actually, the opposite is true.

Yoshida: Actually, the opposite is true. The first company I joined was Sunrise, where I worked in the CG department. For about six years, I was working on CG for animation before I joined Hakugumi, and after I came to Hakugumi, I was able to work on all aspects of video, including live-action compositing, commercials, and video game movies. After expanding my work in this way, I began to receive animation jobs again. Animation requires a vertical workflow from storyboarding to reading timesheets, so from the live-action side, the workflow is well established and looks very special. I think this is one of the reasons why the producer approached me, as I had previously worked in animation.

─ When you work as a CG director for animation, do you check the entire creative process, from modeling to texture mapping, rigging, lighting, and animation?

Yoshida Yes, I supervise all aspects of CG work.

Kohei Ogawa, the CG director, is not only involved in the creative process, but also in the management aspect (# ).

Yoshida: At Shirogumi, we have a clear division between creative and management. For management, the producer in charge considers the progress of the project and sets the budget and schedule. For the actual production, there are several teams of creators like us, and the producer determines the work by looking at the aptitude of each team and the background of each creator, and consulting with the team leader. For example, a team with many staff members who are good at live-action compositing might be entrusted with a VFX film. For example, a team with many staff members who are good at live-action compositing might be assigned to a VFX film. We also pay attention to the staff we assign and the man-hours involved, but we leave the final decisions to the producers so that we can concentrate on creating the picture.

─ What works have had the greatest influence on your creative activities?

Yoshida: I was very much influenced by the "Star Wars" trilogy that I saw when I was a child. I used to record and watch them over and over again on Friday Roadshow. Star Wars" made me wonder, "How are they made? and "What kind of people make these films? I became interested in filmmaking. For anime, I watched reruns of "Mobile Suit Gundam" (1979-80) and "Armored Trooper Votoms" (1983-84) over and over again.

86- Eighty-Six," drawing on his extensive experience in mecha action.

Do you have a particular genre or style of artwork that you are particularly good at?　Since you are from Sunrise, do you specialize in science fiction or robotics?

Yoshida: I have a certain amount of experience in mecha action, so I am good at it, but I have come to think that it would be a waste to narrow down the genres I am good at, so now I try to respond to whatever the client requests.

Speaking of mecha-action, I can't help but mention "86 - Eighty-Six". The battle scenes of the Juggernaut, controlled by Shin and the other Spearheads, have been highly praised by anime fans in Japan and abroad.

Yoshida Thank you very much. The original novel by Asato Asato is very interesting, so when we made the film, we wanted to incorporate what the original fans had envisioned in their minds in a good way, and we couldn't let them down, so we put a lot of energy into the film.

Yoshida: When creating the battle scenes, did you and director Toshimasa Ishii go over the action lines, camera setup, etc. many times?

Yoshida: In the pre-production stage, we created the basic motions of Juggernaut and Legion, such as walking and firing. For the effects, such as the scale of the firing, we repeated the effect test again and again to create the base preset. With this kind of preparation, the mechas do not look out of place in any firing scene, and for special scenes, we can insert the basic motion into the cut and then customize the detailed movements and behaviors from there. Director Ishii, action supervisor Ryuta Yanagi, and people from the original story side also checked with us, and we carefully worked together to create the "Juggernaut and Legion as everyone envisioned them.

The rust and peeling paint on the Juggernaut were exquisite.

Yoshida: No, that was done with textures. I used a tool called "Substance Painter" to create several rust patterns while adding the characteristics of each aircraft. On the other hand, for the parts of the aircraft that were destroyed or crushed, I borrowed the help of the artist and covered them from above. By dividing roles in this way, we were able to compress the modeling man-hours and concentrate on the animation. In order to create high-quality final images in a short period of time, I believe that "it is not necessary to do everything by CG," so during CG meetings, I would ask Director Ishii and Animation Producer Shota Fujii, "I will do this part by CG, so can you cover this part by drawing? I'll do it with CG. I would consult with them.

The metallic and massive feel of the giant mecha Dinosauria was also wonderful. It seems that you were also particular about the lighting.

Yoshida Yes, I worked closely with the director and production staff on the angles, shadows, and tightening of the lighting to make it look better as CG.

Dinosauria's hand in episode 9 - was that drawn?

Yoshida: That was a drawing. There was a proposal to use full CG at first, but I thought it would be better to use drawing for the delicate movements and fine details of the hands, so I discussed it with the director. I did my best to create the explosion effects, such as cluster bombs, in a way that could only be achieved with CG.

Nyanbo!", a work that is a synthesis of CG and live-action, is a typical example of Hakugumi's work.

The Hakugumi website describes the film as "a mixture of cutting-edge and traditional techniques, with a genuine hand-crafted spirit. Can you give us an easy-to-understand example from your filmography?

Yoshida: "Nyanbo! (2016-17) is a work that combines CG and live action, and I think it is a work with a rather Hakugumi-like approach. The backgrounds were shot in live-action without modeling, and the presence of the CG was secured by bringing the CG to the live-action. The director, Akira Iwamoto, and I would look at the live-action materials after shooting and make adjustments to the characters' performances, which gave me a new appreciation for the live-action experience and the joy of creating something together.

I was also able to learn about the joys of creating things together. had a real cat in it, didn't it? Wasn't it quite a challenge to have animals act in the film?

Yoshida: It was very difficult. ...... If we shot the cats outside, they would run away, so we shot them in a studio in Chofu with a green background and combined them with the background. At first we used catnip and gave the cat crunchy dry food, but it was so smart that after about three takes, it would be spotted. They would say, "If I go here, they will feed it to me" (laughs). (Laughs.) In the midst of all this, we kept the camera rolling long enough for director Iwamoto and compositing engineer Shingo Kobayashi to find usable material for the shoot. I was also present during the shoot, with Mr. Kobayashi and his team doing the actual work and me supervising the quality.

Did your team work on the CG for the opening and ending scenes?

Yoshida This was done by Ryuichi Yagi's team. Mr. Yagi is the director of "STAND BY ME Doraemon" (2014) and "STAND BY ME Doraemon 2" (2020). We were doing the compositing of the live action in the film and the animation of the characters.

The perfect balance of CG and animation shown in "22/7

When adding animation to CG, there are two ways of doing it: hand-added and motion capture. How do you distinguish between them?　Generally, motion capture is often used for live idol scenes. The live scene of "22/7" (2020), which you worked on, was also motion capture, wasn't it?

Yoshida Yes, that's right. However, the choice between hand-capture and motion capture does not necessarily depend on the live scene, but rather on the direction the director and client want to take the finished video within a set deadline. If there is enough time and a good hand-toucher can be assigned, I think it can be done by hand. In the case of a dance scene, it is possible to take a video of the actual dance and add CG in the form of rotoscoping (a method of creating animation by tracing live-action video), but for short-term projects, I think it is faster to reach the goal by using the captured video as a base and adjusting the fillers and fillers. I think it would be faster to reach the goal.

At the time of "22/7," A-1 Pictures told me, "If you can put it together in a good way," so I asked them, "I would like to take mo-caps. We contacted the choreographer unit HIDALI directly and asked for a motion actor. I was also the music video director for "22/7's" 3rd single "Understander" (2018), and I had worked with HIDALI at that time.

I felt that the live scene of "22/7" had a very good balance between CG and drawing. In the unveiling live performance in episode 3, there was a good use of CG and animation both within the frame and between cuts. Miu's face on the giant monitor behind her was drawn, while all the members lined up on the stage were CG.

Yoshida: The CG is a refined version of the model used for the music video, which was based on Yukiko Horiguchi's character design for the music video, but for the anime version, we reworked the face shapes and other aspects according to Majiro's character design. Even with these refinements, we still had to take the time to do lip-sync and detailed facial expressions, otherwise the characters would look like dolls. We decided, after consulting with director Takao Abo and A-1 Pictures, that the important close-up parts related to facial expressions and acting should be done by the animation staff, while the parts that were difficult to draw with animation, such as when there were multiple people in the scene and the camera had to rotate around for long takes, should be done with CG. I decided to use CG for the scenes where the camera would rotate during the long takes. On the other hand, for the live scene in episode 8, our intention was to use CG camera work to show off the patterns in the costumes, which are difficult to express with drawing.

The sections in charge of rain, snow, petals, and balls of light seem to vary depending on the work and the site. How was "22/7"?

Yoshida: For the cherry blossom scene in episode 4, Kuniyasu Nishina, the director, gave us instructions on the shape and rotation of the petals. We would provide the 3D materials, and the photographer would work on his own.

Yoshida: Was the art section in charge of all 3D backgrounds for "86"?

Yoshida: In some cases, we created the layout ahead of the CG, and then had the art department add to it. The cockpit of the Juggernaut is a case in point. The only episode where we did full CG was the first episode, and we also did the backgrounds.