A Practical Style Transfer Pipeline for 3D Animation: Insights from Production R&D

TL;DR

This paper presents a practical style transfer pipeline for 3D animation, developed through studio R&D to balance quality, control, and workload, enabling stylized film production.

Contribution

It introduces a novel, production-ready style transfer pipeline tailored for complex 3D animation, emphasizing control and practical implementation.

Findings

Effective patch-based texture synthesis for style control

Addressed multi-color and temporal consistency challenges

Enabled production of stylized 3D animated short film

Abstract

Our animation studio has developed a practical style transfer pipeline for creating stylized 3D animation, which is suitable for complex real-world production. This paper presents the insights from our development process, where we explored various options to balance quality, artist control, and workload, leading to several key decisions. For example, we chose patch-based texture synthesis over machine learning for better control and to avoid training data issues. We also addressed specifying style exemplars, managing multiple colors within a scene, controlling outlines and shadows, and reducing temporal noise. These insights were used to further refine our pipeline, ultimately enabling us to produce an experimental short film showcasing various styles.