Carmel Magazine

brought the characters to life, while Gianni worked on the back end, building the film around the characters. The film cost an estimat- ed $80 million to make, and grossed $155 mil- lion worldwide. The advent of computer and graphic process- ing hardware has fundamentally changed the ani- mation process—and the quality and vibrancy of the scenes have improved dramatically. Reisig has led the design and adoption of DreamWork's NextGen character animation software Premo, giving artists instant access to an unprecedented amount of parallel comput- er processing power, allowing them to edit characters in full-resolution detail. "You always fight the complexity issue, what can we do with this and be on time and within resources," he says. "Now we can manage these crazy characters, like a dragon. We can release those shackles of performance and speed and be able to tell bigger stories with more com- plex movements." Ironically, the new software actually allows for more artistic talent and creativity. "As professionals we have drawing classes even outside of shop work, trying to always push ourselves," Reisig says. "It's a good balance, and very creative. And the lack of pigment and paints and charcoal is OK. I can do that in my spare time." 142 C A R M E L M A G A Z I N E • S P R I N G / S U M M E R 2 0 1 5 "I really loved the drawing part of it," Reisig says of his early career. At left, Reisig and his family attend the "Home" premiere. Above, the animator discusses Oh the Boov alien with actor Jim Parsons.

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