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Scriptable Character FX Solution
Scriptable CFX framework integrating cloth, hair, and secondary dynamics into a unified character effects pipeline.
Abstract
We would like to present a scriptable interactive data manipulation tool, heavily used on Disney's Moana and Ralph Breaks the Internet. Its expression-driven interface makes it a versatile "Swiss Army Knife" for Technical Animation: a single tool with many functions, which could be applied to hair, cloth, and final cleanup tasks. Consequently, this provides a tremendous benefit for both developers and end users. The single code base can be maintained and upgraded efficiently. The artists, familiar with the tool in the context of one task, can take full advantage of the flexible interface and easily apply the tool to another task.
How to read this
- Category
- Production talk: a scriptable character-FX data-manipulation tool
- Contributions
- Demonstrates a scriptable, interactive, expression-driven tool used across hair, cloth, and final cleanup tasks in technical animation
- Shows a single 'Swiss Army knife' code base that serves many CFX functions, easing maintenance for developers and letting artists reuse one familiar interface across tasks
- Context
- Relates to unified procedural CFX/dataflow frameworks such as ILM's Dataflow (Hankins 2015), and was used in production on Disney's Moana and Ralph Breaks the Internet.Builds on: Dataflow: ILM's Framework for Procedural Geometry Generation, Simulation Authoring, Crowds, and More
- Correctness
- Studio practice, not peer-reviewed; benefits are production-proven on named films but are reported as workflow and maintenance advantages rather than measured comparisons.
- Clarity
- Accessible and practice-oriented; a single first pass conveys the tool's philosophy and use cases.
- How to read it
- Read once for the design philosophy (one expression-driven tool spanning hair, cloth, and cleanup) and the maintainability argument; no second pass needed unless designing a similar CFX framework.
Builds on
Built upon by
Nothing yet.
Related work
- Choreography of Hair and Cloth in Disney's Moana 2 2025 / SIGGRAPH
- Simulating Wind Effects on Cloth and Hair in Disney's Frozen 2014 / SIGGRAPH
- Art-Directing Asha's Braids in Disney's Wish 2024 / SIGGRAPH
- Anisotropic Elastoplasticity for Cloth, Knit and Hair Frictional Contact 2017 / TOG
Keywords
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