Taking a look at 2D and 3D hybrid animation

A lot of the recent films and series I have been watching have been called ‘2.5D Animation’ or ‘Hybrid Animation’. As an admirer of the works, I have been researching how these were made, what techniques were used, and what exactly is this ‘2.5D animation’ that makes them look so interesting.

Hybrid animation seems to be a product of using a blend of 2D and 3D animation methods together, using one medium’s advantages to counter the challenges of the other. Initially seen in The Great Mouse Detective (1986) or Beauty and the Beast (1991), 3D models and cameras were used in an otherwise 2D animated film to be able to get more dynamic shots and realistic movement which would be very time consuming and expensive to do by hand.

Game animation has had an impact on this development as well. With the rise of open world navigation games like the initial Maze Wars, Legend of Zelda and Tomb Raider, video games had started building their games in 3D instead of the previous 2D sprite method. With Luxo Jr. and Toy Story, Pixar had developed the possibility of photorealistic 3D rendering, which led a trend of studios producing 3D animated films trying to be as realistic as technology would allow them.

However in the year 2000, Japanese gaming company Sega released Jet Set Radio, the first project to have attempted a cel shaded ‘flat’ rendering on 3D models and environments. In 2002, Nintendo released Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker, which also used a cel-shaded, simplified and hyper-styled look for the 3D game. Moving away from realism also meant a more efficient way to offer live rendering views in the extensive open worlds of these games.

More recently we have seen 2D techniques being used in 3D animation to make it look more hand-made and purposefully messy. Quoting an article on VFXApprentice,’What is 2.5D?’–

” The common thread between the case studies here, Spider-Verse and the new TMNT film, is that the source material began as comic books. Hand-drawn, hand-colored illustrations on physical paper lend themselves to a certain look and feel. What 2018’s Spider-Verse did was take that idea and translate it to the silver screen in a moving, breathing, art form that re-invented how animated movies can look and feel. “

3D Render engines tend to use physically based simulations for calculating form, materials, lighting and movement, which are aimed to mimic physical reality. To bring more 2D feel into CGI, the software needed to  also generate line art, painted stroke and effects, flat colour  and even the imperfections and wonkiness of printed or hand-drawn art. Even the character modelling style evolved to can achieve more graphic looks and move away from realistic proportions.

The goal of blending techniques vary depending on the styles.  While projects like Arcane (2021) and Prince of Egypt (1998) aimed to make it look as seamless as possible, works like ‘The Amazing World of Gumball’ (2011) and ‘Smiling Friends’ (2022) intentionally make the styles contrast, not unlike a collage.  It is using the visual difference in 2D drawn and 3D realistically rendered elements to create juxtaposition between two ideas or themes, sometimes even between the characters and their environments.

The rise of new ways of animating reminds very much of art movements like Impressionism and Expressionism creating a new place for painting after the introduction of photography competed with Realism painters. After a decade of CGI films trying to get closer and closer to simulating how reality looks, the new goal for technology seems to have shifted to experimenting and being expressive over achieving realism. The blending of mediums now allowed by technology now goes beyond drawn or realism into something coined as ‘enhanced realism’.

I have a further detailed study of the specific effects used in these films and which tools and techniques were used to achieve them. I am linking the extended technical research here.

Apart from big budget productions, I have also been admiring animators online, including Louie Zong and Andry Dédouze. A lot of initial conversations when I have been applying for animation schools as well as looking up job roles seem to ask, ‘what are you specialising in, 2D or 3D?’, like an exclusive divine path that needs to be decided.  It is very interesting now to see the lines blurring and more scope for experimentation and diversifying as an animator.