CGSociety looks at Astro Boy

A great new article about the production of the Astro Boy movie is up now on CGSociety. It's an eye-opening look at some of the artistic challenges faced by the crew at Imagi and is full of some awesome images.

Here's a sample that discusses the international nature of this production.

Imagi has offices on both sides of the Pacific Ocean, with Bowers located in the US and the production team in Hong Kong. Years ago, this would have created a production nightmare, but by working with a proprietary video teleconferencing setup, Imagi became a 24 hour studio. Bowers was pleased with how well the arrangement worked. "There were cultural differences and production pipelines that are different in the United States than in Hong Kong, but we had great production mangers and a team who made sure everything ran smoothly. It worked out quite nicely. I would work during the day in LA with my crew over here then have a meeting at the end of the day from 4:30 to 6:00 or 7:00 PM talking to Hong Kong. Then they would work through the night and the next day I would come in, and there would be new animation to look at. With video conferencing technology advancing so far in the past few years, it really is like being in the same room."

Do give the entire article a look right here.