Is motion capture animation?
Animators complain that 2 Oscar nominees (Happy Feet and Monster House) use motion capture technology. Is Mocap is killing animation, or is it the logical heir to rotosco As you all know by now, there are only 3 nominees for Best Animated Feature Film at this year's Oscars, despite a crowded field in 2006. That's because the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) decided that Luc Besson's Arthur and the Minimoys (Arthur and the Invisibles in the U.S.) didn't contain enough animation to qualify for the category. (Quick note: according to AMPAS rules, a movie must have a minimum of 75% animated sequences in order to qualify as an animated film. Some wags wonder why 2003's Lord of the Rings: Return of the King wasn't considered an animated flick, since it had so many CGI sequences and characters.) There is another issue at stake. Several animators claim that, of the three movies that received a coveted Oscar nomination this year (Cars, Happy Feet, and