Archive notice: This article was originally published on June 27, 2008. Links and embedded videos are preserved as part of the historical record.
The idea for the story told in the film had already been established when the Winx Club project was still in its infancy. Iginio Straffi created the entire Winx saga
around the character of the young girl Bloom, who discovers that she has
special abilities and is part of a story with far greater
dimensions than she realizes, which she will uncover only gradually.
Director Iginio Straffi on the production
It is a story in which the mystery of her true origins will be solved and
the great challenge she must face will be revealed. The starting point
is the idea that every child carries something special, something magical within
them that makes them unique. Something that gives every child the strength to find their own identity and develop into an individual
personality capable of facing any challenge. This inner
energy is the decisive force that metaphorically becomes a “magical”
ability in Winx.
As with other animated films, “Winx Club—The Secret of the Lost Kingdom” required a long preparation phase, but in this case
we even had to establish an entirely new 3D computer-animation studio in Rome:
Rainbow CGI.
The headquarters in Rome was completed at the beginning of 2006, and the management team
designed the entire project—from technical planning to the layout
of the interior spaces. The studio was intended to enable dynamic working and
be so adaptable logistically that it could be configured for every conceivable
production requirement. Audio-video facilities are available for pre- and
postproduction, along with a computing department that ranks among the
most advanced in Italy. We are currently planning further expansion for
our next feature-film projects, including a planned Winx sequel.
#260608_Winx2
$$$$
The first production meeting took place in November 2005, but
the screenplay took three years to complete, from the first idea to the
final changes, followed by two years for the production
itself. We drew 4,000 preparatory sketches before implementing the final 3D production of 50 sets and 200 models. Particular
attention also had to be paid to the numerous transformations undergone by the 170
characters in the film.
The many figures appearing in the film make it highly complex compared with conventional productions: there are six protagonists rather than just one. Each Winx has several models and outfits, around seven different ones for each Winx in the film—more
than 42 models in total. Altogether there are around 170 characters with different clothes and hairstyles, and at least two versions of some characters, such as the Winx: their fairy version and their untransformed version.
The film consists of around 125,000 frames and more than five million layers, with each image composed of several layers. Added to this were the many details of every character, because the film shows the Winx in their most complex transformation form, Enchantix, with shimmering wings, fluttering dresses and extraordinary hairstyles. To achieve a particularly realistic effect, guide curves were used when designing the 3D hair. Dynamic movements were transferred to them, and the program built the moving hair around them. Each movement was created separately for every curve to produce the impression of freely moving hair.
This complicated approach is normally avoided by using, for example, a single head of hair that moves as one piece. But for the Winx, hair is one of the most important characteristics because every fairy is distinguished by her unique hairstyle.
#260608_Winx3
$$$$
Another challenge was to give lightness and body to a 3D model derived from a 2D drawing. That is why the
film begins as 2D animation. In 3D, certain anatomical problems arise that
can be concealed in 2D, depending of course on the frame. In 3D, however,
they have to be resolved and eliminated. To solve the problem of converting
2D into 3D, we invested many hours of work to ensure that
the 3D versions of the Winx would be recognized and accepted by their fans.
In total, around 400 animators, colorists,
programmers and other technical and creative staff at Rainbow CGI worked on this
project. Numerous external studios were also involved: Rainbow SPA in
Loreto, Italy, the studio where Winx began as a 2D animated television series,
with around 140 internal and external artists; Brain Zoo Studios in
California, with around 25 artists; and GDC International Limited in Hong Kong, with
around 100 employees.
Depending on the complexity of the scene, each animator completed between 0.2 and two seconds of film per day. The main programs we used were Maya 3D, LightWave as 3D software, and numerous others for editing, image processing, compositing and much more. Thousands of rendering nodes were required for output. We also initiated internal discussion groups to consider and implement specific objectives, as well as simulations with the art directors, who explained the more complex scenes to the animators to give them a more precise understanding of the characters’ motivations and emotions.
“Winx Club—The Secret of the Lost Kingdom” is a romantic
comedy alternating between comic and dramatic moments. The film
represents an important development in the Winx Club saga: solving the mystery
of Bloom’s origins and revealing the secrets of the Winx dimension.
#260608_Winx4
Further links:
- More information
