Talk:Computer Animation Production System

The CAP Sys
Could the Computer Animation Production System be used by other animation companies, like Nickelodeon and Cartoon Network? --User:Angie Y.


 * Nope. It was a proprietary system; Disney only allowed themselves to use it. Nick & CN could certainly have made some use of it; as it is, most of their modern shows are made with similar, yet less powerful, computer systems and programs like Toonz, U.S. Animation, and (in some cases) Macromedia Flash. --FuriousFreddy 23:22, 13 August 2005

The Little Mermaid
In this arcticle that the first usage of the CAPS process was the ending rainbow scene of The Little Mermaid. However I'm pretty sure that a few other shots in that movie used the CAPS system. They appear in 3D and much smoother then the other shots. The few others I can think of are; the very first scence when the boat crashes against the waves, when the villian turns grows about thirty times her size, when Ariel runs down a few stairs, and near the end when the crab and Flounder are underwater when the ink is flowing around them. I'm sure that these do use the CAPS system and I'm sure also sure that I've read an article on it before, but I unfortunately cannot find it. It may be worth adding to the article if anybody can confirm these.


 * No, only the rainbow scene uses CAPS. Those scnees you named are either done with traditional ink and paint, or are generated using three-dimensional computer animation (the ship, the stairs). To create the 3D animation in those scenes, the studio would use computers that would print outlines on cels, which would then be painted as if it were handrawn. These scenes were still photographed under the traditional camera stand. CAPS doesn't use cels or cameras; everything is composited inside the computer, and the computer prints out film, not cels. --FuriousFreddy 18:49, 13 November 2005 (UTC)


 * Actually, those "traditional" CG elements were output onto animation paper using a plotter. They went through the rest of the production process (Xerox, Ink & Paint, etc.) just like traditional artwork. Hondo77 18:28, 11 July 2007 (UTC)

100% resolution?
What does "artwork was never scanned at less than 100% resolution" mean? 100% of what, the atoms on the piece of paper? This should be clarified. mvc 16:42, 1 September 2006 (UTC)

fixed:  scanned so that the final image always had the full output resolution available even if the source material went through various camera moves.

Title of Article
The title of this article should be "Disney CAPS System" as this is how it is referred to. "Computer Animation Production System" is a generic term not specific to the Disney system.
 * Pixar mentions their Academy Award for CAPS being awarded for a Computer-Assisted Production System at . Is that the correct name of that system? --89.56.248.119 19:54, 22 March 2007 (UTC)
 * No, it was originally "Computer Animation Production System". There were only four people up at Pixar who worked on it so it's not surprising the name has gotten munged fifteen years later. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by Hondo77 (talk • contribs) 23:55, 29 March 2007 (UTC).

Regarding the lack of references
CAPS was kept secret, especially in its first several years of use. Consequently, there are few or no articles that give details about the system. Given that, I don't see how the tagging for lack of references is going to be resolved--especially now that CAPS is going to be superseded by something off-the-shelf. Hondo77 22:36, 15 February 2007 (UTC)hondo77

Conflict of Interest request
I see the COI tag has been added to the page. FWIW, I have seen no bad edits from the contributor who likely triggered the tag. Hondo77 (talk) 21:25, 6 May 2016 (UTC)

I'm going to try out my new COI chops here. Is this the way it works? I propose removal of the COI warning at the top of this page if everyone is in agreement that my footnoted contributions are acceptable.Alvyray (talk) 08:02, 10 May 2016 (UTC)


 * OK, so here are your contributions to this article.  They have been worked over a bit but a lot of what you originally added is still there.  In my view that content is unsourced or badly sourced (by our standards for sourcing) and contains what we call WP:OR.  I am copying it here.


 * This is the bulk of what you added here and here:

A technical group at Feature Animation under Stan Kinsey began to investigate the possibility of deploying computers for use within Disney Productions. They approached the Graphics Group at Lucasfilm to investigate digitizing the 2D cel animation process. Ed Catmull and Alvy Ray Smith on annual pilgrimages from NYIT to Disney had long promised that they could do this.

It wasn’t until a new management team came to Disney under Michael Eisner and Frank Wells in 1984 that the idea gathered momentum, with board encouragement from Roy E. Disney. Alvy Ray Smith from Lucasfilm and Lemuel Davis (Lem) from Disney proceeded to specify the system over the course of many months, resulting in a detailed proposal which Smith wrote and submitted, with Catmull, to Kinsey at Disney in early 1985. The business proposition had Lucasfilm design and build the imaging systems, and Disney Animation build workflow, logistics, data management, archiving, scanning, and recording systems with both teams involved in integration and user testing of all the components. CAPS was the acronym of the overall system where the patented DALS system (Disney Animation Logistics System) handled tracking and delivery of all image components to the users workstations. When Pixar spun out from Lucasfilm in Feb. 1986, the new company inherited the CAPS deal. The project was officially launched at Disney with the hiring of a Project Director, Bob Lambert, in Aug, 1986. Smith finalized the deal with Lambert, and Peter Schneider, later in 1986. Smith hired Thomas Hahn to head the CAPS development team at Pixar.

Working together from 1986 through 1990 and beyond, the Disney and Pixar teams designed, deployed and tested all of the system components which formed the start of a deep relationship between Disney and Pixar, and eventually, after the 3D CGI production deal for “Toy Story” and other films, the purchase of Pixar by Disney. The Disney Animation production users made essential contributions during the integration and testing of the software to fit the system into Disney workflows with particularly important advice from animator, Randy Cartwright, who was assigned to the project to represent the artists point of view during the design.

So that needs to be reviewed for NPOV and sourcing (that the sources are OK, and that everything has a source) before it actually gets added to the article. In my view it is not OK now. That is why I pulled it out.

I also reviewed and tagged for sourcing elswhere in the article. I have removed the tag. Jytdog (talk) 15:38, 10 May 2016 (UTC)

Oliver and Company
Hello, the article about the film Oliver & Company states that CAPS was developed for that film (released in 1988), but this article says CAPS wasn't used for the first time until a year later in 1989. This information conflicts - is there any way to know which is right and which is wrong? 136.37.125.35 (talk) 23:59, 23 July 2020 (UTC)


 * Oliver & Company doesn't say that anymore. Hondo77 (talk) 14:57, 24 July 2020 (UTC)