The animated shorts series “Baymax Dreams” has just returned for a second season. The first episode premiered on Disney XD and will be available on YouTube starting August 8th. Highlights of the new season include advances in technology that give audiences a more detailed and dynamic viewing experience.
What’s Happening:
- As a part of a Big Hero 6: The Series takeover on Disney XD, Disney Television Animation (DTVA) launched the first episode of season two of "Baymax Dreams" on August 3rd.
- The “Baymax Dreams” shorts series premiered in 2018 with three stories about the healthcare companion and his strange dreams.
- While the first episode already aired on television, fans can rewatch to their heart’s content on YouTube starting on Saturday, August 8th.
Creating “Baymax Dreams:”
- The creation of “Baymax Dreams” is due in part to support by Unity Technologies and Disney’s Direct to Consumer & International Technology (DTCI) group who have been behind the project since the beginning.
- Even though these shorts feature only a few minutes of story, what’s really fascinating is the rapid change in technology. Back in 2018 when the series launched, TVA was focusing on real-time rendering technology functionality, working with tools frequently used in the gaming industry.
- As technology continues to evolve, TVA is advancing animation using innovative workflows and game engines to allow for faster iteration and rendering, streamlined content re-use, and interactive experiences.
- The team was able to use Unity Technologies’ VFX Graph & Shader Graph to achieve results that previously were only possible using code. Additionally Unity’s High Definition Lighting Pipeline allowed artists to make refined light-directing decisions.
- For example, the screen on Baymax’s stomach, the firepit, even the detail of the weather of the sky are all more detailed and life-like – contributing to a more dynamic and engaging viewer experience.
- Season two of Baymax Dreams also introduces human characters for the first time. The DTVA and DTCI teams used humanoid animation – achieving the benefits of top-quality animation combined with a real-time feed-back loop.
Season 1 Episode of “Baymax Dreams:”
What They’re Saying:
- Andy Wood, Producer, Disney Television Animation: “Our group focuses on developing workflows and pipelines that adapt evolving content creations tools and techniques from other mediums, and integrates them into short-form and episodic content that meets Disney Television Animation's quality bar.”
- Gino Guzzardo, Executive Director, Multiplatform Content, Disney Television Animation: “We’ve said from the start of our little experiment, technical innovation is the core goal, but we’re not going to inspire lasting evolution unless the creative quality captures imaginations. That cross-section of creativity and technology is in the history we’ve inherited as modern Disney storytellers, so we’re constantly pushing ourselves to carry that tradition forward on the Multiplatform Content team at Disney Television Animation.”
- Kaki Navarre, DTCI’s Director of Content Technology: “At DTCI Technology, developing innovative capabilities and partnering with our colleagues across the company, like this instance with Disney Television Animation is a top opportunity. Real-time engines are revolutionizing what is possible at the intersection of content creation and development. The adoption of this forward-looking workflow opens a new frontier of production technology and lays the foundation for future innovation around viewing experiences on our digital platforms.”