Classic old animation becomes high-definition smooth
The old film “rebirth”, using AI technology to guard the “living” memory
□ Our reporter Ye Zhen Xie Shihan
“Gourd baby, gourd baby, seven melons on a vine…” When the familiar melody sounded, a group of post-80s and post-90s spectators seemed to have returned to their youth. However, modern movie-watching experiences such as smooth watching and 4K high-definition picture quality have brought these “big kids” back to reality.
In recent years, classic Chinese animations such as “Calabash Brothers” and “Little Tadpoles Finding Mother” produced by Shanghai Art Film Studio have been put on the big screen with 4K high-definition picture quality. On November 5th, “Tianshu Qitan 4K Commemorative Edition” was also released in major theaters across the country, and many netizens sighed with emotion after watching it. How can modern digital technology make those classic animations in memories “return” to today in a more high-definition and smooth manner? “Science and Technology Weekly” reporters interviewed relevant experts to uncover the secrets behind the “renewal” of old animations.
Open “beauty” to classic movies, let film animation have 4K quality
Different from the current digital technology, in the past, whether it was movies or cartoons, the storage medium was mainly film. With the passage of time, film films or animations will appear to fade, flicker, jitter, spot wear, etc., and the sharpness will be greatly reduced.
In our country, the restoration of classic film films and animations has already begun. However, due to the high difficulty of 4K restoration, relatively few movies have been restored. According to statistics, from 2006 to January 2021, the China Film Archive has completed 2K restorations of 525 movies, but only 15 4K restorations.
With the rise of deep learning and AI algorithms, “old film” repair has gradually shifted from manual to manual + intelligent repair mode. In an interview with a reporter from Science and Technology Weekly, Zhao Shijie, a researcher of the Volcano Engine Multimedia Laboratory, said that in the past, animation restorers would splice and repair the film frame by frame to remove dirty spots, scratches, and jitter on the film to make the picture cleaner, but Quality issues such as resolution and fluency still cannot be solved. If the traditional repair method is “icing on the cake”, then AI technology is “made out of nothing” when it comes to repairing. By filling in the missing details of the screen, it is more efficient and richer, which provides more possibilities for animation restoration.
Zhao Shijie said that a complete “old film” repair process includes three steps: first, physical cleaning and repair of the film and rescanning and digitization; second, AI algorithm repair of the film; finally, manual fine adjustment of some remaining problems of the algorithm .
“AI algorithm repair is the core link.” Zhao Shijie introduced that this includes two major steps, namely quality analysis and algorithm repair. Through algorithmic analysis, scores are given on the dimensions of the old movie’s clarity, improved fluency, color enhancement, and flaws, and then algorithmic repairs are performed according to the analysis results. “The 4K restoration of old animations through AI algorithms, the most significant change is to improve efficiency. Once the algorithm scheme is determined, the machine can process thousands of frames per second, and improve the resolution, clarity and smoothness of the’old movies’ These are all’unique skills’ repaired by AI.”
“Repair the old as the old” AI technology reproduces the beauty of oriental animation
Readers who are familiar with classic animation films know that many animations such as “Little Tadpoles Finding Mother” and “Havoc in Heaven” are one of the few Chinese ink-and-wash animations that have been praised repeatedly at home and abroad. With technological empowerment and the renovation of traditional animation, how can we not “injury” the beauty of its original oriental animation and retain the humanistic value contained in it?
“One of the difficulties of classic animation restoration is how to maintain its charm while digitally repairing it. This is not only the promotion of the spiritual core of animation works, but also the second creation of classic works.” Xue Feng, deputy dean of the School of Communication of Nanjing University of the Arts, told ” A reporter from Science and Technology Weekly, in a strict sense, this second creation is not a large-scale creation, but makes it more in line with modern people’s appreciation habits. Thanks to advanced digital methods, there is a lot of room for restoration of old movies, but if you rely solely on technology and blindly improve the color and clarity of old movies, it is very likely that classic movies will lose their original texture. “People have precious collective memories of classic animation, so the restoration of old movies can’t escape the established model too much, otherwise it will break with the collective memory.”
In this regard, Zhao Shijie said frankly that it is indeed a big challenge to “repair the old as before” in 4K. “With so many classic cartoons, no unified algorithm can guarantee it. We need to maintain communication and exchanges with the art teachers on the film side, listen to their suggestions on the repair effect, and continuously adjust and optimize the algorithm repair effect.”
Zhao Shijie further explained that, on the one hand, the producer needs to make some optimizations to the algorithm. For example, in the process of repairing “Brother Calabash”, the algorithm will first identify the ink painting area and the paper-cut area, and improve the clarity and sharpness of the paper-cut area. The area retains the original ink blur effect. On the other hand, AI technology cannot completely replace manual labor. After the algorithm is repaired, the producer will introduce some designers with artistic background to assist in manual judgment, and correct a small part of the algorithm that is difficult to judge and process to ensure the final repair. Effect.
The reporter learned that the Volcano Engine Multimedia Laboratory is repairing classic animation films such as “Journey to the West”, “Havoc in Heaven” and “Afanti”, which are expected to be launched on New Year’s Day.
How “new bottles” are filled with “old wines” Digital technology bridges the gap between generations
4K restoration under AI technology is not just a simple restoration of “old movies”. For Chinese animation, it also gives new vitality to Chinese traditional cultural IP. Xue Feng believes that Chinese art films are non-renewable resources and a clear stream in the era of commercial films. “The digital restoration of classic movies is centered on the Chinese animation school, a national cultural baptism in contemporary society. The reproduction of a series of classic movies has actually led to the revival of traditional IP. Traditional IP such as Monkey King, Princess Iron Fan, etc. Rejuvenate and become the protagonist of a new round of stories.” In Xue Feng’s view, the entire marketization process of the “rebirth” of old film films is a collective education and a broad-spectrum approach. Its attributes are diverse. It is not only the reproduction of a cultural product, but also the favor of a new wave of markets.
“The proliferation effect brought by the digital restoration of old movies is huge, and it has many positive effects on social and cultural phenomena.” Xue Feng introduced, the biggest difference between the Chinese film market and foreign film markets is that China was in the 70-90s of the last century. The development pattern of the era has changed greatly. In terms of the inheritance of cultural IP, especially the IP of art films in the animation field, there is no continuous dissemination like Japan, Belgium and other countries. Therefore, the digital restoration of classic movies is an effective way. It connects the originally broken memories that exist between different generations, makes up for these gaps, and carries out a new cultural industry chain reconstruction.
In addition to repairing old animations and movies, more and more mobile phone software has the function of repairing old photos and videos in recent years. Zhao Shijie said: “Currently, the technology is mature, and various video platforms are opening restoration portals, providing free AI restoration support for ordinary users, and free restoration of historical images with historical material value, so that the old appearance of the video works treasured by the public can be changed. New look. In addition, some of the basic functions in the restoration of the “old film” have been opened for users to use for free.”
“In the future, we can completely look forward to the application of VR, AR and other technologies in 4K or 8K video restoration. At that time, for the post-80s and post-90s generations, maybe they can really’watch on’ the Monkey King and the children Gourd baby rescues grandfather together, and accompanies Chenxiang to rescue mother together. This immersive experience will better protect our memory, and we can also have more topics with the children and share the happy time of their parents when they were young. I think This is also a wonderful embodiment of humanistic value endowed by science and technology.” Zhao Shijie said.
【Edit: Chen Wentao】
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