"Nothing is real. Except for the photos of the actors and actresses which were digitized, everything else was created in the computer," says Ronnie Miranda who conceived, designed and animated the newest OBB (opening billboard) of the TV show "Billy Bilyonaryo" shown every Sunday 9-10 pm on GMA 7.

The animation starts with the logo of Sampaguita Pictures on water with twinkling stars and swaying light-rays on the background. It then cuts to a tiled reflective floor where all the characters and title of "Billy Bilyonaryo" perform. Each CG character emulates the role of a particular actor/actress which he/she portrays in the TV sitcom.

"That's NOT morphing. That's a true object-to-object metamorphosis," Ronnie points out, referring to the mutation of a pool of gold liquid to the "Billy Bilyonaryo" title and then to its transformation to a shape of a ball. "Morphing is a 2D process," explains Ronnie, "that involves stretching, deforming, and distorting parts of a 2D images with a cross-disslove betweeen the images which can give a 3D effect. On the other hand, metamorphosis refers to a 3D process of transforming one object into another by moving polygonal vertices in 3D space. The object actually changes shape. The two terms may be similar, but in computer graphics, they're different."

From modeling to motion-choreography to rendering, the 100-second "Billy Bilyonary" OBB - the longest continuous 3D computer animation sequence ever made locally - was completed in three weeks. "Everything is computer generated and in full 3D. Procedural texture shaders were used to create the water, light rays, and reflective properties. No video post-production editing tricks or effects were employed."

Ronnie has been engaged in computer graphics since it was first introduced in the Philippines in 1987. He then worked for Mediaboutique and then moved over to Cinema Artists Philippines (now known as CineVideo). In both companies, he made animations for TV commercials, TV shows, and corporate video productions. In 1991, he went on his own by being a freelance artists and con- sultant. Today, he creates special animation projects only. Of the many animations he has made, his regularly exposed works include Viva Films Logo (that which you see at the beginning of any Viva movie; made in 1990), 97.1 WLSFM (1988), DZBB 594 (1988), graphics for Citibank's ATM machine (1992), and his demo at SM Megamall.