{"id":149,"date":"2016-08-04T03:31:41","date_gmt":"2016-08-04T03:31:41","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/eidersuso.net\/design\/?p=149"},"modified":"2020-12-04T02:12:44","modified_gmt":"2020-12-04T02:12:44","slug":"3d-animation-intro","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/eidersuso.net\/design\/2016\/08\/04\/3d-animation-intro\/","title":{"rendered":"Intro to 3D Animation"},"content":{"rendered":"

3D Animation (CGI, Computer Animation)\"3d_animation\"<\/span>\"3d_animation\"<\/h1>\n

3D animation works in a completely different way than traditional animation. They both require an understanding of the same principles of movement and composition, but the technical skill set is very different for each task. while in the past you had to be an amazing draftsman to be an animator, with computer animation that is not the case. 3D animation is more similar to playing with puppets rather than drawing.<\/p>\n

\u201cComputers don\u2019t create computer animation any more than a pencil creates pencil animation. What creates computer animation is the artist.\u201d<\/em>John Lasseter<\/cite><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

About 3D Animation<\/span><\/h2>\n

3D animation, also referred to as CGI animation, is made by generating images using computer graphics that create a series of images that forms an animation. CGI means Computer Generated Images, so it can easily mean both static and dynamic images using computer graphics.<\/span><\/p>\n

The animation techniques of 3D animation has a lot of similarities with stop-motion animation, as they both deal with animating and posing models, and still conforms to the frame-by-frame approach of 2D animation, but is a lot more controllable since it is all digital feedback.<\/span><\/p>\n

Instead of drawn or constructed with clay, characters in 3D animations are digitally modeled on screen, and then fitted with a \u2018skeleton\u2019 that allows animators to animate the models for their use.<\/span><\/p>\n

Animation is done by posing the models in certain key frames, which the computer will then calculate and perform a \u2018tweening\u2019 animation that is interpreted by the computer in each frame between the key frames.<\/span><\/p>\n

When the modeling and\/or animation is complete, the computer has to render each frame individually, which unlike 2D or stop-motion animations, can be very time consuming depending on the quality of the images and the quantity of polygons in the scene.<\/span><\/p>\n

a 3D animator will spend most of their time looking at curves that represent the movement of different body parts over time.<\/span><\/p>\n

Another big difference with 3D animation is that unlike traditional animation, the character\u2019s body parts are always present and should be taken to consideration.<\/span><\/p>\n

I\u2019ll explain:<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

When animating in 2D, the character has to be drawn from every frame. When the character is viewed from the side, half of its body isn\u2019t shown and thus isn\u2019t drawn. It technically doesn\u2019t exist. It\u2019s drawn on a flat page and there isn\u2019t really more of the character other than what the animator draws.<\/span><\/p>\n

With 3D though, the character\u2019s body parts always exist in the shot. Even when one hand isn\u2019t visible, it\u2019s still there. That adds some work for the animator, since we need to be aware of the entire character at all times.<\/span><\/p>\n

The last major difference with 3D animation is the frame rate. Traditional animators usually work on 2\u2019s which means they draw a new drawing every 2 frames, and thus having one drawing last for 2 frames. With 3D animation, however, the motion is always smooth (except for stylized pieces which intentionally try to look different) and having a character stop completely looks like a mistake.<\/span><\/p>\n

Even when the character is standing still there should always be some sign of life or gentle movement to keep the illusion of life, this is something 2D animation can get away with much more easily than 3D animation.<\/span><\/p>\n

History<\/span><\/h2>\n

3D animation has definitely revolutionized how the animation industry looks today, and it was all started with Toy Story (1995, Lassetter.) Computer generated animations wasn\u2019t completely new at the time, since it had already been often used in TV shows, movies and computer games, but Toy Story set the bar by being the first feature-length computer animation, leading to a whole new industry and market. \u00a0 \u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

3D animation also lead to studios trying to achieve photo-realistic animations by combining high-level computer processing with advance motion-capture. This has led to films such as Final Fantasy: Spirits Within (2001, Sakaguchi) and The Polar Express (2004, Zemeckis), with very mixed results. This kind of animation became rarer as the decade passed, as the process is a lot more complicated than key framed 3D animations, but has passed on to feature film VFX.<\/span><\/p>\n

Software<\/h2>\n

\"maya\"Autodesk Maya<\/span><\/h3>\n

Maya is the industry standard 3D software, used in most large studios. Maya, Softimage and 3D Max are all a part of Autodesk and work quite similarly. Choosing one is a matter of personal and technical preference.<\/span><\/p>\n

Supported platforms:<\/i><\/b><\/span><\/p>\n