If you were to explain 3D motion graphic services to someone, what would you say? A few things come to mind. One is that it is drawing but with pictures. Another is that it requires a special kind of talent and skill, like a painter pulling off some awesome paintings. But if you ask a person those questions, they will most likely give different answers – ranging from ‘it’s magic’ to ‘it’s based on technology’ or even something like ‘maybe computers can draw better than humans’.
Unfortunately, the majority of people are still not even aware about what 3D means. The thing is, it is not just about drawing or creating characters with a pencil etc. 3D animation work requires a lot more than this. If you want to deal with a 3D animation company for your own website design or also work in a professional environment, you need to understand what makes them different from 2D animation.
If you’re thinking about starting a 3D animation production company, I hope this ax`rticle will help you make sense of the process.
What is 3D animation?
Computer 3D animation is a new and exciting area of computer graphics which has been developed over the last few years. Computer 3D animation can be used to produce rich and realistic looking video sequences with moving objects. Computer 3d animations use 3D software such as Autodesk Maya, Adobe’s After Effects, Nuke among others (see below for list). These programs allow us to manipulate the shapes of digital objects such as characters and background scenes within the program itself.
Animation is a process where a series of drawings are compiled and then subjected to a series of actions. This technique has become very popular in the recent decades due to the fact that it helps to keep the audience on their feet, which makes them receptive and alert.
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Traditional 2D animation is when two-dimensional pictures are drawn to create motion. The picture is drawn with pencils and paper or a computer software program. This makes the picture almost impossible to change, even though it is usually animated by a team of animators. Stop motion animation is created the same way as traditional animation except that models made out of clay or plastic are used instead of drawings. As you can imagine, this would be very labour-intensive compared to traditional animation. In 3D animation, everything is done within the computer, no matter if it’s images, music or anything else needed for that specific project.
What is the Process of 3D animation?
1. Concept & Storyboard
Storyboarding is the first step of your 3D animation process. It serves as a visual guidebook of how you plan to tell your story and what type of interactions it contains. This can be pixel based computer graphics or hand drawings on paper, but often it’s done digitally using simple software and a Wacom tablet. For example, to create a basic animated character, the artist might carefully construct a series of frames to show the character in different poses or walking through an environment. These are then printed out as concept art and posted to the director for feedback before being refined into final artwork that’s ready for production.
2. 3D Modelling
3D modelling is the process of taking a shape and moulding it into a completed 3D mesh. The most typical means of creating a 3D model is to take a simple object, called a primitive, and extend or “grow” it into a shape that can be refined and detailed. Primitives can be anything from a single point (called a vertex), a two-dimensional line (an edge), a curve (a spline), to three-dimensional objects (faces or polygons). Using the specific features of your chosen 3D software, each one of these primitives can be manipulated to produce an object.
3. Texturing
Texturing is an important part of creating any 3D model. Though it can seem like a complicated process that only the most skilled 3D artists and designers can handle, texturing is actually something that anyone can learn. The process requires knowledge about how to convert 2D images into 3D models, and it’s sometimes referred to as image mapping or texture mapping. Texturing often involves overlaying textures onto a model (this may also be referred to as mapping), this allows for realistic colour reproduction and gives the illusion of different patterns of hair growing on the surface of the model.
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4. Ragging & Skinning
Rigging and skinning are the backbone of any character animation. Without these two processes, a character would be like a statue…not moving at all under any circumstances or under any influence of external factors. Rigging involves setting up a skeleton and attaching the corresponding pieces called ‘skins’ to it; in essence, creating a model so that its movements can be controlled by handles.
5. Animation
Animation is the process of taking a 3D object and getting it to move. There are many different flavours of animation, from keyframe animation, where the animator manipulates the objects on a frame-by-frame basis, similar to old hand-drawn cartoons, to setting objects on splines and setting them to follow the path of the curve. Another way to animate is to use your 3D application’s built-in physics engines, such as when your scene requires that objects fall.
6. Lighting
Lighting is arguably the most important aspect in creating convincing visuals. It’s what gives a scene its character and mood, whether that be realistic or cartoonish. Lighting can do so much more than just add atmosphere to a scene, but you also need to know how to use it in the correct way to achieve realistic results.
7. Camera Angles & Techniques
You probably already know how awesome it is to shoot 3D movies, but the camera doesn’t only help you create those scenes. It can also be used to create impossible perspectives, zoom and pan, adjust aperture and shutter speed and much more.
3D cameras, or 3D rigs, are used extensively in filmmaking and animation. Google is using a rig to create the images in Street View, while many other companies use them to create virtual reality. The advantage of using a rig is that it enables accuracy and consistency without worrying about complicated gear.
8. Rendering
The last step in the 3D production pipeline, but not last by any means! Rendering is perhaps the most important part of the entire production. There are many aspects to creating a good final render of a scene, including attention to camera placement, lighting choices which may affect mood and shadows, reflections and transparency, and the handling of special effects, like fluids or gasses.
9. Compositing and Special FX
Compositing is the final step in post-production, where all the elements of an image are blended together to create something more visually appealing than either separate elements could alone. While compositing can be done in various programs, most compositors use the same software that filmmakers use. Compositing programs can range from extremely simple (such as placing
objects back into their positions within a shot) to very complicated ones that allow for adjustments such as adjusting for contrast and brightness levels among other things.’
10. Music & Foley
A music composer creates original music to enhance mood or underscore scenes in a film, television or radio production. His job is similar to that of a composer for an orchestra. He creates music tracks and scores for film, television, commercials and more. A foley artist ‘recreates’ sound effects for film, television and radio productions by using many different kinds of shoes and lots of props – car fenders, plates, glasses, chairs and so on in order to create moving sounds which are used to give the impression that there is a lot happening around the characters in the scene.
11. Editing & Final Output
Finally, to create 3D animation, music and sounds, our set of presentation services will make your brand more fun and engaging! The process of comping, editing, and exporting a final composited product into a format that can be delivered to the client.