Introduction to 3D Animation
- 1. Introduction to 3D Animation Basic Digital Graphics & Animation
- 2. Computer animation or CGI animation is the process used for generating animated images by using computer graphics. The more general term computer-generated imagery encompasses both static scenes and dynamic images, while computer animation only refers to moving images. - Wikipedia What is Computer Animation?
- 3. For 3D animations, objects (models) are built on the computer monitor (modeled) and 3D figures are rigged with a virtual skeleton. What is 3D Animation?
- 4. Then the limbs, eyes, mouth, clothes, etc. of the figure are moved by the animator on key frames. What is 3D Animation?
- 5. The differences in appearance between key frames are automatically calculated by the computer in a process known as tweening or morphing. Finally, the animation is rendered. What is 3D Animation?
- 6. All 3D animation software programs have a similar workspace layout. It is based on 3D Cartesian Coordinate space. The 3D Workspace
- 7. We call this X, Y, and Z. At the centre origin = 0,0,0. The Axes runs through this point perpendicular to each other where we can designate the exact location of any point in space relative to the origin. The 3D Workspace
- 8. All 3D animation programs function this way, It does not matter which one, the layout might differ but all work the same way. The 3D Workspace
- 9. Typically, follows along these steps: Modeling Materials/Texturing Lighting Keyframing/Animating Rendering The 3D Animation Workflow
- 10. But in some cases you can model, keyframe, animate then add materials, textures, light and render. It depends on your project and what you feel works best for you. The 3D Animation Workflow
- 11. Big animation studios can have 100’s or 1000’s of people around the world working on one project. This requires a lot of planning at each stage and is known as the pipeline. Think of it like an assembly line. Each stage has its own team with its own set of supervisors called technical directors (TD’s). These TD’s oversee the work and ensure quality outputs and report back to VFX supervisors, who report to the director and so on. The 3D Animation Workflow
- 12. The 3D Animation Workflow
- 13. Modeling: This is like actually making a physical object but in a 3D virtual space. Typically, modeling would start with primitive mesh objects such as spheres, cubes, cones and cylinders. You can modify them by extruding, merging, bevelling, subdividing, etc. You can also draw lines, make shapes and do sweeps, bend, twist, boolean operations… the list is endless! The 3D Animation Workflow
- 14. The 3D Animation Workflow
- 15. Materials/Texturing: This is putting on the flesh or covering the object. This is done by means of mapping. Types of mapping are UV, spherical, planar and procedural which is manipulating colour information on the object. This is where the object begins to take on more realistic looking characteristics. The 3D Animation Workflow
- 16. The 3D Animation Workflow
- 17. Lighting: This is part of creating the right atmosphere and environment. Default lighting is called Ambient lighting but there are Spot, Sun, Point and Diffuse which is the light emanating from the object like a reflection. For example, Specular light and reflection refers to the highlight and can be adjusted to make an object look dull or shiny. The 3D Animation Workflow
- 18. The 3D Animation Workflow
- 19. Keyframing/Animating: Here is where the object comes to life, like puppetry for living things or simulating weight and gravity. There is also particle animation like fire, smoke and fireworks. A keen sense of how motion acts on an object and living things takes time and skill to master. The 3D Animation Workflow
- 20. Keyframing/Animating: It usually starts with rigging an object or putting the skeleton in. The action of joints influencing each other is called Inverse Kinematics (IK). The action of joints influencing the object is called weighting. If not done properly, it can look weird and distracting. If done properly, can be indistinguishable from real life. The 3D Animation Workflow
- 21. The 3D Animation Workflow
- 22. The 3D Animation Workflow
- 23. The 3D Animation Workflow Rendering: This is creating the finished product. In some cases there are other processes like compositing, colour correcting and editing that use the rendered elements. Output to file formats, resolution, and shading (computing processes that add even more realism or cartoon look and feel).
- 24. The 3D Animation Workflow
- 25. The 3D Animation Workflow
- 26. The 3D Animation Workflow
- 27. The 3D Animation Workflow
- 28. The 3D Animation Workflow
- 29. The 3D Animation Workflow
- 30. 3D Animation can be expensive to produce, time consuming, takes various skills and talent. But can be rewarding in making your visions come to life in striking ways. Research, learn all you can and keep learning, there are new trends emerging everyday.. Conclusion
- 31. THANK YOU