3D Animation Essentials

Andy Beane

• Publisher: Sybex
• Year: 2012
• Print ISBN: 9781118147481
• eBook ISBN: 9781118239056
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Computer Science
• Subtopic: Digital Media
• Index: Computer Science

The essential fundamentals of 3D animation for aspiring 3D artists

3D is everywhere--video games, movie and television special effects, mobile devices, etc. Many aspiring artists and animators have grown up with 3D and computers, and naturally gravitate to this field as their area of interest. Bringing a blend of studio and classroom experience to offer you thorough coverage of the 3D animation industry, this must-have book shows you what it takes to create compelling and realistic 3D imagery.

• Serves as the first step to understanding the language of 3D and computer graphics (CG)
• Covers 3D animation basics: pre-production, modeling, animation, rendering, and post-production
• Dissects core 3D concepts including design, film, video, and games
• Examines what artistic and technical skills are needed to succeed in the industry
• Offers helpful real-world scenarios and informative interviews with key educators and studio and industry professionals

Whether you're considering a career in as a 3D artist or simply wish to expand your understanding of general CG principles, this book will give you a great overview and knowledge of core 3D Animation concepts and the industry.

CHAPTER 1
3D Animation Overview

3D animation has become a mainstay in film, television, and video games, and is becoming an integral part of other industries that may not have found it all that useful at first. Fields such as medicine, architecture, law, and even forensics now use 3D animation. To really understand 3D animation, you must look at its short history, which is tied directly to the history of the computer. Computer graphics, one of the fastest growing industries today, drives the technology and determines what computers are going to be able to do tomorrow. In this chapter, you will look at present-day 3D animation and then look back at how the past has shaped what we do today.

• Defining 3D animation
• Exploring the 3D animation industry
• Delving into the history of 3D animation

Defining 3D Animation

3D animation, which falls into the larger field of 3D computer graphics, is a general term describing an entire industry that utilizes 3D animation computer software and hardware in many types of productions. This book uses the term 3D animation to refer to a wide range of 3D graphics, including static images or even real solid models printed with a 3D printer called a rapid prototyper. But animation and movement is the primary function of the 3D animation industry. 3D animation is used in three primary industries:

• Entertainment
• Scientific
• Other

Each of these industries uses 3D animation in completely different ways and for different final output, including film, video, visualizations, rapid prototyping, and many others. The term 3D animation is still evolving, and we have not yet seen everything that it will encompass.

A 3D artist is anyone who works in the production stage of 3D animation: modeler, rigger, texturer, animator, visual effects technician, lighter, or renderer. Each of these job titles falls under the umbrella term 3D artist, and so each job can also be referred to more specifically: 3D modeler, 3D texture artist, 3D lighter, 3D animator, and so forth. These jobs are discussed in more detail throughout this book, to give you a good idea of the role of each on a day-to-day basis.

Exploring the 3D Animation Industry

Let’s take a closer look at the three primary industries using 3D animation. This section details the various opportunities of each so you can see what a person wanting to get into 3D animation could do today.

Entertainment

The entertainment industry is the most widely recognized of the three primary 3D animation industries and includes film, television, video games, and advertising—each of which has subfields within it. The entertainment industry is dedicated to creating and selling entertainment to an audience.

Film

Two primary types of films are created in the 3D animation realm: fully animated films and visual effects films. In fully animated films, all the visual elements onscreen are created in 3D animation software and rendered. Examples include Toy Story, Monsters vs. Aliens, and Shrek. Visual effects films are typically shot with real actors, but the backgrounds or other effects are computer generated. Jurassic Park, Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow, and Tron are examples of visual effects films.

The film industry is one of the largest industries using 3D animation. These films typically take about six months to four years to complete, depending on the scale of the project. The production crew can range from 3 people to 300, again depending on the scale of the overall film.

Fully animated full-length films can take two to four years to create and have a very large crew of hundreds of employees. One studio usually completes the whole film internally. Short films (those shorter than 40 minutes) often are created by individuals or small studios. These short films are usually done on the side or after hours as personal projects. Large studios might create a short film to test a new technique or production pipeline. These films can be completed in a few months with a large crew or may take years depending on the artists’ work schedules.

Visual effects films are different from fully animated feature films in that they are shot by a regular movie crew. A visual effects supervisor helps with camera work and with collecting any other data needed for the addition of the visual effects. Then the completed shots are sent to visual effects studios to complete parts or the whole sequence of effects as needed. Today most visual effects–heavy films use one or two primary studios for most of the work to keep the effects looking consistent, but then farm out smaller shots or sequences to other studios to save time. Visual effects studios can be very large to very small, depending on the type of work they are expected to complete.

Television

3D animation is still trying to make its mark in the television industry. Creating a single 3D animated television show is quite expensive and time-consuming. Still, several of today’s shows are being created with 3D software, including South Park, Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, and Star Wars: The Clone Wars.

A more common usage of 3D animation in television is the addition of 3D visualizations to regular shows on networks such as the Discovery Health Channel, History Channel, and Science Channel. These visualizations typically are used in educational shows to help the audience understand certain topics.

The television industry doesn’t have the film industry’s luxury of lots of time and lots of money. Television shows need to be made in months, not years. The budgets are tremendously smaller, and more content needs to be created in a single season. 3D animation in television shows usually does not have the overall quality of that in film, but can still be very good if a stylized final look is used in the project.

Video Games

The video game industry enables artists to use 3D software to create virtual worlds and characters ...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Table of Contents
• Title Page
• Copyright
• Publisher's Note
• Dedication
• Acknowledgments
• About the Author
• Introduction
• Chapter 1: 3D Animation Overview
• Chapter 2: Getting to Know the Production Pipeline
• Chapter 3: Understanding Digital Imaging and Video
• Chapter 4: Exploring Animation, Story, and Pre-visualization
• Chapter 5: Understanding Modeling and Texturing
• Chapter 6: Rigging and Animation
• Chapter 7: Understanding Visual Effects, Lighting, and Rendering
• Chapter 8: Hardware and Software Tools of the Trade
• Chapter 9: Industry Trends
• Appendix A: Answers to Review Questions
• Appendix B: Gaining Insight into 3D Animation Education
• Appendix C: Learning from Industry Pros
• Index
• End User License Agreement