3D ANIMATION
PROCESS- APPZINC LLC
The Idea‐ Concept Development Stage-
Animation is
great for conveying key messages effectively in a short space of time and in an
engaging way. They’ll ensure your message sticks like chewing gum – and let’s
face it; something that holds a child’s attention for 90 minutes must be doing
a lot right!
3D animated Videos can bring to life anything you care to
dream of, whether it be transforming a corporate presentation, an advert to
promote your products or just an effective way to communicate that all-important
message. Creating memorable characters, dynamic storyboards, mixing live action
with animation plus enthusiasm and passion by the bucket-load are just a few
reasons to choose Animation for bringing great ideas to life.
The main advantages of 3D animated ads are its 3 E'S- Explains, Educate and Entertain
at the same time. It saves time, People are more likely to watch a video than
read a lengthy document or website.
No matter what the situation is, though, the process of creating animation always starts out the same: Somebody wants it and is willing to pay for it and we call them customers.
There are also several different types of animation and the cost depends on many factors. What follows is a brief account of the many stages of animation production as well as what influences the time and cost involved.
3 Main Stages in
3D Animation process
1. PRE‐PRODUCTION
2. PRODUCTION
3. POST PRODUCTION
1· PRE-PRODUCTION
Several steps take place before production actually starts. This “problem solving” phase is known as pre‐
production. There is an entire industry devoted to these steps, since animation (and film‐making in general) can be a
prolonged and expensive art form.
As the saying goes, “Time is money”.
The most important stage in any animation process, if the
concept goes wrong the whole video will be waste of time and energy. Time Involved: Ideas can come in a flash. Good ideas may take years to develop. Cost Involved: Ideas are free and nobody can actually own one outright.
The Script‐
Usually, a writer translates the idea or the concept using a written known as a script.
The Storyboard‐
A storyboard is like a comic book in that several panels of sequential drawings map outthe story. Here, scene blocking, camera moves and even character performance are first illustrated.
Since animation is such an expensive and time consuming process, production does not start until the storyboard has been approved by the client.
2·PRODUCTION
Once the storyboard is confirmed then the real works start
the "ANIMATION" giving life to the concept, which have been
developed. These Parts include:
Layout
During this stage the Director approves camera moves, depth
of field and the composition of the models making up the set and set dressing.
It is then the responsibility of the Modeling department to deliver
these approved set, prop and character models in the final layout stages.
Modeling
Modeler’s turn the 2D concept art and traditionally
sculpted maquettes into high detail, topologically sound 3D models. They then
assist the Technical Animator and Enveloper as the model has a skeleton put in
place and the skin is developed in this stage. Once the model is approved,
it will be made available to the rigging and texture paint departments, who
complete the final stages in preparing the model for animation and rendering.
Texturing
Whether creating a texture from scratch or through editing
an existing image, Texturing Artists are responsible for writing shaders and
painting textures as per the scene requirements.
Lighting
Lighters have a broad range of responsibilities, including
placing lights, defining light properties, defining how light interacts with
different types of materials, the qualities and complexities of the realistic
textures involved, how the position and intensity of lights affect mood and
believability, as well as color theory and harmony.
Rigging
Rigging is the process of adding bones to a character or
defining the movement of a mechanical object, and it's central to the animation
process. A character TD will make test animations showing how a creature or
character appears when deformed into different poses, and based on the results
corrective adjustments are often made.
Animation
Animate the characters in the scene and/or motion capture
the skeletons to be placed back into the characters. This stage can
involved multiple rounds of animating, and then going back and fixing and cleaning
up the motion in the shot inserted all the objects needed in the scene.
This is the longest step in the production process and may
involve multiple sessions of motion capture and cleanup to achieve the
desired results.
Full Resolution
Rendering
Once the animation is complete and every shot has
been planned out, the scenes are exported one at a time and sent to
the render farm manager for distribution and output to the render
nodes.
3.Post-Production
Post-production is the third and final step in film
creation, and it refers to the tasks that must be completed or executed after
the filming or shooting ends. These include the editing of raw footage to cut
scenes together, inserting transitional effects, working with voice and sound
actors and dubbing to name just a few of the many post-production tasks.
Overall, however, the three main phases of post-production
are compositing, sound editing and video editing.
Compositing
The compositing department brings together all of the 3D
elements produced by the previous departments in the pipeline, to create the
final rendered image ready for film! Compositors take rendered images from
lighters and sometimes also start with compositing scripts that TDs develop in
order to initially comp together their dailies (working versions of the shot.)
Sound Editing
This department is responsible for selecting and assembling
the sound recordings in preparation for the final sound mix, ensuring lip sync
and adding all of the sound effects required for the final film.
Video Editing
Video editing is the process of manipulating and rearranging
shots to create a seamless final product, and it is at this stage that any
unwanted footage and scenes are removed. Editing is a crucial step in making
sure the video flows in a way which achieves the initial goal. Other tasks include
titling and adding any effects to the final video and text.
Conclusion
The production pipeline detailed above is broadly common in
most studios, however each studio is likely to have a custom pipeline
determined by the type of project they are currently undertaking. Moreover,
animation production is a very coordinated process where different teams of
artists work together while utilising optimum resources and achieving the
initial goal in the time available.
