3D Animation

Examples of 3D Animation

Some of the best examples of 3D animation films are Toy Story and The Incredibles from Pixar Studios and Shrek and How to Train Your Dragon by Dreamworks Studios.

How Does 3D Animation Work?

3D Animation involves extensive planning on paper or other drawing tools that define keyframes and intermediate frames. The film overlaps with the dialogues and other elements, including the special effects with precision. The typical flow of a 3D film is:

• Concept creation and storyboarding.
• 3D Modelling.
• Texturing.
• Rigging of the characters or objects.
• Animation.
• Lighting and camera setting.
• Rendering.
• Compositing with special VFX.
• Music and foley.
• Editing of the final film.

What is 3D Animation Used For?

3D Animation is extensively used in films, marketing advertisements, business collateral, educational videos, and training videos.

Types of 3D Animation

Motion Capture:

Motion capture animation creates extremely realistic characters and is very useful for film creators. The technology mimics a live artist’s movements and translates them into an animated character in the film. It helps capture the realistic movements of a human accurately.

Movie example: Dawn of the Planet of the Apes.

Stop Motion:

Stop motion animation develops frame-by-frame using images. The animator manipulates the frames in small steps so that, when played quickly, they appear like a film. This job is highly labour-intensive because one wrong frame may lead to complete recreation of the composition.

Movie example: Negative Space.

Motion Graphics:

Motion graphics animation is the process of creating multiple graphics and aligning them in space and time so that they appear like a film when played together. It is a sequence of frames that create an illusion of animation.

Movie example: The Routine.

Digital 3D

Digital 3D animation works on software such as Cinema 4D, Maya, and SketchUp to create digital characters for live-action movies and video games. It requires a high volume of work and the involvement of a concept artist, a 3D modeler, and a 3D animator.

Movie example: Jurassic Park.