The Nit and Grit of 3D Animation

If you have stumbled onto this post, you probably have a general understanding of what 3D Animation already is. It’s hard not to see a movie that hasn’t used 3D Animation in some way or another to create incredible visual effects and immensely engaging characters. You need only look at movies like King Kong and Transformers: The Movie to see how far 3D Animation has come over the years. With that in mind, the purpose of this post is to either reinforce what you already know or have you rethinking what you thought you knew about 3D Animation and its’ ever growing industry.

Obviously, 3D Animation is simply animation within a 3D environment. The extent to which 3D Animation is used within that environment varies based on what is required. As a relative new comer to the 3D Animation industry, I have learnt more than my fair share of home-truths about what I thought I knew about 3D Animation. First off, the term “3D Animation” covers a broad range of fields, the main ones being modeling, texturing, rigging, animation, dynamic simulation, scripting and rendering. Each field in itself is deep and expansive so I will keep this post on the topic of “3D Animation in a Nutshell” and will explain these fields in greater detail in future posts.

Because 3D Animation is so large a box and ever growing as technology makes it easier for artists to realize their work, it’s easy to allow yourself to become overwhelmed in the many smaller boxes within itself. Thankfully, the majority of 3D Animation enthusiasts will lack the ability to master all fields. For example, a person who is competent at modeling and texturing, may be weak at scripting and rigging. Likewise, a person who is strong at animation may be very weak at lighting and rendering. Does this mean 3D Animation is too difficult a field to forge a career out of? The opposite could not be truer regarding 3D Animation. Because it is ever-growing, 3D Animation has the benefit of growing appeal to more and more people ever before. With modelers becoming lighting TD’s and animators excelling in the field of dynamics simulation and rigging, there is a world of opportunities to learn and grow in the 3D Animation industry.

And that, my friends, is the challenge of the 3D Animation industry. With so many roads to walk down and so many places to stop and learn new tools and skill sets, we are given the awesome opportunity to become whatever we want. In reality, this is how MMORPG should be played. A kid spends 40+ hours on his computer playing an online game that allows him to level-up his character a few levels on a bad week, logging off at the end with nothing more to show for it than a few game props and typers cramp. I on the other hand, can spend 40+ hours modeling a character that can put your online avatar to shame. 3D Animation provides the tools and skill sets for me to create a character as realistic as technologically possible. Because of 3D Animation, I might also choose to create props, be they weapons or vehicles which will have you whincing in pain or whining in jealousy. If I so choose, 3D Animation enables me to create an environment for my character that rivals that of the Crysis or Unreal in-game environments. I could also create a short animation for my character within this environment, all credit to the 3D Animation industry.

Now sure, a kid may still be able to enjoy playing a game that contains all of these things and more, but hell, why would I waste my time in a game created by someone else, based on their own rules and controlled by their own standards when I have the power to create my own. Need I say it again..? I hope not but just in case, it is all possible, and so much more because of 3D Animation.