Sunday, July 12, 2009

How Digital 3d Animation Can Be Used by Designers?

By Jasque Brisk

As mankind has made progress, its esthetics have also found new and ingenious means to express itself. Today, the evolution of art has entered the depths of technology and computers, as animation has emerged as a new art form. This has been a radical change from the humble beginnings which can be traced back to the Lascaux cave paintings, but still, it has presented us with exciting opportunities.

Digital 3D Animation can be simply explained as the art of displaying moving objects which are shown from a three dimensional perspective to the viewer. The fact that three dimensional animation shows objects in a highly realistic way ranks it as a superior technology in comparison with 2D Animation. This great art is not only exploited in movies, but also in architectural visualisations, computer games, simulations, digital models, special effects and in anyway a 3D presentation or communication tool is developed.

These wonderful works are brought into reality through a process of 3D Modelling, Texturing, Animation and 3 Dimensional Rendering. 3 Dimensional Modelling is a process of bringing objects and scenes into the world of 3D Graphics and Animation. Once a Three Dimensional model is created, it goes through the texturing process which brings out what makes the objects and characters so realistic and related to our lives. It determines how things look and is just like an artist painting on a sculpture.

3D Animation may not relate to movies when characters like Mickey Mouse were first displayed, yet the key concept of animation remains identical as in traditional animation. These concepts have taken the shape of Key-framing and Motion Capture with the development of computers. Key-framing, descendent of traditional animation method, involves setting up of two or more key object positions in different time frames of a unit of animation. After this the animator assistant was drawing all the frames in between the key frames by hand, these gradual changes in repetitive illustrations that made up the illusion of motion where called in-betweens. Today the computer fills the 3D Animation with automatically generated in-betweens.

Motion Capture is another one of the advanced animation techniques, the use of which is very popular when animating realistic digital actors. It brings life to characters in animations by translating the recorded movements of real actors or models into the 3 Dimensional Animation. Three Dimensional Animations also require a much higher frame rate to support its photorealism and effectiveness, which exceeds 12 frames per second, which is used for old two dimensional animation and television broadcast.

Lots of people are inspired to chase an animation career, but often end up only with a small course which only helps them learn how to work with different software which does not ensure proficiency in 3D Animation. Schools like School of Visual Arts California and Academy of Digital Animation can provide the appropriate formal education and technical facilities that are fitting to a professional animator. It is always best to enroll with an Animation school which focuses on quality.

To exceed as a Three Dimensional computer animator, if you are capable of original and creative work. You should be mastering essential graphic programs like Flash and Photoshop. You should have a thorough comprehension of Three Dimensional Modeling and should be able to master the function of animation variables, the basic structures that make up life-like 3d models in an animation.

You must be able to work with colors effectively and know the color theory. Maybe an arts degree will even help you in such cause. You should also have an understanding of lighting, shading and rendering, which are prerequisite to the realism of your animation. You must have an eye for detail, a taste for story-telling and the creativity of a traditional artist.

Of course, veteran animators are the masters of the trade, but how can 3D Animation be of use to internet site developer? Web page developers can easily create high end 3D animations through various software. Motion Builder, 3ds max, Messiah Studio, Softimage and Cinema 4D are famous software mostly used by experienced animators. But web site developer may even go for much easier to learn programs like RealSoft 3D, 3D GIF Designer and Xara 3D can enable them to carry out their tasks much easier. The selection of package depends primarily on the requirements, but programs with common interface and covering maximum features in one package would be more appropriate for website developer.

If you want to use 3D animation in the content for your website, you could settle for software with simple features and an easy and accessible user interface. 3D Animations have become an effective communication instrument of our century and can be a source of traffic enhancement for web designers as computer programs have brought this technology into their access. This technology allows you to explore new horizons on whatever front it can be utilized. It is up to you to take advantage of it.

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