3D Animation - How does it work?
Mohammad Nashir
Introduction
In this blog article we will discuss how 3D animation works.
Context
# Introduction
# What is 3D Animation and 3Ds Max - Body
# How Animation Works - Body
# 4 Principles of Animation - Body
# Animation Modelling - Body
# Conclusion
Body
In the e-book ''3ds max 7 fundamentals and beyond course ware manual' [Page 8] states "Many aspects of 3D computer animation have been taken from traditional animation. One of the most important concepts from the traditional animation is the idea of a keyframe"
What is a - keyframe? Continued "When the story is complete, it is broken into scenes. A senior animator draws the key (important) poses for a scene. These poses are called key frames. A junior animator then draws the frames in between the key frames, called in-bet-weens".
In the e-book 'The guild handbook of scientific illustration' [Page 247] states "In 3D animation, the animator acts like the director of a play. Animators are responsible for building models and environments in 3D space, posing characters and cameras, controlling lighting as well as other elements in a scene. The animator then directs the computer to render this information, that is, to prepare still images of the scene at different intervals, in a planned, time sequence".
In the e-book 'Strategy Game Programming with Direct X 9' [Page 397] which states "In order to understand how 3D animation fits into the big picture of game development, you first must grasp the following concepts:
# Scenes
# Objects
# Key Frames
# Animation Sets"
Let us look at in the same e-book, what is a scene, object and animation set (we have looked at key frames before).
Scenes are outlined in [Page 398] stating "The first thing you must have for 3D animation to take place is a scene. A scene is nothing more than a collection of objects".
Objects are outlined in [Page 398] stating "Objects are the lifeblood of 3D animation. Without objects you wouldn't have a scene or animation. What is an object? For the purpose of the chapter, objects are 3D models comprised of polygons, colors and textures".
Animation Sets are outlined in [Page 401] stating "Armed with your new found animation, you need animation sets. Why? To make life simpler. You know what they say: Programmers are lazy by nature. That is why we are always trying to write programs to simplify tasks".
Finally we look at another area of Computer Animation which is even more impressive and should be beared in mind, which is Computer Modelling, the e-book 'The art of 3D Computer Animation and Effects' [Page 59] states "Computer modelling can occur with a wide range of computer-based three dimensional techniques such as using virtual modelling tools to sculpt objects or using a three-dimensional digitizer to capture the shape of the physical model directly into the computer program. Once the virtual actors and objects are modeled, they can be attached to the motion skeletons that will be used to animate them with a variety of techniques, this is called rigging".
This in essence finishes our article and I hope you have learnt something this will be further explained in depth in the conclusion if the information needs to inscribed into my own words.
Conclusion
3Ds max is a clear component of 3D modelling and animation, it is a clearly great software for these uses and I would recommend it as through the research it is substantially mentioned. I hope you understand the difference between what a...
# Key Frame
# Animation Set
# Scene
# Object
How they differ and their importance in animation, i would additionally suggest purchasing your own direct 'how to animate' book to give you some guidance on how to animate, if you are looking for certification, then go through that route, but only do a Bachelors or MA or serious taught course if you have a lot of interest in it.
The article further explains how animation is useful, how it works and the principles, and in case you don't know what Direct X 9 is, it is the software, (similar to Flash) which allows graphics to be displayed in your computer, certain computers would need to be quite fast to display high-end graphics.
Hope my article helped.
References
Cusson, R, Maffei, P, Discreet Logic Inc, Autodesk Inc, 2005, 3ds max 7 fundamentals and beyond course ware manual, [e-book], Oxford, Elsevier, Available through; Google Books website, Accessed 28th January 2012,
Hodges, E, 2003, The Guild Handbook of Scientific Illusion, [e-book], New Jersey, USA, Natural Science Illustrations, Available through; Google Books website, Accessed 28th January 2012,
Barron, T, 2003, Strategy Game Programming with Direct X 9, [e-book], USA, Worldware Publishing, Available through; Google Books website, Accessed 28th January 2012,
Kerlow, I, 2004, The Art of Computer Animation and Effects, [e-book], New Jersey, John Wiley and Sons, Available through; Google Books website, Accessed 28th January 2012,
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