Unit 6- 3D Animation

The 3D Animation 

2D concept art
The 2D concept art for animation is very important as these sketches act as blueprints for the 3D programmers on what the character or background looks like so they can model it in programs like Maya.

2D concept art for a character in Rio

The drawings are flat 2 dimensional images that can be placed in to a 3D programme and used as a background that the 3D animators can go over to. The 2D are used to help 3D programmers understand the character by knowing, what color the character is so they know what UV texture mapping to use, what shapes are use to make the character so they can make it as accurate as possible, and what volume the characters have as the animators need to give these characters and worlds life and one way to make them feel real is to give they weight.

An example of 2D concept art

What is 3D Maya

3D Maya is an auto desk software that runs on windows, macOS and Linux. It was originally developed by Alias systems but is now developed and owned by Auto desk, and is used to create 3D models that are interactive, and that can be turned into visual effects, video games, animated series or films. Evan some professional 3D animators and companies use Maya to create there animation, and some use it to create 3D models that they can then sell to others to use in the software. Maya was used by many professional companies, and was used on many of the the companies films such as, The Golden Compass, Transformers, Harry potter and the Deathly Hallows, and Silent Hill.

My Experience with 3D Animation 
 3D Animation for me is really difficult to understand as I have only ever worked in 2D, so it can make it really difficult to make the transition to a 3 Dimensional platform. The lay out of the Maya program was very different to Photoshop ( which is normal program) but there were similar aspects such as, Layers, and the overall color. The program had a lot of things that I did not understand, and too many things to learn especially when it was not preferred medium. Try to make an animation in Maya was extremely difficult for me, first we had to download a 3D model and use it fr our base to work on, the model that i ended up with was a very simple ball with legs, and we were then tasked to make the model jump on to a box. There were many problems that I faced such as, setting key frames, placing the box and moving the character away from the box, lifting the character in the air ( as it would just raise the floor along with character). However just because my experience with 3D Maya wasn't a very positive one doesn't mean it is not an effective program for professionals.

3D Gaming

3D games are interactive computer programs that are portrayal in a 3 dimensional space, and 3D programmers strive on make the graphics of there games the best it can be. The difference between 2d spirit games and 3d modeled games is the spirit only do want they are drawn to do they have limited animations as that is what technology was capable of, however 3D models in whole 3 dimensional worlds have a lot more movement and can a variety of things as technology advanced. The 3D models have whole exoskeletons that help them move like real person, even skin is placed on to the character to make them seem more human, however this can cause some 3D games to fall into the uncanny valley ( where character are too realistic and therefore very creepy in comparison ).

A list of some 3D Animation companies

• Pixar
• Disney
• Dream works
• Industry light and magic
• Studio Ghibi 
• Frame stone
• Cartoon network studios

Working in photoshop to create 3D objects

A 3D Sphere that I created in Photoshop