Since we just finished our AV unit, and are now moving into a 3D unit - and just because I really like animation - I wanted to do some research on the actual process that goes into making a 3D animation and how it differs from normal film production. According to this article and this article, both types of film can still easily be split into pre-production, production, and post-production and be fairly similar to each other.
Pre-Production: Both films require planning and storyboarding at this stage. With animation, it also requires character sketches, but that isn't too different from sketches of the sets and costumes that need to be done in live-action film at this stage. Production: 3D animation requires modeling, rigging, and texturing at this point. You get to control how you character moves and control their every movement, which is very different from normal film. However, in live-action film there are people who have to design and paint sets, create costumes, and control the lighting, so those aspects aren't so different from setting up a movie set. Another difference is rendering. In 3D animation, you have to make sure everything, every movement and texture, is perfect before rendering it to be an actual video clip. Film sort of has this when actors rehearse to make sure that their performance will be good, but there is a little more flexibility there since it takes only a few minutes to shoot a shot five times, but can take an hour to render one scene (depending on computer speed of course). Post-Production: Here there are virtually no differences. Both films require editing clips together to form a coherent story, checking audio timing and quality, and adding any effects as needed. I like that there are a lot of parallels between these two things, but we're in a game design class, so how does animation in games compare? This article points out that, aside from cutscenes, when you do 3D animation in a game, it has to look good from all angles. This makes sense since the player is in control of the camera and which way they are facing. It also mentioned how you need more cyclical character animations than you do in film because of the nature of games. When the code calls up that animation, it better look nice and fluid for as long as it goes on. It seems like there is a lot of pressure on game animators to get things done in time, keep them looking nice, but not have graphics that are too challenging for the system and not spend too much time on one movement. I think generally I would like working on animated film or cutscenes more than gameplay animations, but I think it will be interesting to try out soon.
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AuthorHi, I'm Abi, a DSA student who likes games, drawing, writing, and acting. Archives
February 2020
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