3-D Animation

3D Animation3D animation is rendered clip of animated 3D objects in a 3D environment.

An example:

Examples of movies released in 3D areToy Story, Cars, Shrek, Wall-E, etc.

2D vs 3D3D objects, once modeled, can be treated almost as a physical object. You can light it differently, you can move a camera to look at it from above, or below. In 2D animation EVERYTHING is drawn. Moving the camera in 2D means drawing everything from another angle. Moving the camera in 3D is simply dragging it to another position to see if you like it better.Example

In this example, we used textures and lighting to create the object that appears solid, and the object is a sphere which can be rotated 360 degrees thus can be integrated seamlessly into live video elements. Steps of 3D animationModelingSimulationAnimationTexture MappingShadingRenderingEffectsModeling3D modeling (also known as meshing) is the process of developing a mathematical representation of any three-dimensional surface of object(either living or inanimate)

Popular methods of 3D modeling are,Constructive Solid Geometry,Implicit Surfaces, andSubdivision Surfaces

These are done by some specialized software.The product of modeling is called 3D model.

3D models represent a 3D object using a collection of points in 3D space, connected by various geometric entities such as triangles, lines, curved surfaces, etc.

Popular ways of representing a 3D modelPolygonal modeling,Curve modeling, andDigital sculpting.

Texture mapping is a method for adding detail to a 3D model.

SimulationA computer simulation is an attempt to model a real-life or hypothetical situation on a computer so that it can be studied to see how the system works. By changing variables in the simulation, predictions may be made about the behavior of the system. It is a tool to virtually investigate the behavior of the system under study

This is a 48 hour simulation of Typhoon Mawar using the Weather Research and Forecast model.AnimationAnimation refers to the temporal description of an object, i.e., how it moves and deforms over time.

Before objects are rendered, they must be placed (laid out) within a scene. This is what defines the spatial relationships between objects in a scene including location and size.

Popular methods of animation include Keyframing, Inverse Kinematics and Motion Capture, though most of these are used in conjunction with each otherTexture Mapping

A texture map is applied (mapped) to the surface of a shape or a polygon. This process is similar to applying patterned paper to a white box.ShadingThere are importantly two different types of shadings, Flat Shading and smooth shading.

Flat shading is a lighting technique used in 3D computer graphics to shade each polygon of an object based on the angle between the polygon's surface normal and the direction of the light source, their respective colors and the intensity of the light source.

ContdAs a result of flat shading all of the polygon's vertices are colored with one color, allowing differentiation between adjacent polygons.

Smooth shading essentially removes the differentiation between the polygons.

Smooth shading is a method of shading a rendered image by calculating the color of the polygons at their boundaries and blending those colors across the polygon interiors.

Types of smooth shading: Gouraud shadingPhong shadingDifference between flat and smooth shading.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shading#Flat_shadingFlatSmoothUse the same color for every pixel in a face - usually the color of the first vertex.Smooth shading uses linear interpolation of colors between verticesEdges appear more pronounced than they would on a real object because of a phenomenon in the eye known as lateral inhibitionThe edges disappear with this techniqueSame color for any point of the faceEach point of the face has its own colorIndividual faces are visualizedVisualize underlying surfaceNot suitable for smooth objectsSuitable for any objectsLess expensiveMore expensiveGL implements this type of coloring using glShadeModel(GL_FLAT);GL implements this type of coloring using glShadeModel(GL_SMOOTH);RenderingRendering is the process of creating the actual 2D image or animation from the prepared scene. This can be compared to taking a photo or filming a scene after the setup is finished in real life.

Rendering converts a model into an image either by simulating light transport to get photorealistic images, or by applying some kind of style as in non-photorealistic rendering.

The two basic operations in realistic rendering are transport (how much light gets from one place to another) and scattering (how surfaces interact with light).

This step is usually performed using 3D computer graphics software or a 3D graphics API. The process of altering the scene into a suitable form for rendering also involves 3D projection which allows a three-dimensional image to be viewed in two dimensions.

There are several techniques for rendering like wireframe rendering, scanline rendering, ray tracing, or radiosityThere are two types of renderingReal time rendering, andNon-Real time rendering.

Real time rendering is used in games and simulators. In real time rendering, the goal is to show maximum amount of information possible that an eye can process in a fraction of a second (in a frame).

The primary goal is to achieve an as high as possible degree of photorealism at an acceptable minimum rendering speed (usually 24 frames per second).

Real-time rendering is often polygonal and aided by the computer'sGPU.Non-Real time rendering is done in animations for non-interactive media, like feature films and video and are rendered much more slowly.

It enables the leveraging of limited processing power in order to obtain higher image quality.

Here unlike Real time rendering, rendering times may vary from few seconds to few days for complex scenes.

When the goal is photo-realism, techniques such asray tracingorradiosityare employed, which is the basic method employed in digital media and artistic works.Effects3D effects can suggest a rich, multi-layered, realistic, believable environment. They improvise the quality of the video. Many software programs are available in the market which can add audio and visual effects.

The picture here depicts the bulge effect. It distorts the image around a specific point.

References:http://en.wikipedia.org

Further reading:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Keyframinghttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Motion_capturehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inverse_kinematicshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_video_editing_softwarehttp://help.adobe.com/en_US/aftereffects/cs/using/WS3878526689cb91655866c1103a9d3c597-7bf0a.htmlhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/3D_renderingTHE ENDTHANK YOU

Motion GraphicsThis is done by software like Adobe After Effects. The rendered 3D image is imported into the software.

Each shot(Rendered clip) is placed on a master timeline. Transitions between shots are inserted if cross-fades and other effects are required. High-end animations may use up to 3 layers of 3D renderings - the main color layer, an occlusion layer (soft shadows), and a depth pass layer (to control regions of focus, blurring and distance effects).

could be done by 3-D modeling, fractals, physical simulations, etc.3-D environment is created by constantly developing software