Introduction

3D Animation is the creativity of the animator to create an illusion of motion from imagery that visually interprets and conveys the message it is basically created for. 3D Animation uses both the animation techniques, traditional and latest and deals with automatically generated computer made 3D imagery used in moving graphics and special effects that are digital. However, the 3Danimator has to be accustomed with 3D Animation features and software, production procedures, video and film producing techniques, special visual and sound effects.

History

William Fetter was credited with coining the term computer graphics in 1960 to describe his work at Boeing. One of the first displays of computer animation was Future world (1976), which included an animation of a human face and hand — produced by Ed Catmull and Fred Parke. Early examples of attempts to capture the phenomenon of motion drawing can be found in paleolithic cave paintings, where animals are depicted with multiple legs in superimposed positions, clearly attempting to convey the perception of motion. A 5,200 year old earthen bowl found in Iran in Shahr-i Sokhta has five images of a goat painted along the sides. This has been claimed to be an example of early animation. However, since no equipment existed to show the images in motion, such a series of images cannot be called animation in a true sense of the word. The phenakistoscope, praxinoscope, as well as the common flip book were early popular animation devices invented during the 1800s, while a Chinese zoetrope-type device was invented already in 180 AD.These devices produced movement from sequential drawings using technological means, but animation did not really develop much further until the advent of cinematography.

Overview

The process of creating 3D computer graphics can be sequentially divided into three basic phases, 3D modeling which describes the process of forming the shape of an object, layout and animation which describes the motion and placement of objects within a scene, and 3D rendering which produces an image of an object to final post. 3-D animators work with computer sketches to create the images for animated commercials, television shows, movies, and computer games. 3-D images are often more realistic than 2-D animation, which involves hand-drawn pictures.

Modeling

There are five popular ways to represent a model:

    * Polygonal modeling - Points in 3D space, called vertices, are connected by line segments to form a           polygonal mesh.
    * NURBS modeling - NURBS Surfaces are defined by spline curves, which are influenced by weighted control points.Increasing the weight for a point will pull the curve closer to that point. NURBS are truly smooth surfaces,for organic modeling. Maya, Rhino 3d and solid Thinking are the most well-known commercial software that uses NURBS natively.
   * Splines & Patches modeling - Like NURBS, Splines and Patches depend on curved lines to define  the visible surface.
    * Primitives modeling - This procedure takes geometric primitives like balls, cylinders, cones or cubes as building blocks for more complex models. Benefits are quick and easy construction and that the forms are mathematically defined and thus absolutely precise, also the definition  language can be much simpler.
    * Sculpt modeling - Still fairly new method of modeling 3D sculpting has become very popular in the few short years it has been around. There are 2 types of this currently, Displacement which is the most widely used among applications at this moment, and volumetric. Displacement uses a dense model (often generated by Subdivision surfaces of a polygon control mesh) and stores new locations for the vertex positions through use of a 32bit image map that stores the adjusted locations.

Rotoscoping

Rotoscoping  is a method of traditional animation invented by Max Fleischer in 1915, in which animation is "traced" over actual film footage of actors and scenery. Traditionally, the live action will be printed out frame by frame and registered. Another piece of paper is then placed over the live action printouts and the action is traced frame by frame using a lightbox. The end result still looks hand drawn but the motion will be remarkably lifelike. Waking Life is a full-length, rotoscoped animated movie, as is American Pop by Ralph Bakshi. The popular music video for A-ha's song "Take On Me" also featured rotoscoped animation, along with live action. In most cases, rotoscoping  in Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs,Peter Pan, and Sleeping Beauty.

Animation & Layout

Before objects are rendered, they must be placed within a scene. This is what defines the spatial relationships between objects in a scene including location and size. Animation refers to the temporal description of an object,how it moves and deforms over time. Popular methods include keyframing, inverse kinematics, and motion capture, though many of these techniques are used in conjunction with each other. As with modeling, physical simulation is another way of specifying motion

3D Animation Career & Salary Outlook

The Bureau of Labor Statistics does not have a specific breakdown on the earnings of 3-D animators, but the median income for an animator is about $51,000. Animators who work in the movie and video industries generally earn slightly more, about $57,000 on average, and those that work in the advertising industry earn less, around $48,000.

Texturing & Mapping

I mentioned that a lot of the time involved in 3D texturing is spent dealing with UVs, the coordinate system that all 3D applications use for applying textures to models. It's not a good system because you have to manually create them, like dressing a model with a flat cloth and some scissors, so UV-mapping complex shapes is very tedious. Then you have the problem of seams, especially when bump and displacement maps are involved

Special effects Animation

Besides traditional animated characters, objects and backgrounds, many other techniques are used to create special elements such as smoke, lightning and "magic", and to give the animation in general a distinct visual appearance.In movies such as Fantasia, Wizards, The Lord of the Rings, The Little Mermaid, The Secret of NIMH and The Thief and the Cobbler. Today the special effects are mostly done with computers, but earlier they had to be done by hand. To produce these effects, the animators used different techniques, such as drybrush, airbrush, charcoal, grease pencil, backlit animation or, during shooting, the cameraman used multiple exposures with diffusing screens, filters or gels. For instance, the Nutcracker Suite segment in Fantasia has a fairy sequence where stippled cels are used, creating a soft pastel look.

Computers and digital Video cameras

Computers and digital video cameras can also be used as tools in traditional  animation without affecting the film directly, assisting the animators in their work and making the whole process faster and easier. Doing the layouts on a computer is much more effective than doing it by traditional methods.

Conclusion

We're yet to encounter the ultimate 3D experience. Admittedly, some effects were genuinely breathtaking, and it would be great to see more material in better quality. But a picture-quality advantage remains elusive: Pictures generally become darker, the glasses are irritating, and the system often goes beyond the limits of realistic playback, meaning some effects look more unpleasant than impressive. All in all, 3D may appear in the movie theater and living room increasingly in the near future.