3D Animation Essentials

Andy Beane is an animation artist who has been teaching and working professionally since 2002. He currently oversees the animation major at Ball State University and previously taught animation at the Art Institute of Orange County, California. His production experience includes a children's television show pilot with Xzault Studio, Korn's Coming Undone music video, and Barnyard from Paramount Pictures. He wrote curriculum for the Autodesk Animation Academy 2010 and is also a board member of the MG Collective, an Indiana-based motion graphics and animation community group. He has an MFA in computer animation from the Academy of Art University in San Francisco.

Introduction xv

Chapter 1 3D Animation Overview 1

Defining 3D Animation 1

Exploring the 3D Animation Industry 2

Entertainment 2

Scientific 4

Other 9

The History of 3D Animation 10

Early Computers 10

1960s: The Dawn of Computer Animation 11

1970s: The Building Blocks of 3D Animation 12

1980s: The Foundations of Modern Computing 14

1990s: 3D Animation Achieves Commercial Success 17

2000s: The Refining of 3D Animation 18

The Essentials and Beyond 19

Chapter 2 Getting to Know the Production Pipeline 21

Understanding the Production Pipeline’s Components 21

Working in 3D Animation Preproduction 22

Idea/Story 25

Script/Screenplay 27

Storyboard 28

Animatic/Pre-visualization 29

Design 30

Working in 3D Animation Production 33

Layout 34

Research and Development 36

Modeling 37

Texturing 39

Rigging/Setup 40

Animation 41

3D Visual Effects 41

Lighting/Rendering 42

Working in 3D Animation Postproduction 43

Compositing 44

2D Visual Effects/Motion Graphics 44

Color Correction 44

Final Output 45

Using Production Tools 45

Production Bible 46

Folder Management and Naming Conventions 52

The Essentials and Beyond 52

Chapter 3 Understanding Digital Imaging and Video 55

Understanding Digital Imaging 55

Pixels 55

Raster Graphics vs. Vector Graphics 58

Anti-Aliasing 59

Basic Graphic-File Formats 62

Channels 64

Color Depth or Bit Depth 66

Color Calibration 68

Understanding Digital Video 71

Resolution, Device Aspect Ratio, and Pixel Aspect Ratio 72

Safe Areas 74

Interlaced and Progressive Scanning 75

Compression 78

Frame Rate and Timecode 79

Digital Image Capture 80

The Essentials and Beyond 81

Chapter 4 Exploring Animation, Story, and Pre-visualization 83

Using Principles of Fine Art and Traditional Animation 83

Modeling 84

Texturing/Lighting 87

Character Animation 93

VFX 104

Building a Good Story 105

Story Arc 105

Character, Goal, and Conflict 106

The Hero’s Journey 110

Other Storytelling Principles 112

Using Pre-visualization Techniques 113

Basic Shot Framing 114

Camera Movements 126

Editing 130

The Essentials and Beyond 132

Chapter 5 Understanding Modeling and Texturing 135

Modeling 135

Polygons 136

NURBS 150

Subdivision Surfaces 153

Modeling Workflows 154

Texturing 158

UVs 160

Shaders 163

Texture Maps 167

Texturing Workflows 173

The Essentials and Beyond 174

Chapter 6 Rigging and Animation 177

Rigging 177

Parenting 179

Pivot Positions 180

Skeleton System 182

Forward and Inverse Kinematics 185

Deformers 186

Constraints 190

Scripting 191

Expressions 191

The Basic Rigging Workflow 192

Animation 193

Keyframe 196

Graph Editor 197

Timeline 202

Dope Sheet 202

Workspace 202

Tracking Marks and Ghosting 204

FK and IK 204

Video Reference 206

The Basic Animation Workflow 206

Animation Techniques 206

The Essentials and Beyond 210

Chapter 7 Understanding Visual Effects, Lighting, and Rendering 213

Creating Visual Effects 213

Particles 214

Hair and Fur 216

Fluids 218

Rigid Bodies 220

Soft Bodies 222

The Basic VFX Workflow 225

Lighting 225

Light Types 226

Light Attributes 230

Lighting Techniques 233

The Basic Lighting Workflow 236

Rendering 237

Basic Rendering Methods 237

Global Illumination 240

Advanced Shader Functions 243

The Basic Rendering Workflow 244

The Essentials and Beyond 246

Chapter 8 Hardware and Software Tools of the Trade 249

Choosing a Computer 250

Choosing a Computer Type 250

Understanding Operating Systems 252

Selecting the Components 255

Using Monitors/Displays 260

Working with Graphics Tablets 261

Using 3D Scanners 262

Setting Up Render Farms 264

Finding Data Storage Solutions 265

Local 266

Local Networked 266

Offsite 267

Cloud/Internet 267

Choosing Software 268

Comprehensive 3D Animation Packages 268

CAD 269

Compositing 269

Digital Imaging 270

3D Specialty 270

The Essentials and Beyond 272

Chapter 9 Industry Trends 275

Using Motion Capture 275

Marker Systems 276

Markerless Systems 277

Creating Stereoscopic 3D 278

Integrating Point-Cloud Data 281

Providing Real-Time Capabilities 282

Real-Time Rendering 284

Real-Time Animation 285

Real-Time Motion Performance 287

Working in Virtual Studios 288

The Essentials and Beyond 289

Appendix A Answers to Review Questions 291

Appendix B Gaining Insight into 3D Animation Education 299

Linda Sellheim 299

Larry Richman 303

Steve Kolbe 307

Appendix C Learning from Industry Pros 313

Brian Phillips 313

Jim Rivers 316

Rosie Server 321

Index 327