In this era of prevalent visual feast, 3D animation has become the darling of many fields such as film and television, advertising, and games with its realistic effects and unlimited creative space. From the fantasy world of "Avatar" to the national myth of "Nezha's Demon Boy", behind every wonderful frame, there are countless animators' hard work and wisdom. Today, let's unveil the mystery of 3D animation production and enter this journey of digital art creation!
PART1 I. Project Planning and Script Writing
It all starts with an idea. At the beginning of the project, the team will conduct in-depth market research to clarify the target audience and the positioning of the work. Subsequently, the team of writers will conceive the storyline and write the script to lay a solid narrative foundation for the animation. At this stage, the collision of ideas and the polishing of the story are crucial, which determines the soul and direction of the animation.
PART2 2. Conceptual design and pre-visualization
With the script in hand, the next step is the conceptual design phase. Character designers, scene designers, and prop designers will draw character sketches, scene concept drawings, and prop design drawings based on the script description. At the same time, the pre-visualization software quickly produced a preliminary preview of the animation to help the team better understand the final rendering effect and adjust the design direction in time.
PART3 3D modeling
Enter the core link of technical realization - 3D modeling. In this step, the modeler will use professional software such as Maya and 3ds Max to create a 3D model, scene environment and various props of the character according to the design drawing. Details determine success or failure, whether it is the texture of the character's skin, the folds of the costume, or the layout of the light and shadow of the scene, it needs to be carefully sculpted to strive for the perfect combination of reality and beauty.
PART4四、骨骼绑定与动画制作
With static models in place, the next step is to make them "live". The animator builds the skeleton system for the character and assigns weights to ensure that the character's movements are natural and fluid. Subsequently, according to the script and storyboard script, the action animation of the character is made frame by frame or keyframe, including walking, running, jumping, expression changes, etc., this stage tests the animator's understanding and creativity of the movement laws.
PART5五、材质贴图与灯光设置
To make your model look more realistic, material maps and lighting settings are essential. The material artist will assign the appropriate materials and textures to the model, such as the sheen of the metal, the softness of the cloth, etc. The gaffer, on the other hand, is responsible for simulating natural or artificial light sources, creating the desired atmosphere and mood through the clever use of light and shadow.
PART6 6. Rendering and compositing
Rendering is the process of transforming a three-dimensional scene into a two-dimensional image. Through renderers such as RenderMan and Arnold, each frame is carefully rendered to ensure accurate performance of color, light and shadow. After that, enter the post-compositing stage, integrate the rendered picture with special effects, sound effects and other elements, adjust the color balance, add subtitles, logos, etc., and finally complete the entire animation work.
3D animation production is a perfect fusion of technology and art, and every step embodies the enthusiasm and sweat of the creator. I hope that through this introduction, you can have a deeper understanding of the production process of 3D animation, and look forward to more wonderful 3D animation works to light up our lives in the future!