What is Animation Used for?
What practical applications are there for 3D animation?
3D animation has proven to be a powerful tool to aid professionals in many fields. Interior design, medicine, engineering, film making and of course gaming have all benefited from 3D animation. It is now possible to design a building and take a virtual walk-through to see first hand where the design works, and where it needs improvement.
The field of medicine has seen some very exciting advances due to the application of 3D animation. Not to be macabre, but in the past medical students learned anatomy by working on cadavers. With 3D animation, medical students can now study a virtual patient. They can watch surgical procedures from a surgeon’s eye view.
Engineering makes heavy use of 3D design and animation. Industrial machines such as assembly line machines and automobiles are usually designed using 3D modeling. The design is then animated which can reveal “interferences” or places where machine parts touch during operation. With 3D modeling, it is possible to determine the mass or weight of each part of the machine as well as the mass or weight of the assembled machine.
Many movies and television programs now have some form of 3D animation as part of the storyline. This is usually done in order to lower costs. It can be less expensive to create a 3D animated prop than to build a physical prop. It also allows the creation of sets or characters that would be impossible to create using traditional visual effects. This type of 3D animation requires that the animator understand how to make the scene “believable” and follow the physics of the storyline.
And of course, gaming. Many if not most video games are now 3D animated affairs. This adds to the realism and allows more of an immersive experience for the player.
What software will I need to get started in animation?
Clara io is a good place to get started with learning the foundational concepts of 3D design and animation.
Clara io is free for personal use and runs in your browser. You will need to create a free account to use the software. The free version allows you 2GB of storage for your models and 1 hour of rendering time per month. From there, you can update to a standard, advanced, or enterprise account. The enterprise level is really for professional animation production. Clara io is a very good starting place to learn the techniques of 3D animation.
You can create your free account at www.clara.io.
You can find tutorials on using clara io at these locations
Official Clara io quick start video channel clara.io/https://clara.io/learn/tutorials/quick-start-videos
Technology Based Art Education channel on youtube has a five part series on using Clara io
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ljqgSxNe4Y&ab_channel=TechnologyBasedArtEducation
When you’re ready for a more powerful and challenging animation suite you may want to start working with Blender.
Blender is Free and Open Source.
Blender is used to create animated films, visual effects, video games and architectural visualizations. It has been used to create to create commercial advertisements in the soft drink and pharmaceutical markets.
Some of the tools that come packed with blender include 3D modeling, texturing, rigging and skinning. It can simulate smoke and fog, particles, sculpting and rendering.
Video editing and compositing are built in features.
It also features an integrated game engine.
You can find the software at Blender.org
For expert tutorials, check out the Blender Guru’s youtube channel at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TPrnSACiTJ4&ab_channel=BlenderGuru
