Stop motion

Stop motion is creating the illusion of movement by taking a series of images in which a charecter is moved slightly each time.

 One types of stop motion is Clay animation. this is were clay models are used as the object that moves. this is my favourite type of stop motion as i find that its easier to be able to move the limbs around

Nick Park is a famous stop motion animator that created Wallace and Gromit.

Rendering

The term Rendering is used to describe the process of creating a image from a 3d scene.

there are two different types of rendering - Biased and Unbiased.

Biased rendering is where you can control the render settings yourself e.g you can change the light or specularity of the image.

Unbiased Rendering is where you do not have the option to change the settings. this method of rendering usually produces much more realistic images as the rendering engine calculates every last little detail.

Example of a image rendered using a Biased engine

Example of a image rendered using a unbiased engine

Key frames

       Key frames in animation represent the starting point, and the ending of of a movement. in certain types of animation, for example flash, a motion tween s created between the first and last points. this does also happen in 3d animation , however only the first and last points are shown. The positions of key frames in the sequence will show the timing of the specific movement, and the distance between frames will determine the speed of the animation/movement.
       Key frames can be copied and pasted to help line up the position of objects n the scene. one effect that i find useful in flash animation is onion skin. when a new frame is added, the onion skin will show a faded copy of the previous frame so that it becomes easier to line up objects.

                                     Example of key frames with a motion tween.

Texturing

Texturing is used with 3D modelling. its the name given to the process of adding colour, surface texture and details to a model. The most effective way of texturing is by using texture maps. this is were the mesh of the object you are texturing , gets flattened out so that every polygon is visible. from here you can then transfer the mesh into a program like Photoshop , and add the texture and detail to the areas you need. When the basic texture map is complete you can also create a Normal and speculator map.

example of a UV map for a chair

Normal mapping is a technique used for faking the light of bumps and dents. it is used to add details to models without using anymore polygons.

Example of a Normal map

Specular maps are used to define a surface's shininess and highlight colour. the lighter the specular map , the shinier the colour will be.

example of a specular map

2D and 3D Animation

2D animation is creating the illusion of movement trough a series of still images. it can be done traditionally by hand which is known as Cel animation, or digitally using programs such as Flash. the sequence of images are normally put at a rate of 24 frames per second or faster. A example of a popular 2D animated cartoon is The Simpson's which was originally created using traditional Cel animation.

3D animation and modelling  is were 3D object meshes are created which can then be moved and manipulated to create a animation. the objects are created in 3D to give them a sense of depth and to make them appear to be real and living. there are several different 3D modelling programs available, for example Cinema 4D , MAYA, and 3DS MAX.

Another form of 3D modelling is sculpting. this is were the artist starts of with a virtual ball of clay, and can then sculpt it to form a object.this form of modelling can be done using programs such as Mudbox and Zbrush.

3D and 2D animation can both be used in a wide variety of industries including, entertainment , medical , industrial and retail.

Charecter Rigging

A character rig is a skeleton which is bound to a 3D model. It is made up from joints, which when bound to the model can be used as handles for moving the character into different positions.Once the skeleton is formed , you can create IK chains which calculate the position of joints so that the movement can be created without the need to move every single joint effected. Another factor connected to rigging is weighting. weighting is choosing how a movement will effect certain parts of the model. Its very important as if not done properly, when a joint is moved, the model will distort.

Example of a simple character rig.

Example of weighting.