How to Create Computer Animation Films
Although a feature-length, photorealistic computer animation will take years and expensive equipment to produce, budding animators can take advantage of technological advances to produce independent works. Computer animation films can be done through 2D, 3D and low bandwidth animation. They consist of a series of slightly altered images recorded in a progression to create the illusion of movement in the viewer`s eye.
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Things You'll Need
- Computer
- Animation program
- Editing software
- Rendering system
- Paper
- Colored pencils or paints
- Microphones
- Transparencies
Instructions
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Format and Equipment
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1
Select your animation format and gather equipment that will work best with it. 3D computer animation is impressive but costly and time-consuming. 2D figure animations and low bandwidth animations are easier and cheaper to produce and are able to quickly be showcased to a hungry following online. Acquire a computer, animation program, editing software and rendering system.
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2
Come up with a story. Write a full screenplay or text outlining the course of action in the film. Draw storyboards for the characters, settings and complicated sequences. In larger, dialogue-heavy productions voice performers use this material to record preliminary recordings that assist the animator in the next steps. Other team efforts have separate art departments that contribute further in designing the film`s look.
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3
Create characters and set pieces as illustrations or as virtual skeletons, bare-bones representations used in 3D animation to create characters on the monitor. Assign a numbered code known as animation variables (Avars) to parts of the virtual skeleton to control movement, facial features and expressions. Avars are used in 2D computer animation after hand-drawn illustrations are created.
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4
Animate through Avars or illustrations images of an object (character, car, soccer ball) against a solid-colored background. Create nearly identical screens with the object moving in nearly unnoticeable increments until there is enough for a sequence of complete images that total one image per frame, played back at 12 frames per second. In 2D these screens are separated by transparencies assigned Avars that will dictate movement. There are naturally gaps in the frame rate sequence so you can set important Avars movements (called keyframing) and the program will fill them in automatically by "tweening" the images. Motion capture technology can aid this process by taping a live actor performing and applying the movement to the computer program.
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5
Render the images, completing the actions for the skeletal models done with Avars while controlling and processing shading, attention to detail and texture, the effect of lighting, and adding shadows and reflections. In the 2D model, rendering is done as a part of the keyframing process and does some steps that would otherwise necessitate more illustrations. Some low-bandwidth animations render on the viewer`s computer as they prepare to watch the film, which prevents it from becoming high bandwidth animation. Rendering is the longest part of the computer animation process and why movie studios invest in machines devoted to the process.
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Tips & Warnings
There is a great deal to learn about computer animation, but for first-time low-bandwidth efforts these basics steps and the instruction on the software will provide a "virtual skeleton" for your moving, animated film.
