3D Animation and Techniques: Education and Entertainment - Research Paper Example

3D CHARACTER MODELING Introduction Entering the field of multimedia is a lucrative career option for many, especially the youngsters. The main reasonfor this is we are experiencing a boom in this industry. We give a lot of importance to entertainment these days. Colorful pictures and attractive designs definitely lure the audiences of all ages. There was once a period when Tom and Jerry dominated the world of animation and computer graphics. The show is still enjoyed by all; however amidst a lot of competition- and a tough one at that. At present one can see a wide variety of animated movies and shows that use software like Maya, 3D Studio Max, and Flash and so on. These animated fictional characters impress a considerable size of audience and they want more! Some of the recent movies which are known for their attractive animation are Shrek (Part 1 to 3), Happy Feet, Lion King, and Star Wars, Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa - and the list goes on and on. People enjoy watching animation but what they might not know is that a lot of work is involved to create that animation. This research paper is concerned with 3D Modeling, its definition, features, and the industry in the past and at present. The aim of the research is to use 3D modeling to create fictional characters which can later be taken and usable for different purposes, and to gain knowledge of creating high quality 3D characters. The paper also speaks about the analysis of the production stages, character development, the methodology used and the research tools. 3D Modeling – Definition: 3D modeling refers to the creation of three-dimensional objects that are defined mathematically and geometrically (i.e. a circle extruded to a certain value to create a cylinder defined by its location, radius and length). 3D modeling can be aided by the use of scan data. (n.d Common 3D Scanning Industry Terms) History and the industry (trends and technical advancements) The classic hand-animated Disney film ‘Snow White’ was released in the year 1937. This year was called the beginning of the ‘golden age’ for animation. Since then Disney has released a lot of hand- animated films that are enjoyed by people of all ages, right from small children to adults. However, today, with the advancement of 3D technology, everything is done with the computer. All you need to have is an eye for art and creativity. The computer takes care of the rest! (The 3D Debate, n.d) The multimedia industry has seen tremendous growth in the past few years. Today, the 3D technology is used in a lot of areas like education, entertainment, and so on. Lessons are taught in schools and colleges using 3D animated characters. Children, in particular love watching such animated characters in actions as they can associate with them pretty easily. Thus, education along with entertainment is being implemented and it could be quite effective, too. The history and progress of 3D modeling in the field of entertainment is almost endless. Right from decades before, the animation field has been experiencing progress and encouragement. 3D games became a craze. Even now there are a lot of children who are fascinated by 3D characters like Mario, Wolfenstein and so on. Magic and fantasy based games like Harry Potter 1-4, Jazz Jackrabbit, Sonic 2 and so on are also popular among children. This would not have been possible without the help of the 3D technology. The word is that third generation games and games using virtual reality would be introduced in the near future. So, there is no doubt that the gaming industry would be crippled without the assistance of 3D modeling and other similar technology. 3D modeling is also widely being used in the film industry. Either an ordinary movie uses special effects or an entire movie is created using such special effects. Countless animated movies have been in the past and are being made now as this line is being read. Earlier, 2D presentations like Flash were popular. The famous ‘Auto door’ presentation is a humorous presentation that uses 2d flash presentation. Similarly, so many other presentations have been made but the 3D technology did the trick! Presentations that used 3D modeling gave a sense of reality to the audience. That’s probably the main reason why it is being appreciated and welcomed so much by the people. Following is a series of movies that used 3D technology like 3D modeling in the past decades. THE 1980’s The 1980s saw a lot of movies that used 3D modeling and similar technology. They are the following. S.NO YEAR NAME OF THE MOVIE 1 1981 Adam Powers and The Juggler 2 1982 Tron 3 1985 Max Headroom 4 1986 Money for Nothing 5 1986 Luxo Junior 6 1988 Tin Toy 7 1989 The Abyss (The History of 3D, n.d) Adam Powers and the Juggler – 1981: The animation ‘Adam Powers and The Juggler’ was created from the digitization of a human model from 3 dimensions. When the movie was produced, it served as a good example of one of the most sophisticated pieces of 3D character animation in the form of human beings. The movie was a big success and made the audience break into a big applause. (The History of 3D, n.d) Tron – 1982: Tron, which was released by Disney, tells the story of a programmer who is ‘zapped’ into a computer network. In spite of a number of shots featuring impressive 3D graphics, Tron turned out to be a failure and the main cause was attributed to the slowing down of the Computer Graphics industry’s development during the early 80’s. However, today, the film has acquired cult status and is facing what we could call a revival, after the release of a tie-in video game and rumored movie sequel. (The History of 3D, n.d) Max Headroom – 1985: The gimmick in the television series Max Headroom is that it did not use computer animation at all. It just featured 2D effects and make-up to suggest the appearance of a fake 3D/CG head. In spite of this fact, Max Headroom was enjoyed by a lot and even obtained cult status. It also served the establishment of 3D animation with great potential. (The History of 3D, n.d) Money for Nothing – 1986: ‘Money for Nothing’ is a music video that heavily features cartoon style 3D animation and effects. It was created by Ian Pearson and Gavin Blair at London based Effects Company called Rushes. (The History of 3D, n.d) Luxo Junior – 1986: Luxo Junior was directed by John Lasseter, the present Executive Vice President of Pixar. This animation features two Luxo lamps, one of which is still seen in the official logo of the Pixar Company. (The History of 3D, n.d) Tin Toy – 1988: Encouraged by the success of ‘Luxo Jr.’, Pixar released Tin Toy two years later. Directed by Lassester, this animated movie portrays a baby playing with its toys from the point of view of the toy, with the child appearing as a big monster to ‘Tinny’, a tiny toy accordion player. The movie was so good that it won the Oscar award. (The History of 3D, n.d) The Abyss – 1989: This movie depicts an alien race, using 3D aquatic facial animation. It was produced by ILM. (The History of 3D, n.d) These are some of the movies that were made in the 1980s. The following deals with movies made in the 1990’s. THE 1990’s S.NO YEAR NAME OF THE MOVIE 1 1991 Terminator 2 2 1993 onwards Coca cola Polar Bears 3 1994 Reboot 4 1995 Toy Story 5 1996 Quake 6 1997 Geri’s game 7 1997 Titanic 8 1998 Antz 9 1999 Toy Story 2 (The History of 3D, n.d) Terminator 2 – 1991: ‘Terminator 2: Judgment Day’ features heavy 3D graphic effects to portray the villain of the movie ‘T1000’, which was capable of full body morphing. This movie was released by the ILM team and there was a lot of hype before the release of the movie and that too with a reason! (The History of 3D, n.d) Coca cola Polar Bears – 1993 onwards: Coca-cola’s most iconic and successful advertising campaign showed Polar bears created by computer graphics drinking coke. It was created by the 3D animation studio Rhythm & Hues. The ad won people’s heart probably because of the extremely sophisticated CG fur simulation techniques. (The History of 3D, n.d) Reboot – 1994: The 3D animation company Mainframe produced Reboot which was the first completely computer generated series. The target audience of the series is children and the main story revolves around the various happenings inside the computer world. (The History of 3D, n.d) Toy Story – 1995: ‘Toy Story’, which was the first fully computer generated 3D feature length animation, was released yet again by John Lasseter and Pixar. One can also say that this story got its inspiration from ‘Tin Toy’ which was launched in the past by Pixar. (The History of 3D, n.d) Quake – 1996: 3D character animation was introduced in gaming with the advent of Id’s Quake. This game features a first person-shooter. Obviously, people were excited by this game and probably that is what has given way for all the 3D based games available online and in stores. (The History of 3D, n.d) Geri’s Game – 1997: Geri’s game featured an elderly gentleman playing chess with himself. This piece was released by Pixar and was received by the audiences so well that it won the Oscar Award for ‘Best Animated Short Film’ in the year 1997. (The History of 3D, n.d) Titanic – 1997: None of us can forget the tragic event that occurred in the year 1912. The huge sinking ship took a lot of people’s heart with it, both literally and figuratively! The movie Titanic starring Kate Winslet and Leonardo de Caprio was a big hit and is still enjoyed by many. The tragic love story ends when the gigantic ship sinks during her maiden voyage. The characters taking fatal falls from the ship as it turns upwards during the infamous sinking are done using 3D computer graphics. (The History of 3D, n.d) Antz – 1998 : This movie was released by PDI/Dreamworks and used muscle simulation based facial animation for a more realistic portrayal of character emotion. (The History of 3D, n.d) Toy Story 2 – 1999 This sequel to the feature ‘Toy Story’ was released again by Pixar. This movie had a higher level of detail and more complex characters. This movie is also a massive hit. (The History of 3D, n.d) THE 2000’s S.NO YEAR NAME OF THE MOVIE 1 2000 Hollow Man 2 2001 Final Fantasy 3 2001 Shrek 4 2001 Monsters Inc 5 2001 Lord of the Rings 6 2002 The Two Towers 7 2003 Finding Nemo 8 2003 Return of The King (The History of 3D, n.d) Hollow Man – 2000 – The Hollow Man was brought out by Sony Pictures Imageworks and CG house Tippett Studio. The Computer Graphics effects are used in this movie to animate a lot of disappearing, translucent skin and muscle effects in a plot that is quite similar to the movie “The Invisible Man”. However, this movie has a darker slant. (The History of 3D, n.d) Final Fantasy – 2001 – ‘Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within’ was released by Square. The specialty of this piece is that it used extensive hair simulation techniques, cloth dynamics and some of the most photo-realistic Computer Graphics characters ever. Particularly, the female lead character Dr Aki, has sixty thousand individual strands of hair. (The History of 3D, n.d) Shrek – 2001 – PDI/ Dreamworks released another feature length piece called Shrek which made use of sophisticated skin shaders and full bone, muscle and fat simulation for the fictional character Shrek, which is an ogre. Shrek 2 came out in the year 2004 and Shrek 3 in the year 2007. (The History of 3D, n.d) Monsters Inc – 2001 – This piece was also brought out by Pixar. This used fur simulation for one of its lead characters. This movie was also a big hit when it hit the theatres. (The History of 3D, n.d) Lord of the Rings – 2001 – The first installment of the Lord of the Rings (The Fellowship of the Ring) makes use of computer graphics effects and 3D animation to feature mythical creatures such as Cave Troll and Balrog. (The History of 3D, n.d) The Two Towers – 2002 – This movie was created by Weta Digital. The animation in this movie is a mixture of motion capture obtained from the performance of actor Andy Serkis and hand key framing. Another exclusive feature of this movie is the Computer Graphics based battle sequence at the ‘Helm’s Deep’ castle. (The History of 3D, n.d) Finding Nemo – 2003 – This story is that of a clown fish that goes across the ocean in search of his son, who is captured and kept as a pet by a dentist from Sydney. This movie, yet again produced by Pixar, was also a big hit. (The History of 3D, n.d) Return of the King – 2003 – This movie which is the final part of the Lord of the Rings Trilogy uses Computer Graphics effects and 3D animation to bring out a new muscle system and more realistic skin features ‘sub-surface scattering’, a lightning effect which is similar to the slight translucency of the skin. (The History of 3D, n.d) These are the some of the various movies that used 3D technology in the past decades. There have been many researches conducted on the same topic before. Following is the abstract of one of the research papers titled ‘Research on 3D feature modeling technology for Internet-driven collaborative design’ Abstract - Internet-driven collaborative design technology opens up another domain for building new engineering design environment, which is Internet-centric, global and distributed. A novel approach of 3D feature modeling with form feature, parameterized form feature and parameter list of the form feature was developed. Any change of the shared models can be viewed by the modification of the parameter of the form feature, and then parameter lists were modified so that new models were recreated through accessing the log of feature modeling. A supported design platform based on CORBA/Java was presented, which was of high-performance, scalability, maturity, interoperability, support for legacy systems and ease of development. Through the platform, all the applications, 3D feature models dispersed on the remote heterogeneous systems, can be encapsulated into the objects what CORBA agent objects can manage and find. (Research on 3D feature modeling technology for Internet-driven collaborative design, 2005 from, http://ieeexplore.ieee.org/xpls/abs_all.jsp?arnumber=1504168) The above is the unedited abstract of the research on 3D feature modeling technology for Internet-driven collaborative design that was conducted in the year 2005. The following deals with the project objectives and the various steps to create fictional characters using 3D modeling techniques. PROJECT OBJECTIVES The primary objective of this project is to use 3D modeling to create fictional characters which can later be taken and usable for different purposes, and to gain knowledge of creating high quality 3D characters. The following deals with the general facts on the applications of 3D modeling in different industries and the methodology and steps to create a fictional character using the 3D technology. These days 3D modeling is used extensively in myriad fields of engineering, business, motion picture, advertising, and any other industry that we could think of. The primary use of 3D animation is in that of design, where the whole idea of the designer is visualized and presented in a comprehensive manner. It is based on this that the design is approved and the manufacturing process is initiated. 3D graphics allows us to modify the design to our taste and requirements that unnecessary expenses are avoided in making miniature models and the final design, after all the changes can be made. This is indeed a revolutionary cost cutting technology that improved the efficiency of all industries. 3D modeling has become an industry of its own as it primarily dominates the fields of cartooning and advertising. The olden day 2D cartoon characters are now converted into 3D figures that are more pleasing. Moreover this also led to the creation of new cartoons that compliment the latest introduced in 3D modeling. These days there is also a category in all motion picture award functions introduced called “Best Animated Movie”. Here the best movies made using animation is awarded. It is obvious that such movies owe its credit to the 3D modeling through which all the characters are brought to life. The makers of such movies use high end graphics to make the animation look as life like as possible. Previously 2D animation was not anything close to reality; the characters were clearly drawings that were put to motion. This was a success without a doubt, and cartoons like “Tom and Jerry”, “Popeye” were among the favorite of the masses. But then like every other industry, this has to change too. This was resulted in the birth of 3D modeling where the characters were made with one more dimension. 3D modeling introduced the usage of textures, lighting etc, that made the characters more realistic in their appearance. This innovation in the industry was received with open arms and is now the basis of the cartoons that are being made today. 3D modeling is also used in the advertising industry. There are appeals in advertising that use fictional characters to convey their advertising message and also develop a unique brand identity. This technology is extensively used in the creation of 3D characters for endorsing products for children and the youth. Animals are animated in cute way that captures the attention of kids. Such fictional characters are also used in the development of a “brand identity”. An animated character is designed to endorse the product and if successful, in due course of time that particular character will be associated to the product. This strategy has proven to be very successful for “brand recognition”. The other fields that use fictional characters are of course the ever growing gaming industry. The latest “motion gaming” permits us to directly participate in the activity. This is amazing and only uses the 3D modeling. 3D modeling also finds its use in virtual reality, where everything is fictional including the participants in it. PRODUCTION STAGES The stages involved in the creation of a fictional character may vary according to the depth and attention to detail given to the character. A simple man or woman can be created by professionals in a very short time and often it is the other details like the clothing and the accessories that consume more time. However the animation of any fictional character will consist of the following stages. 1. Modeling of the body This stage does not require many details and therefore the feet of the character is simplified and the hands are simply modeled as gloves. The other parts of the body like the waist, legs, thighs etc are also modeled using the various tools provided. It is important that this is done in a neat and smooth manner as this is the very basic body structure of the character. (Michel Roger, n.d) 2. Modeling of the head This is a crucial stage in the modeling process and the new modeling in low polygon approach is simple and accepted. Modeling the face is probably the toughest part of the entire process as it requires intricate work and utmost attention to detail, the construction of the face will eventually determine the expressions the character. (Michel Roger, n.d) It is also said that special equipments like 3D scanners can be used to capture the 3D shape of human heads. There are so many ways and solutions to do facial modeling which includes modeling by 3D scanners, Physical based modeling, and Feature points based modeling and example based modeling. (Cham, Tat-Jen 2007) 3. Modeling accessories This could be an arduous time consuming process depending upon the number of accessories the character id supposed to possess. Many characters may require swords, books, a backpack etc depending on the type and personality of the character. 3D modeling effects are applied to each of these items which are a prime indictor of the personality of the character. (Michel Roger, n.d) 4. UVW Mapping The mathematical technique of UVW is applied for co ordinate mapping. It offers another dimension to the character making it 3 dimensional. Each point on the surface of the UVW map corresponds to a point on the surface of the object. This mapping is done for all the components of the character like the body, bases, clothing and other accessories. (Michel Roger, n.d) 5. Texturing and hair The texturing is applied to the eyes, skin and hair only in the later stages. These components require particular attention and are often left for the last to so as to take enough time to complete it. These characters have to appear human like and to accomplish that, a lot of time is spent on applying textures and highlights to the skin tone and the color. In this manner the hair is also textured to make it look as natural as possible. (Michel Roger, n.d) 6. Bones and Skinning After all the texturing part is complete, most of the work is done. This part of the process is something of editing. Here the character is edited and the skeleton is integrated with the character. The skeleton is constructed to work in the same way as that of the human skeleton. It is important that this is given a good deal of attention to make the movements of the character look real and human like. The muscle alignment is not required here. (Michel Roger, n.d) METHODOLOGY In the production stages only the stages in the making o the fictional character is explained and not the method in which this is to be accomplished. Here a brief explanation for the method is provided. First a two dimensional picture of the human body, the male or female is taken up and then worked on. The basic cube is taken to convert the figure into three dimensional. The cube is taken and one face of the cube is extruded and then the vertexes are adjusted and brought to the point that they look almost human like. The figure is made of many polygons and the meshsmooth is used to smoothen out the edges. The full body is made using this. Fort modeling the head, the template is first used. A small sketch of the mesh is made on the face of the character which will help creating better quality of expressions on the face. A basic rectangle shape is created and then mesh is applied to it and it and the shape is manipulated and the eyes are outlined with it. The vertexes are adjusted each time according to the contours of the face. All the accessories are made using the basic shapes available in the software, like the cylindrical shape for the sword. The UVW mapping is done using a series of cubes that are manipulated. For the eyes, a sphere is selected and the number of segments is selected to bring it up to the desired size of the pupil. The ocular object is selected and the eye is designed. The skin does not require any mapping co ordinates as the rest of the figure. The material editor is used for the skin and various textures can be applied to that to make it resemble the sin of humans. Feature like speckle and diffuse is used and the human skin color is applied to it all. For the hair first a sphere is created and the shag hair is applied to that. The rest of the sphere is erased only the part that constitutes the hair on the head remains and is further manipulated. The skeleton can be made up of shapes or spines but it is preferred to use envisaged images for this. This brings out the basic bone structure of the character and is mainly for bringing out smooth and natural movement of the character. The skinning is also done using tools that are there specially to make characters that are supposed to resemble humans. (Michel Roger, n.d) These are the various steps and instructions to be taken into consideration while building up a fictional character using 3D modeling. With the help of this complex technique one can create any character; it need not necessarily be humans. For example, in the famous Harry Potter Series, there are many fictional characters that are not human. The goblins, the elf, the unicorns, the hippogriffs etc are characters that conjured up in J.K. Rowling’s mind. They are built using computer graphics and 3D animation techniques. So, they need not necessarily be human. It could be just any character. CONCLUSION As mentioned earlier, 3D animation and techniques are used in various fields like education, entertainment, advertising and so on. 3D modeling can also be done using Auto CAD. The primary merits of 3D modeling are clear; however, one main advantage is that, as we actually construct (in a computer) the object that we are designing, instead of drawing the views of it according to our imagination, the design is more accurate and tangible. (Wilson, John, 2001) Hence, the above are the various ways to build a fictional 3D character, the production stages and methodology involved and so on. References (n.d): Common 3D Scanning Industry Terms (Electronic Version), from, http://www.3dscanco.com/about/3d-scanning/glossary.cfm (n.d): The History of 3D (Electronic Version), from http://www.dgcg.co.uk/History.html (n.d): The 3D Debate (Electronic Version), from, http://www.dgcg.co.uk/Debate.html (2005): Research on 3D feature modeling technology for Internet-driven collaborative design: (Electronic Version) http://ieeexplore.ieee.org/xpls/abs_all.jsp?arnumber=1504168 Michel Roger (n.d): 3D Studio Max, from, http://www.3dtotal.com/ffa/tutorials/max/joanofarc/joanmenu.asp Cham, Tat-Jen (2007): Advances in Multimedia Modeling (Electronic Version) : Springer, from http://books.google.co.in/books?id=7CDdoVtLH8AC&pg=PA54&dq=3D+modeling+was+started+in+the+year*#PPA65,M1 Wilson, John (2001): 3D Modeling in AutoCAD (Electronic Version): Focal Press, from, http://books.google.co.in/books?id=ziIJsJjHMqoC&printsec=frontcover&dq=3D+modeling+was+started+in+the+year*#PPR13,M1 Read More