3 D Animation Process

What's the 3D animation process ? - Frederick Noronha, ILUG Goa

The process starts with modeling the shape of the 3D object.
The next stage is texturing, that is, adding a kind of skin. This step gives the model a natural looking surface with light reflexes and a surface structure.
UV mapping projects 2D bitmaps (such as wood grains) onto the 3D surface; in its simplest form, this is like posting a bill on an advertising column.
The 3D model can then be animated.
In the rigging process, joints are added to the figure. The joints allow the the artist to move a complex object like a puppetter moves a puppet.
After completing the basic animation scene, the animator adds special effects, such as water, fire, or smoke.
The scene is then lit by positioning light sources, just like in conventional movie making.
Sequencing the scenes.
The post production is concerned with optimizing the nearly-finished product, coming it with the movie or video scenes, and adding an audio soundtrack and sound effects.
Also :
Normally, many different programs are used to create a 3D animation.
First of all, you need a program to create the 3D models.
In most cases, animation and rendering (conversion of finished models to photo-realistic images) are handled by separate programs. Rendering is so vastly complex that it typically requires a specialized tool - YafRay
Programs like Blender tightly integrate with the rendering engine.
Some useful software :
Wings3D, simplifying complex shapes - http://www.wings3d.com/
Blender, the only FLOSS program that covers all steps in 3D production http://blender.org/
Blender's strength is its speed, which is superior to commercial products and its support for Python scripting.
But Blender mainly uses subwindows that are full of buttons and slide controls. The interface design lacks logical consistency. Even such simple functions as cut and paste take some getting used to in Blender, as they use [Alt] + [C] or [Alt] + [V], rather than the more typical [Ctrl] keys.
This is due to the fact that Blender was designed as an in-house solution for the Dutch NeoGeo animation studio.
K3D, one more recent developments in the 3D fields. K3D's major strength is it's a targeted new development based on current experience - http://k3d.sourceforge.net/
Yafray, currently the most powerful free and open source rendering tool - http://www.yafray.org/
Toxic, a rendering tool based on physically exact computing - http://www.toxicengine.org/ Aqsis, provides most complete support for RenderMan standard syntax for 3D model definition http://www.aqsis.org/
Povray (documentation, community) - http://povray.org/
Jahshaka, might close the gaps in the near future - http://www.jahshaka.org/
Cinelerra, another possible candidate to allow studios to handle whole prodocution cycle and workflow for computer generated graphics and movie making with FLOSS software. http://heroinewarrior.com/cinelerra.php3

ILUG Goa meets at Science Centre
- ILUG Goa India Linux Users Group Goa
- end quote
Thanks to Frederick Noronha