The 3D Adventure

The exciting adventure into a magical world with multiple dimensions where your imagination is allowed to run wild is the world of 3D animation. Take a swim in the deep blue sea exploding with tropical, colourful fish that you can almost touch and feel with your fingers. Walk through a fierce blizzard where you can feel the icy wind blowing and touch the magical snowflakes with your fingers. Trek through the Sahara Dessert whilst you can see the hot sand blowing on your face, watch the camels as if they were real life and enjoy the experience almost as if you were there now.
That is why skilled 3D animators are the most highly sought-after artists in the world of 3D. The main reason they are in demand, is that producing believable and entertaining animation requires a lot of skill and practice.
A 3D animator needs to be a type of actor so he can act out each move in sequence. It is a complicated set of skills and knowledge which is acquired through a lot of work and practice. This is usually achieved through years of studying acting and how objects move etc...
Keen observation may be the most important skill to develop as an animator. Observe life around you [such as the fish in the ocean] and the way that objects move. Draw pictures, take notes, and try to attach a meaning to what you observe. Don't study just animation. Try to study movies attend plays and even read comic books to understand how poses and movement create moods and communicate messages without using words. New animators would benefit from the old masters of 20th century animation - Walt Disney, Art Babbitt, Grim Natwick, and Ken Anderson. The principles used to bring characters like Mickey Mouse and Bugs Bunny to life are still as relevant today as they were back then. Indeed, the first place a new 3D animator should look is to the old animation manuals of 2D artists.
The novice 3D animator will be wise to focus on basic objects first: how to make a ball move from one place to another, and how to make it bounce. Later, as you explore character animation, you'll need to understand what determines a good walk and how to cut down on "float," a common problem for new animators where the character moves as if underwater.
Most importantly, animators must practice their craft repeatedly. Like modelling, animation requires time and patience. Even experienced animators may create many test movies before getting a good final result. A good animator can make an average model come to life, whilst even the best models can be made to look amateurish by a poor animator. Persistence generates success, and like all crafts, is the key to creating the ultimate success..

How to Make a Cartoon on the Computer With Flash and Skeletal Animation

When researching how to make a cartoon on the computer, one will quickly notice there is quite a reputation around skeletal animation and vector model design. There's a good reason for its being so highly praised, and contrary to popular belief, it's very easy to use.
The best tool for designing your vectors, hands down, is Flash. Anyone who's used to any image editing program will instantly feel at home with Flash's layout, and much of its thought processes. It's best to use CS5, as earlier CS releases tend to be a tad slow on average computers.
You'll notice almost instantly how easy it is to create stylistic lines and fills with Flash, drawing lines, snapping them together and bending the lines into curves. With any artistic talent, this process can lead to very crisp, beautiful cell models that any animation studio would be proud of.
Artistically-minded animators will also find that Flash is great for importing sketched models of characters, and rotoscoping them directly into Flash itself. To do this, simply import an image to the layer that the project has by default. Create a new layer over it, and make a white rectangle over the image. Set its color opacity to about 60% (though it may vary depending on the heaviness of the sketch's pencil work). Make one more layer above this, and then lock the two layers below. Begin following your sketch with the line and pen tools, and in moments, you have a beautiful cell model that's true to your original sketch.
Now, be sure to convert all of the moving pars of your model into distinct symbols (movie clips) by right-clicking on them and selecting "convert to symbol". Remove any rotoscoping layers and imported images at this point. Now, it's a good idea to distribute your moving parts to their own layers, stacked top to bottom by the order they overlap. Group your parts by what they belong to, so that all parts of an arm, for example, are in one single layer. Upon doing this, you're ready to animate your model.
Now, the wonderful thing with Flash since version CS4 is, you don't need another program in order to use skeletal animation on your model. Skeletal animation is also called "bone animation" or "inverse kinematics". Flash refers to this as bones.
When ready to animate, for example, the arm, select the bone tool. From the shoulder, drag a bone to just past the elbow. From this joint, drag another to just past the wrist. Now, selecting the pointer tool, you will find that dragging on different parts of the arm will result in the arm bending in the same way that a real arm would move. Well, you will notice it bends to extents that your arm cannot. To solve this, click on one of the bones, and in properties, simply play with the restrictions until you have it to where it seems proper for your character.
Now, once you've given your character all of his moving parts in this manner, you want to make an animation of them moving. This is very easy to do. Copy the existing frame in your timeline, and decide how many frames in length the motion should take. Select the empty frame for that distance, and paste the frame there. The timeline between the frames will fill out with just a long stretch of the original frame at this point.
In the final frame, move the parts of your model to where they should be once the motion is completed. Now, select all of the frames, and right click on the selection. You can create a classic tween, or a motion tween; Animators have had mixed results in comparing which of these works better, so it's best to try both, and see which one works best for you.
Voila, you've mastered vector model creation, and advanced skeletal animation, and you did it all with one program, in less than two hours!
This is a distinctly faster, and more streamlined method of design and animation than the classic frame-by-frame method that has been used since the birth of the art form. However, in being distinctly different from classic animation, it also looks very different. It takes a skilled animator and designer to not make skeletal animation look "puppety" or robotic. It lacks the organic feel that classic animation forms possess. However, when you look at how much time is saved with this animation style, and if you're willing to practice with it, the tradeoff is most often well worth it.

Top 3D Modeling Services

In this day and age, 3D modeling is a very common tool people are using when creating their works of art. If you are interested in having a 3D model for your project but don't know how to do it yourself there are plenty of 3D modeling services that can get the job done for you. Many services offer pre-made models that you can purchase or they can custom make one to your liking. Regardless here are the top 3D modeling services. Let's take a look at the ones that were named best of the year.
TurboSquid
This is one of the nation's best 3D modeling services. They are a very professional company and work on top-notch projects. However, because this company is so prestigious they do charge more for their services. They have worked with Pixar, Raytheon, CBS, and Boeing, just to name a few.
Falling Pixel
This company is a close second behind TurboSquid but still a very well known 3D service company. They are very professional and accommodating to their clients. They will pull from their pool of artists to make sure your needs are filled to the fullest. If you are a 3D artist looking to sell your work, Falling Pixel has one of the best artist commission rates in the industry with the artist receiving fifty-eight percent of the models sale price.
3d02
This is another great 3D modeling service. Their sight allows you to browse through models by category and formats making it very easy to see which models are a good fit for your work. Here you can buy models individually, collectively, or also have your own model created. 3d02 is also best known for their reasonable prices.
The 3D Studio
This service has thousands of models and textures that work with 3ds max, Cinema 4D, Lightwave, and Maya. The thing to note about The 3D Studio is that their models are far more simple then other 3D modeling services but that may very well suit what you need. It just depends on what you are looking for. They do have a variety of categories to choose from including characters, vehicles, plants, space, sports, industrial, anatomy, architecture and more.
DAZ
DAZ is another highly popular 3D modeling service. The only downfall is they are only compatible with DAZ software. However, they are known to be extremely affordable. Their work produces high quality 3D models. People who are interested in human and non-human figures will find comfort and satisfaction with this company. They are very good with mythical creatures. Their models are very life like. If you are looking for human or mythical characteristics then DAZ is probably the best choice for you.

Learn to Draw Cartoons: Keep It Simple

Drawing is a wonderful hobby, and drawing cartoons can be a fun hobby for anyone, at any age! You can draw cartoons anywhere - on the bus, in the subway, waiting at the airport, sitting in the doctor's office. It's great to carry a small sketchbook with you, but you can also draw cartoons on just about any scrap of paper you find. There's no need to start a "masterpiece." You can just get out your favorite pencil and begin.
Learning to draw cartoons, like any other art, is all about doing. Yes, you need some basic instruction to get started, but you have to apply those instructions by practicing constantly. You may have noticed that people who love to draw are constantly drawing! They don't just think about it, dream about it, talk about it, or wish they could do it. They spend time at it every day - very often they will grab a pencil and a piece of paper anytime their hands are not busy with something else.
When you learn to draw cartoons, the whole world becomes your model. Cartoons are based on real life. A good cartoon will highlight or exaggerate some aspect of every day life that we can all recognize and relate to, bringing out the humor beneath the surface. If you find yourself chuckling over ordinary things, or seeing the hidden joke that no one else "gets," you might make a very good cartoonist. Learning to draw cartoons gives you the tools to open up that world of hidden humor for others, helping them to see the ridiculous and the unexpected.
Learning to draw cartoons can be a great personal outlet. Some people like to keep a journal, or write poetry, or compose songs; maybe your thing will be drawing cartoons, developing characters of your own that become unique and familiar friends. If you would like to share your art with other people there are so many great ways to do that nowadays. It's fairly easy to set up your own website or blog where you can post your drawings; there are even special WordPress themes for posting cartoons. You can begin with a service that doesn't cost anything.
You can also scan your drawings into a computer and compile them into a digital book that can be shared with anyone who has a smart phone, a digital reader or tablet computer. There are so many ways to share your art that don't cost anything. If you find that many people enjoy your drawings, or you get lots of comments on your skill, then you can explore other possibilities for getting them published.

How to Make a Cartoon on the Computer the Old Fashioned Way

Animation is ingrained in modern culture and media very deeply. Few children from anywhere in the world do not spend their formative years being entertained and often inspired by the animated motion pictures and television shows that dominate the screens of the 21st century.
What started as a curious experiment by the likes of Fleischer and Disney has now become an expansive industry that not only shapes the art of entertainment, but has also contributed to the advancement of seemingly unrelated fields of science! Few people can honestly say that at some point in their youth, they did not want to try to make a cartoon. For a long time, even if we had the artistic merit to pull it off visually, this was something that would be a pipe dream for most.
That was, before the digital age took full root in society. Computers have changed a lot about how we do things, and they have also brought the power to accomplish great and beautiful works to our hands. Now, it is very easy to learn how to make a cartoon animation on the computer. It is so easy in fact, that we're presented with a veritable cornucopia of choices in how we want to go about it.
But, let's look at a more conventional way to animate, especially for those of us who still feel at home with pens and paper, rather than vectors and inverse kinematics. Animation has for the longest time been the art of taking a series of sequential sketches, painting over them with transparent cells, and photo-implementing them against backgrounds.
This used to involve lots of expensive resources and equipment, fail to mention teams of specialists to operate the processes. Now, a single multi-talented individual can do this very easily. First, it's a good idea to storyboard your animation. This is done in a style similar to a comic strip, but each panel being what is known as a "key frame". These key frames are examples of distinct poses within the animation, between which a smooth series of animations should transition.
Upon designing your key frames, it is best to use thin, non-pulp paper to create your animations. Determine how many frames are between each key frame, and stack your key frames, from the bottom up, with the corresponding amount of blank paper between them. Now, begin tracing your key frame, making minor changes for a frame of movement. When you get to the next frame, trace the previous one, making further changes.
If you've done it right, by the time you hit another key frame, you should have a perfectly smooth transition from the last. This takes time, so be patient, relax, and be precise. Use heavy ink lines, bearing in mind what your next step will be.
Once you have your inked (or pencil if you prefer) animation frames completed, you should scan them, using a common naming convention like "frame01" etc. to preserve order in your files. Be sure to scan them all at the same DPI and dimension!
Now, you want to color your animations, and omit the paper backdrop, right? You can do this with Photoshop. Open an image, and use the magic wand tool to select the ink lines themselves. Adjust its tolerance until it gets all of it. Now, copy it, and paste it in a new payer. Delete the original layer.
Uh oh, the inks are jagged now, aren't they? To solve this, select the layer, and go into channels, and create a new layer. Fill it with white, and a white version of the jagged inks will appear. Now, go to effects, and do a Gaussian blur of less than one percent. Then, adjust the levels until the inks smooth out. Copy this channel layer, go back to your normal layers, and just fill it with black.
Now your inks are beautiful, and over a transparency. You are now free to color your cell as you see fit.
Having made your backgrounds beforehand, you have choices in what you assemble your animations with. The easiest one is Flash, which can import your images in series, if you remembered to always save your scans and colored finals with a sequential name system. Once in flash, you can position the backdrop in a layer beneath the animation cells, and export the movie. It will export as Quicktime. You can use any number of free programs to convert it to any number of formats from this point.

3D Animation Software - A Quick Look At How It Is Used

3D software these days is limitless it seems, there are several types on the market and they all vary in capability, functionality and of course, price. From an amateur to a professional, there is a piece of software out there to suit your every need. Making sure you download animation software that's right for your needs is crucial, or you could end up paying more than you need to.
The first movie that ever to use computer animation software in making the film was 'Westworld' in 1973. This really set the trend in the movie industry by wowing audiences and influencing directors and gave us movies such as 'The Abyss', 'Terminator', 'Forrest Gump', 'Jurassic Park' and 'Toy Story' only to name a few. Video games make use of computer animation software, in a slightly different way, to help the consoles running them cope with the massive frames per second. With 3D animation, the world will quite literally never be the same again. Download animation software to begin creating projects like this and more, depending on your style.
Mostly it used to be just objects that are being used for the process of computer animation, but as technology has developed, many films have used powerful software such as IllusionMage to create stunning human movement including; Beowulf, The Incredibles and Avatar. Things can only get better for the film industry, with the latest craze of 3D being added to movies, the possibilities truly are endless. The existence of animation software has produced an extremely positive effect in the movie industry, today's films would not be the same at all, since almost every one has some form of computer animation involved. This really gets movie enthusiasts more excited about the latest movies, because the realism and stunning effect of the 3D animation really pulls the viewer in and makes for a more dramatic and brilliant cinema experience. To make use of these traits yourself make sure you download animation software that is right for your uses.
There are various types of animation software; the most popular types are computer generated imagery (CGI), Claymation and stop motion. These options should help you see what is used in many TV programs and movies, such as Avatar and Wallace and Gromit.
- Using computer generated imagery, (CGI) objects are modelled with a 3D software package and then rigged up to be able to virtually move them around. The objects can be manipulated and controlled to create the required movements, and the software creates a frame (image) for every slight movement and creates the video to play back at 25fps (UK) or 30fps (US)
- Stop motion uses physical models that are modelled by hand and an image is captured for every movement and again, set to play back at 25fps (UK) or 30fps (US)

Best 3D Modelling Software - What to Look For

I think we are all aware and amazed by the leaps and bounds made by the 3D animation industry in the past few decades. Like Walt Disney and now you have movies such as Avatar and Tin Tin and the list goes on and on. Cartoons and mixed media. Fluid movements, brilliant colors and spectacular sounds. Just amazing!
And now it's so east for a person to get a piece of software and learn the basics of animation and if you like take it to the next level of making it a career.
For some who don't have an artistic bone in their body, like myself, but an incredible desire to create some form of art, computer software is a god send! You can spend literally hours and hours creating and learning in your spare time just to please yourself. It's typical that once you learn a few things, people start to notice and want to have you create something for them. " that sort of thing. It wasn't very long before I was being noticed by the owner of the company I worked for and asked to take over the duties of updating and modifying the company website - and I might add, making a nice additional income! I did a self-study course over a 14 day period and managed the website for 8 years. It was great.
Nowadays, the software available for you to learn with is so exciting. Designing new games and making super graphics etc. Has gone straight up and vertical in its progression. Fantastic and so mobile and lifelike! I once sat down with a friend and was enjoy a soccer game with him and when I finally realized I didn't recognize the teams I asked him who was playing. The guy I was watching with couldn't believe I was asking who was playing. It's a video game I'm playing!! " and laughed. I didn't know it was a video game. Unreal! but so Real! It was not the only time that has happened to me. Is it just me or do other people feel that this new reality in animation is simply awesome. Young people are so good at these games and don't seem at all awe-struck by the realism.
Well if you're like me and want to learn how to use this type of software for fun and your own entertainment or you would like to take it to a whole new level and adopt it as your career, well there are some awesome programs and software suites out there that will knock your socks off. It's a new adventure just waiting for you to give it a try. Some of the things to look for when shopping for animation software. are as follows:
1] 3D Modelling / Animation / Game Design Software for Home Users
2] Quality 3D Content, 3D Figure Design and Animation, Rendering
3] Real-time Interactive 3D and Games Creation with Live Playback
4] Completely illustrated tutorials and lots of step-by-step video training.
5] Can be used to make high-end game characters and scenery
6] Lots of tools for high-end 3D production this software is forever improving
These are just some of the features that come with software of this kind. This is fun and creative not difficult. The support and tutorials for this stuff are extreme. It always helps a company to have satisfied customers and these guys deliver great support. Very fun and enjoyable. You'll be amazed at how fast you learn this new art.

Computer Animation Graphics: A Popular Career Choice

The 2012 Academy Awards have reinforced the love affair that Americans have with computer-generated animation. Computer animation is used in the films that are nominated and win, reinforcing the importance and place of these type of programs in American life. It's not just feature-length films like "Rango" and "Puss in Boots." Computer animation shows up in non-animated films as well to create dazzling special effects. Animation is also on television in shows and commercials. Video games would not be nearly as popular without realistic animation programs. There is also the industrial market of corporate and training films that can feature computer animation. There are a lot of places and lot of opportunities in the computer animations field.
The problem is, it is difficult to find opportunities to get the specialized training in this field. Courses are offered at traditional colleges, but they often go very quickly, because people want in on this popular field. The same situation can exist for profit schools, whether they offer classroom or online training. It is possible to learn about this field on your own. It can be done if a person has the right software and support materials for instruction.
Self-instructional animation software should give a user who is serious about learning computer animation fully featured 3D animation that can rival what the professionals do. Illusion Mage provides those capabilities while providing the user with the type of instruction that they need to get started, and to which they can refer when working on animation projects. Illusion Mage provides that support with six hours of video instructional material to guide a user step by step through a computer animation course. This course guides a user through using powerful software without costing a small fortune. The company that provides this software should also believe in the product and be willing to back it. While some animation programs can costs $1,000's, the software program Illusion Mage is reasonably price and provides a 60-day money back guarantee for its product.
Major films and independent productions use 3D computer animation as do commercial and industrial video producers. Whether users want to make a demo reel for a company, or want to start making independent releases as an independent producer, Illusion Mage can help them start on that path on an animation course. Illusion Mage can help people make good-looking animation and provides the support materials that people need.