3D Graphics and Animation
Basic of animation;
Harri Airaksinen
1
Animaation
 Sense of sight is a connector – hearing is a separator
 Viewer see set of single pictures in certain frequency 
illusion of continuous movements
 Animation can be created in many ways:



Cel animation – the most traditional
Stop motion photography
Mocap – motion capture
2
Animation unit
- frame  Frame = single picture
 Typical animation frame rate is 30 fps = 30 frames
per sec.
 Movie; normally one second includes 24 frames
 Interactive real time 3D environment 8 - 60
frames/sec.
 A shot – a string of frames recorded by a single
camera without interruption
3
Keyframe and interpolation
 Keyframe = “important picture”, define objects location and
position in animation sequence important time point – we
know that moving object need to be in this location in this
time  3D Studio Max – Autokey
 Software calculates missing frames between keyframes =
interpolation, how we can find the target location using
defined number of frames
4
Keyframe and interpolation
 Interpolation techniques can be used:



to calculate the position of objects in space
to calculate objects shapes in space (morphing)
to calculate other attributes.
5
Interpolation types and effect to
object parameters
 constant change  slope, how fast the
change is happening
 variable change  if the change is not
linear, also the parameters change is not
linear  accelerated motion, inversion
motion
6
Interpolation types and effect
to object parameters
 3D Studio Max, Key Info, you can
control how objects values will
change = how fast and the
interpolation style of change
7
Interpolation types and effect to
object parameters
 How these implements the animation?
8
Interpolation of Shape or attribute
(MORPHING)
 Objects form/shape morphing
 Examples http://www.mikejs.com/graphics/morphs/
 Objects attributes morphing (example. light,
camera, texture, transparency)
9
Forward kinematics (FK)
 Every movement part is defined separately.
More accurate and “natural” movements.
Takes a lot of time…
10
Inverse kinematics (IK)
 If object have a good skeleton with rule
based joints, we can just define starting and
ending situation. Software calculates other
needed and allowed movements.
11
Animations with mathematical
functions
 Wave Functions
 Surface material animation
12
Camera animations
 Camera location is changed by time function  location is
defined by path  2D splines
 Camera direction: looks down the motion path as it moves,
looks to the Point of interest or combination of those
[The Art of 3-D Computer Animation and Imaging; Isaac Victor Kerlow]
13
Camera animations
 3D Studio Max
14
Camera animations
 Other camera animations types:
 Focal length changes and other camera movements (zoom)
 Depth of field changes

Light animations (intensity ,color, location …)
15
Other interesting animation
resources
 Sun simulation  moving shadows. Generally : light
resources should be stable (not moving), on – off and
intensity control. Like an exception; head light
 Fire and glowing objects  look course material, ways
to fack
16
Other interesting animation
resources
 Hierarchical structures (skeletons)
 Animation will effect to the other part of model/model
structure
[The Art of 3-D Computer Animation and Imaging; Isaac Victor Kerlow]
17
Other interesting animation
resources
 Hierarchical structures  skeletons  joint structures 
freedom of the joint = how many direction joint can move?
 Pivot point
18
Animation principles
 Telling a story with computer animation is based on timing the
actions
 Action ahead of the story:

An animated character reacts to a sound located off-camera by turning
its head. The character's action is ahead of the story because it indicates
to us that something will happen before we know what it is
 Action behind the story:
The audience knows before
the character what is going to
happen next. For example, the
audience can see that a piano
is falling from the roof of a
building right over a character
who is unaware of the
impending and disastrous action.

19
Animation principles
 Animation is combinations of timing, speed,
rhythm, and choreography result in different
types of motion including:




primary and secondary motions
overlapping motions
staggered motions
motion holds
20
Animation principles
- production line  Preproduction: all the conceptualization and planning that
takes place before a computer animation project is produced
-> screenwriting, planning the management of the project,
storyboarding, developing the overall look of the project
 Production stage: 1) modeling, 2) animation, and 3)
rendering.  previewed in the form of digital flipbooks
displayed on the screen. Cameras, lights, textures  end
product; rendered animation files
 Postproduction: Composing, sounds, texts. Extra effects
can be added, fixing colors and so on. Normally done by
using other software than modeling
21
Storytelling




Stories communicate facts
Stories provide answers to questions
Stories make us feel different emotions
Stories sometimes even provoke actions that shape
reality. Whether they are linear or nonlinear,
whether they depict an event with cartoon
characters or a colorful dance of abstract shapes,
stories are the essence of animation
22
Storytelling
 Do flowcharts – showing the events/actions
 Linear events, parallel events
23
The Screenplay
 written document that tells a story by using descriptions,
dialogue, and some production notes
 a screenplay is defined by:
 what the story is about
 who the characters are (human – nonhuman like)
 what happens to them throughout the sequence of events
24
Motion, tempo and rhythm
 Can you see the difference? What are those?
Pictures: [The Art of 3-D Computer Animation and Imaging; Isaac Victor Kerlow]
25
Animation creative and
production Teams
 Creative Team:





Creative Director -- (dude with the Vision)
Art Director -- (Knows how it Should Look)
Copywriter -- (Knows what it should rely to viewers)
Producer -- (Big Man With The MONEY)
Account Executive -- (Takes care of the money)
 Production Team:






Animation Supervisor -- (Oversees the whole process)
Senior Animator -- (Spanks the juniors and knows a lot)
Junior Animators -- (Sweats 24h per day and makes the REAL work)
Producer -- (Big man with money AND vision)
Production Manager -- (Timetable Man)
Technical Assistant -- (That you blame when nothing works)
26
Some numbers
 Making an animation is a hard task =
expensive to do!
 30 frames/second
 30 minutes = 54,000 frames
 5 minutes/frame, 12 hours/day ~ 1 year
 Limited animation
 Computer-assisted animation
27
Computer-Assisted Animation
 2D
–Create & draw frames
–Computer helps ink & paint
 3D
–Create models, sets, poses
–Computer interpolates
–Computer renders, composes
28
Because animation is so hard to
do…
 We use simulation software’s  computer
calculates, almost everything can be
simulated, no more hand made keyframes
and animation:





Clothes
Collisions
Atmospheric effects (fire, smoke, fog, dust,
wind, rain, particles)
Hair, fur
Elastic materials
29