3D Animations in brief

If you're thinking of creating your own website, or are interested in graphic design and want to know how to make your marketing materials stand out, you'll definitely want to know more about 3D animations.

There are lots of quality software programs that you can learn more about to make your animations stand out, as well as schools you can enroll in that will teach you all you need to know about making graphic arts a career.

First, you'll need to learn the basics of 3D animations so that you can understand how each of your actions will produce a movement or new 'character'. First, you'll have to create or draw a simple version of the body of your character, whether the character is an animal or human.

A stick figure or skeleton is usually used in the first stages, and avatars, or animation variables, are assigned to each part of the body for animation programming.

In some cases, especially if you are creating actual humans or animals, the bone structure you create online will correspond with the actual bones in the face and body, so that the character will look as real as possible.

When you're ready to add movement to your animations, you can program each avatar to have a range of motion that will make your character look as if it is walking, talking, or dancing.

These days, there are newer methods for achieving 3D animations, such as motion capture. This method involves a live person acting out the motions of the character to be animated; the motions are recorded on video camera, and the movements are applied to the animation character.

It's important to read through a few computer animation software reviews and to learn about the popular programs on the market these days before you get started with 3D animations, so you can check sites like this one to find out which software and CD packages you can buy for your own home computer to try out the programs before you start sending in material to add to your design portfolio.

It's also a good idea to keep up with the different applications that are used to create some of the characters that may become your signature; this will help you to find your own personal design style and will teach you how to use certain methods like keyframe animation, which records motions that are difficult for an actual person to act out; or motion capture, which reproduces even the smallest motions and imperfections of a character, which will give a realness to your animated person or animal.

If you want to learn more about 3D animations from a professional perspective, or think you may be ready to enroll in a graphics arts school, be sure to check out software advances by Mental Ray, Linux, or curriculum details from www.scad.edu