Computer animation production

1.4 Computer animation production

Computer animation production has borrowed most of the ideas from conventional animation production including the use of story boards, test shots, and pencil testing. The story board is an imporant component in planning animation. The use of key frames, and interpolating between them has become a fundamental techniques.

 

There are significant differences between computer animation and conventional animation in how  they create an individual frame of the animation. In computer animation, there isi usally a strict distinction among creating the models; creating a layout of models; specifying the motion of models, lights and camera and rendering process. This allows for reusing models and lighting setups. In conventional animation, all of these processes happen simultaneously as each drawing is created; the only exception is the possible reuse of backgrounds.

 

The two main evaluation tools of conventional animation, test shots and pencil tests, have counterparts in computer animation. A speed/quality trade-off can be made in stages of creating a frame of computer animation. By using high-quality techniques in only one or two of these stages, the test can be quickly checked in a cost-effective manner. A test shot in computer animation is produced by a high-quality rendering of a detailed model to see a single frame. The equivalent of a pencil test can be performed by simplifying the sophistication of the models used, by using low-quality and/or low-resolution renderings, by eliminating all but the most important lights, or motion.