Computer animation

Computer animation is the art of creating moving images via the use of computers. It is a subfield of computer graphics and animation. Increasingly it is created by means of 3D computer graphics, though 2D computer graphics are still widely used. Sometimes the target of the animation is the computer itself, sometimes the target is another medium, such as film.

Equipment

Computer animation can be created with a computer and animation software. Some examples of animation software are: Amorphium (3D), Poser (3D), Ray Dream Studio (3D), Bryce, Maya, Blender, Truespace (3-D), 3D Studio Max (3D) and SoftImage XSI (3D). Their price will vary greatly depending on their target market. Some impressive animation can be achieved even with basic programs. However the rendering can take a lot of time on an ordinary home computer. Video game animators tend to use low resolution, low polygon count renders, such that the graphics can be rendered in real time on a home computer. Photorealistic animation would be impractical in this context.

Related Topics:
Poser - Bryce - Maya - Blender - Truespace - 3D Studio Max - SoftImage XSI - Render

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Professional animators of movies, TV, and video sequences on computer games make photorealistic animation with high detail. This kind of movie animation would take 10s to 100s of years to create on a home computer. Many powerful workstation computers are used instead. Graphics workstation computers are over 100 times faster than a home computer, and are specialized for rendering. A large number of workstations (known as a render farm) are networked together to effectively act as a giant computer. The result is a computer animated movie that can be completed in about one to five years (this process will not just comprise rendering, however). A workstation typically costs $5000 to $25000. Pixar's Renderman animation software is widely used as the movie animation industry standard. It can be bought at the official Pixar website for about $5000 to $8000. It will only work on a Linux based graphics workstation. Professionals also use digital movie cameras, motion capture or performance capture, bluescreens, film editing software, props, and other tools for movie animation.

Related Topics:
Workstation - Render - Render farm - Pixar - Renderman - Linux - Movie camera - Motion capture - Performance capture - Bluescreen - Prop

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