Autodesk Maya

Animation software is computer software used to create motion pictures without the need to draw each individual frame. Animation software has a history nearly as long as the history of computers themselves. Since its inception in 1951, animation software has gone on to produce computer-generated imagery for most of today's best motion pictures as well as simulations of distant planets and suns.

History

The earliest mention of animation with computers comes with the advent of Whirlwind I, a computer developed in 1951 at MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology) which had the first ability to display real-time video.

In 1963, Dr. Ivan Sullivan of MIT developed Sketchpad, a program that used a "light pen" to draw on a screen.

The first computer-animated film, "Two-Gyro Gravity-Gradient Attitude Control System," was produced by E. Zajac in 1963. It was followed in 1967 by F. Sinden's "Force, Mass and Motion," and "Harmonic Phasors" by William Huggins and D. Weiner.

In 1968, Sutherland became a professor at the University of Utah. Under his guidance, much of the seminal work in computer animation was the development of Goraud shading by Henri Goraud, and anti-aliasing developed by Frank Crow. Another of his students was Ed Catmull, who contributed texture mapping, bicubic patches and Z-buffering to the art of computer graphics.

At the same time, Sutherland and colleague Dr. David Evans went on to found Evans & Sutherland, which performed pioneering work in the field of 3D computer graphics . Evans & Sutherland was a hotbed of innovation and inspired the creation of Adobe Systems Inc. by John Warnock and Silicon Graphics by Jim Clark.

By 1971, animation software was used in commercials for "2001: A Space Odyssey," and the Beatles' "Yellow Submarine."

In 1979, Ed Catmull came to Lucasfilm, where he worked on digital imaging compositing until Steve Jobs bought Lucasfilm's digital division and founded Pixar, where Catmull became chief technical officer. In 1993, he received an Academy Award, and again in 1995 and finally, in 2001, he received an Oscar "for significant advancements to the field of motion picture rendering as exemplified in Pixar's RenderMan."

The first purpose-built graphics systems came from Silicon Graphics Inc., founded by Clark and Abbey Silverstone in 1981. SGI went on to produce 3-D graphics subsystems accessed through a proprietary application programming interface (API) called "IRIS Graphics Language." In 1992, SGI decided to release an open version of the API, called Open GL. Since then, Open GL has become one of the de facto industry standards for animation software.

SGI was also at the forefront of commercial animation software, purchasing Alias Research and Wavefront Technologies in 1995. Later the unit was sold and eventually came to Autodesk with its Maya 3D animation software, which is one of the premiere 3D computer animation software suites in use today. In 2003, Maya won an Academy Award for use in "nearly every feature using 3-D computer-generated images."

Significance

Animation software today is used widely throughout the film industry for special effects and Disney's Pixar and Dreamworks SKG have produced many award-winning 3-D computer-generated animation features including "Up!" and "Shrek."

Types

Animation software can range from complex 3-D systems to simple cel-type animation where drawn images are composited to produce a moving picture, using 24 frames (or cels) per second.

Prior to such sophisticated films as Disney's "Toy Story," most animation was 2-D and hand drawn.

Today it is possible to create the old 2-D look by changing the lighting used with 3-D animation software.

Benefits

Animation software allows animations to be created more quickly and with less error by allowing the computer to interpolate between one position and the next (known as "keyframing").

While producing large, high-quality 3D animations is still time-consuming and usually requires hundreds if not thousands of computers arranged in a "farm," the cost is much lower than producing the same images by hand-drawing and compositing.

Misconceptions

Animation software provides a framework for building animated works. It still requires a great deal of foresight and artistic talent.

The computer animation community is one of the more active groups on the Internet; many enjoy using animation software to create their own animations. Even beginners are able to use several different programs. Some software is used for the animation itself, while others are used to create content for the animation.

Create Animations

A good program for creating animation with is Daz Studio, offered by Daz3D. It comes in a full version you can purchase or a slightly less functional freeware version. Daz Studio can be used to create truly professional computer animation. You can purchase, download for free or make your 3D figures.

To use the program, you only have to start it and browse through the folders on the left to load the figures and other content you want in the scene. Click the "Pose" tab. Use the pose tools to pose the figures like you want them in the timeline. Finally, render out the animation, saving it in the size and format you want.

Create Models

To go beyond the models that others have made for use in programs like Daz Studio, you will need a modeling program to create your own. Google SketchUp is a good program to use for creating this kind of content is. A freeware version is available. SketchUp has intuitive, easy-to-use tools that allow you to build almost any non-organic shape. You can then use the "Paint Bucket" tool to add any texture or color you want from the categories offered. You can also load textures you have created in another program.

Create Textures

If you would like to create texture for the models you created in SketchUp, you can use Gimp, a freeware program. The textures applied to models in SketchUp are parametric. The textures you create for it need to be tileable, meaning that when they are placed side by side in any direction they show no seam. To do this in Gimp, you would use the paint tools to create your initial texture. You would then double the size of the canvas; copy and paste the layer until you have four copies. It is then just a matter of moving, turning and flipping the images so the right and left sides are mirrors of each other. The top and bottom are also mirrors of each other. Save your texture as a JPEG.

With the rise of digital art applications, studio artists are no longer limited to traditional drawing, painting and animation tools. There are many software applications available that allow artists to create original pieces that can bear a striking resemblance to works created with oil, chalk, watercolor, acrylics, pastels, pencils and more.

Adobe Illustrator

Adobe Illustrator is the industry leader in illustration software. Users create vector-based artwork using an extensive set of drawing and effects tools. Illustrator is used by print, web, animation and video artists because the graphics created in the software can be exported and optimized in many different media formats. Illustrator can be purchased as a standalone product or bundled with other Adobe design products.

Canvas

ACD Systems' Canvas software is a competitor to Illustrator and a powerful application for drawing and editing vector and raster graphics. Many artists use Canvas because of its extensive paintbrush tools and its ability to import more than 100 types of file formats. Canvas is popular among technical artists because of its ability to import files and data used in the transportation, aviation and geological research. Canvas tools comply with Aviation Transportation Authority (ATA) and Petroleum Industry Protocol (PIP) standards.

Adobe Photoshop

Adobe Photoshop is primarily a tool for processing, editing, optimizing and managing digital images. Native Illustrator files can be seamlessly imported into Photoshop as well as many other file formats. Users can also draw raster graphics in Photoshop. Many designers use Photoshop to create low-bandwidth GIF animation to display on websites. Photoshop comes in several versions tailored to specific audiences and skill sets. In addition to the full version, the lightweight Photoshop Elements targets consumers with limited design knowledge while Photoshop Lightroom is tailored for serious photographers.

Adobe Flash

Adobe Flash is software used to create interactive and animated content for the web, mobile phones, kiosks and other devices. It is the leading tool for creating web animation. Flash has a limited set of tools for creating original graphics but it imports all types of media file formats. Interactivity can be enhanced using Flash's native programming language called ActionScript and with PHP and JavaScript.

CorelDRAW Graphics Suite

Corel's CorelDRAW Graphics Suite is an all-in-one application for vector-based illustration, digital painting, image editing, animation creation and page layout. It is a cheaper alternative to standalone or bundled Adobe products. A special feature of CorelDRAW Graphics Suite is its inclusion of more than 1,000 professional fonts and a library of clip art and royalty free photos. Illustrations and animation created in the application can be exported in a wide range of file formats for different media, including web and print.

3-D animation---also known as Computer Generated Imagery, or CGI---is all the rage now in Hollywood. It is used to create movies, television and video games. It also has become popular with hobbyists, who produce 3-D art and animation for themselves and to post online. If you want to get involved in the world of 3-D animation (to whatever degree), you will need to know about the various types of animation programs available. These programs range from the big names used to make blockbusters to less expensive or even freeware programs that still can do a great deal.

High-End

Among the big names in this category are Maya, Cinema 4D and 3DMax. All of these packages frequently are used as the primary CGI software for major motion pictures. Even many live-action movies often require these 3-D tools to create special effects or scenes that otherwise would be too expensive or impossible to produce. Each of these programs is more than just an animator. They also can do 3-D modeling, UV mapping and texturing (UV mapping and texturing being the process by which 3D models have colors applied to them). They also have internal render engines (rendering is the process in which the software calculates how the objects in the scene would look under the conditions you have set up, and produces an image or series of images. This means that you can render the animation directly in the program without resorting to an external renderer, such as POV-Ray. This greatly improves the work flow. Of the three major animation programs, the most widely used is Maya.

Midrange

The mid-range level of programs tends to be specifically designed as animation renderers. These programs tend not to have modeling or texturing abilities (although you usually can replace one texture with another). An example would be Poser, which through its various incarnations and ownership changes has stuck steadfastly to its core ideas of posing, scene setup and rendering, using the provided or user-added content found in its libraries.

Free

Surprisingly, there are a number of solid animation programs available to the public that are free. These include Blender, Daz Studio and Truespace. Blender is a full-fledged CGI package that has modeling, rigging (the process by which models are given bendable joints), texturing and even particle effects. It can be used to create animations that rival those made in Maya.

Truespace also has many of the features of the commercial products and until recently still was sold commercially. It is perhaps somewhat less sophisticated than Blender, to the extent that its interface is less well-designed and efficient.

Daz Studio essentially is a free equivalent to Poser, accepting many of the same models and props. Some users even prefer the Daz Studio interface to that of Poser, which evolved over the years into a bit of a mess. Poser's deficiencies are apparent in the rather haphazard way the libraries are laid out, which makes the process of assembling a scene a major chore.

Spanning from the specifically tailored to the general purpose, and from the professional grade to simple free programs, many software options will allow you to create your own anime-style cartoons for sharing online or showcasing on DVD.

Anime Studio

Specifically created with anime creation in mind, Anime Studio comes packed with pre-drawn characters and effects to place in your video. Specific features include bone-rigging and lip syncing, allowing you to animate your anime without fully detailing every frame. Anime Studio comes in two versions, the more expensive Anime Studio Pro and the cheaper Anime Studio Debut, which has fewer features.

Flash

Long the standard in web-based video and interactive content, Flash goes beyond simple animation capabilities. Flash allows you to draw and create anime videos directly within the program, or tie together elements from other Adobe software such as Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign, Premiere or Aftereffects. You can buy Flash separately, or as part of an Adobe Creative Suite bundle.

Maya

Use Maya if you want to create anime in 3D. Featuring tools for every step of the animation process, Maya lets you create, skin, animate and render your digital videos. As a professional level creative program, Maya has a steep learning curve, but gives you control over every element of your projects.

ToonBoom Studios

Advertised as an easy-to-use program for casual creators and students, ToonBoom Studio offers several tools to aid your anime-creating education. The multi-technique software allows for stop-motion animation, digital animation, cutout animation, "rotoscoping," and even a facsimile of paper animation.

CreaToon

In contrast to the many expensive animation software options, CreaToon lets you create anime for free. CreaToon uses the cutout style of animation to create two-dimensional cartoons. CreaToon does not require powerful hardware to run properly, and features a full suite of 2D animating tools.

Animation in film used to involve a laborious process of creating a large number of hand drawn "cels," or drawings, to portray each movement of a character. When the cels were viewed in sequence and in rapid motion, the characters appeared to be moving. Today, the laborious process is now performed with computers with specific types of software. Now, animation is more realistic in its rendering and is used in many genres of story telling.

What Can Animation Software Do?

Animation software allows us to give objects motion through digital means. Not only is animation software used to create whole movies, it is also used to enhance digital film making for special effects and corrections. Computer-generated images can create crowd scenes, armies of soldiers and the flying animals sent to attack the damsel in distress. Computer animation unites programmed movement with flat or modeled objects.

Types Of Animation

There are several types of computer animation being created. Both 2D and 3D animation are popular but are used for different reasons. 2D is used in Flash animation and Powerpoint animation and focuses on manipulating a two-dimensional image. 3D is used for building virtual-based characters and objects within a virtual world. 3D animation software can create a movie that seems very real to the viewer whereas 2D animation appears flat and like a cartoon and is not usually integrated into a non-animated film.

2D Animation Software

2D animation software is typically created with Flash software. The scene is drawn as if the artist were drawing on paper. The images are drawn by hand and scanned into the computer or the images are drawn in the computer with an illustration program and then manipulated in the Flash software. Brushes and pencils can be replaced by a graphics tablet or a mouse. Flash animation is popular on the web as a means to demonstrate simple processes to the viewer.

3D Animation Software

3D animation software requires every object to be created on a wire frame model that contours to the shape drawn. The wire frame model is a 3D grid that allows the software to map the shape and subsequent movements of the objects. The artist assigns colors and textures to the shape, which allows the software to then create the character. The artist working in 3D animation software needs to be a good sculptor. 3D animation software is used for film making.

Maya Animation Software

The most popular 3D animation software, and by far the most powerful available, is Maya. Used for special effects as well as animation, Maya is the software most in demand in Hollywood. Other animation software used is 3DS Max, Lightwave 3D and SoftImage. When Hollywood combines live film and animation they use one of the following software products:

-Inferno

-Adobe After Effects

-Combustion

Professional looking animations are much easier to create than you think. There are dozens of computer programs available for animators of every skill level, and most of these programs are so simple to use that children are able to create animated cartoons with minimal instruction. When deciding between software, consider your level of technical aptitude and the type of animation that you would like to create.

Flip Boom Classic

Flip Boom Classic is an easy-to-use animation program. It allows the user to draw and color characters, animate them and record a voice for dialogue. Finished animations can be uploaded to YouTube, Facebook or an iPod. Flip Boom has won a number of awards, including the 2009 Editor's Choice Award by the Children's Technology Review for its Excellence in Design. As of 2010, the average price for Flip Boom is less than $50. It is available for Windows and Mac OSX.

Anime Studio Debut

Anime Studio Debut is more feature-rich than Flip Boom Classic, which means that it will probably take the user longer to become comfortable with. Anime Studio Debut offers pre-made cartoon characters, video, props, and sounds. The user can also insert original drawings and other media. If you would like to try out the software before you buy, Anime Studio offers a free 30-day trial. As of 2010, the average price for Anime Studio Debut is under $50. It is available for Windows and Mac OSX.

Pencil

Pencil is a simple-to-use drawing and animation program. It is free and works on Linux, Mac OSX and Windows. The user is able to draw characters, color and animate them and add sounds. Pencil breaks down animation to the most basic level with no added features or media. It is a program that assists the artist instead of doing the work for them.

Plastic Animation Paper

Plastic Animation Paper is a free program for beginner to professional animators. It was originally developed as in-house software for an animation studio, and later offered for free to the general public. Plastic Animation Paper is a tool for animation only, and does not include options for coloring or compositing. Characters are drawn directly to the screen, and displayed as if they were on a light table. The artist is able to flip back and forth between drawings and simulate the experience of working with a stack of actual animation cells. The software is free to download, but requires a digital drawing tablet.

3D animation software is the program or suite of applications used by animators to create three dimensional images, movies or cartoons. The software may vary in specific features or platform, but most animation software contains the same basic applications and methods.

Uses

3D animation has applications in an increasing variety of media. Live action films use special effects animated with 3D software. The action in computer animated films such as "Toy Story" and "Shrek' is created entirely with animation software. 3D video games also rely on these programs to animate the characters, items and backgrounds within the gamespace.

Features

3D animation software needs to take a project from the conceptual stages to the final product. To accomplish the myriad of steps comprising an animation project, the software may include sketching, modeling, motion capture, rendering and exporting features, allowing artists and animators to have complete access to each element of production at each stage.

Examples

Autodesk Maya is a fully featured, professional grade animation program, boasting several feature films produced using the software. Houdini, 3DS Max and Softimage XSI are also commonly used professionally in the animation industry. While these programs are expensive and have a steep learning curve, less fully featured programs such as Amorphium and Xara 3D offer more user-friendly options.

Training

Due to the highly technical nature of many 3D animation programs, entire educational curriculums have emerged for learning their use. Two- or four-year degrees in animation, computer animation or design usually include classwork centered on animation software.

Cost

Hobbyists and amateurs looking for animation software can purchase a basic application for less than $100. Professional grade software can cost up to several thousand dollars, and the computer systems required to run them add considerably to that cost.

Film and video editing has unarguably entered the digital age, with many special effects created almost entirely within a computer. Three-dimensional animation software allows users to create these effects, which can include anything from lens flares to digital creatures to fully 3D-animated movies. There are numerous commercial animation and special effects software programs available, each with advantages and disadvantages.

DAZ Studio

DAZ Studio is a free program aimed primarily at beginners. It is used for 3D animation and rendering and allows users to import 3D models (which can be purchased from DAZ's website or created in a separate modeling program). Using this software, you can create 3D scenes with lighting, backdrops and props and animate your characters. You can then render the scene as a single image or as an animated clip. DAZ Studio is best suited for creating fully animated movies, but it can be used to create animation to import into video clips using separate video editing programs.

Maya

Autodesk Maya is a high-end program that can be used for modeling, animation, visual effects and rendering. Maya is a relatively expensive program with a steep learning curve that is tuned more toward the professional market. It allows for seamless integration into film and video. The program includes accurate camera tracking, in-depth modeling, photo-realistic hair and textures, and thousands of other professional features. In fact, Maya's suite of tools is so high-tech that it has been used on films such as "Avatar," "Ice Age," "G.I. Joe: Rise of the Cobra," "Kung Fu Panda," the animated show "South Park" and dozens of other films and TV programs. Maya is available for download from the Autodesk website starting at around $3,000.

FXHome

FXHome is a video editing program that allows users to incorporate special effects such as particle effects (like shooting stars, rain or explosions) and muzzle flashes for guns; filters that allow you to change the look and feel of a scene (night filters or fog); and lens flares that are a common sight in sci-fi films. The program works like standard video-editing software, though it is packed with features and also allows for the use of compositing: layering images on top of one another to create a single image. This technique is used to apply green- or blue-screen effects, which can be seen in almost every feature film. The software is available in different bundles from FXHome's website, priced relatively inexpensively at around $150.

Software for editing and creating animations come in many forms, from basic and freely downloadable applications to fully featured professional grade production suites. Deciding which program is right for a project depends on a combination of resources and scope, since animation editing software encompasses a wide range of feature sets and abilities.

Features

The basic functionality of animation editing programs allow the software to customize animated video and export it as video files or project files for importing into other software. Animation editing programs often require large amounts of video memory to run smoothly, and may need third-party plug-ins for compatibility with specific technologies.

Varieties

Most animation software is specialized for editing specific varieties of animation. Common focuses include 2D cartoon animation, interactive animation and 3D animation.

Options

Several animation editing programs are available for free online, including Anim8or, Pencil and CreaToon. Professional software includes the web development Flash platform and the 3D rendering program Maya.

Picture-based animations have been created for decades. From picture capturing hand-drawn cartoons to motion capturing through stop-motion animation, the conversion process has been transformed into a simple computer process that can be done with a variety of applications.

Types

Basic programs include GIF Construction Set, Stop Motion Pro and Morpheous Photo Morpher. More advanced animation programs include Adobe Photoshop, After Effects and Swish Max.

Function

Using a picture as a single frame, a group of pictures will form together to create various animations. Pictures can also be manipulated so that only certain sections are animated. For example, a bird can be taken out of a sky picture and animated to fly.

Features

Stop-motion animation requires thousands of pictures. A typical second of a movie has 27 to 30 frames and a picture is required for each frame. Traditional hand-drawn animation can use a mix of digital effects and pre-made backgrounds to minimize the amount of drawings.

Benefits

Using digital programs help save hours of splicing together traditional animation. You can also adjust pictures to fix mistakes like red eye, brightness, contrast and mispositioned frames.

Considerations

You can use copyright-free photos from websites like WikiMedia Commons and Creative Commons to make animations. These photos can help you practice or access pictures of things you do not have.

The GNU Image Manipulation Program, or GIMP, separates its display information into four channels. The red, blue and green channels describe how much of these colors each pixel displays. The fourth channel, the alpha channel, describes how opaque or transparent each pixel is. When the "Lock Alpha Channel" check box is selected in GIMP, it prevents the user from making any changes to the transparent portions of the image.

Alpha Channels

A pixel's alpha channel controls the opacity of all the color channels on that pixel. For instance, if the alpha channel is set to 50 percent opacity, the red, green and blue channels will all become half transparent. Most file formats that support alpha information have 256 discrete levels of opacity, with zero being completely transparent and 255 being completely opaque. However, GIF files only support completely transparent or completely opaque pixels.

Unlocked Alpha Channel

When GIMP's alpha channel is unlocked, the user can manipulate it in any way he desires. Transparent portions of the image can be filled with color or drawn or painted upon. Gradients can be added, images can be cloned into empty spaces, etc. All of these actions convert transparent pixels into opaque or translucent ones. This is the default setting for all GIMP projects.

Locked Alpha Channel

If the user wishes to protect the transparent pixels so that no changes can be made, he may lock the alpha channel by checking the "Lock Alpha Channel" check box in the "Layers" dialog box. This check box only applies to the active layer. If he wishes to affect all the layers, he must select each one and lock its alpha channel individually. Once the alpha channel is locked, he can affect only opaque or translucent areas of the image.

Applications

Locking the alpha channel is GIMP's way of helping you not "color outside the lines." It is a convenient feature when working close to the boundary of an opaque object. For instance, if you wish to use the Smudge Tool to smear two colors together, but you don't want to smear them off the object, which is surrounded by transparent pixels, lock the alpha channel to limit the effect to the object's surface. Note that alpha channels are supported only by TIFF, TGA, PNG, PSD and GIF files or by GIMP's XCF project file. Therefore, if you lock the alpha channel but try to save your image as a different file format, the transparent areas will be exported white.

1. Go to Highend3d and download the Non Photo Realistic Shading Maya 0.7.0 Script. Place a copy of the downloaded file in the Maya scripts folder (C:\Documents and Settings\...Maya\4.0\scripts).

2. Open Maya. Then open a scene you want to apply the shading style to. Now add or remove lights, adjusting them so that the lighting is uniform (the total value of the lights should add up to 1.0).

3. Type "nprs" in the Maya "Command Line." This will activate the script, bringing up a dialog box. The sliders let you control things like the brightest color in the scene, the darkest, and the number of colors between these two colors. Go with the settings you select or with the defaults by clicking on "Create Non Photo Realistic Shading."

4. Apply the shader to an object in the scene. Go to the "Hypershade" view. Double-click the "color steps ramp." Change the "Interpolation" to "None." This will make the color gradient less smooth, which is what you want here. Change the colors to what you want. You can remove some if you want fewer steps.