3D computer animation: it’s all about realism
The realism in 3D computer animation has a huge impact on whether an animation production is a success or a failure. With the advancement of technology, the expectation of the audience has arisen to have an experience where animation is more alive. This can be achieved by producing characters whose movements mimic those of real people. Technology has brought into play various software packages and motion-tracking devices that allow characters, movies, and video games to come to life in the eyes of the public.
The first way to create realism in 3D computer animation is to produce characters that can mimic real facial movements. Let’s face it, when we communicate or look at each other we focus on facial features and their movements. Everything from the blink of an eye to enlarged nostrils creates life movements in the characters. Another facial movement that creates realism is speech movements. The character’s mouth must form specific shapes with each spoken syllable. If no special attention was paid to speech patterns and movements, the result would look like an old martial arts movie with the English language dubbed over the original language.
The second way to create realism in 3D computer animation is to create realistic characters and objects. The more realistic a car appears in an animated movie, the more the audience can get into that car. The feature software has also brought a variety of palettes with different colors and textures that simulate real life people and objects. For the car that I mentioned earlier, what creates a more realistic viewer experience? Would the car feel like it was real if you entered the care with brown seats or brown leather seats that show the grain of the leather when the lighting is properly focused on them? Lighting and shadows can also create realism. However, caution should be exercised as overuse of any of the above items can really kill the effect you are trying to achieve.
Above all, what really brings all of this together is credibility. To do something credible, you need to be able to step back and observe a character or object in real life. Then just recreate the looks you need. Credibility becomes realism simply because, as human beings, we live in reality. We tell stories based on our inclusive reality of the elements that surround us. The main protagonist of a story is human or human-like and we relate to the character through the human element. From there we surround the character with the elements that make sense and hence we believe in the realism of that story.
