AWARD WINNING 3D ANIMATOR KYLE SCHLOSSER
“THE STEPS TO CREATE KILLER 3D ANIMATION”
Tiffany:Kyle, from Point In Time Studios, a Phoenix production company, thank you for taking the time to meet with me again today.
Kyle:My pleasure Tiffany.
Tiffany:Today I would like to talk about the steps to create killer 3D Animation. Can you explain to us the process that you go through for 3D animation? Let’s say we have a project where we’re going to animate a building that’s not there. What’s the process you go through?
Kyle:With the videos we’ve done in the past here at point in time studios, I was able to get the CAD data straight from the architects. I would just take that and clean it up because it doesn’t import perfectly. If I wasn’t getting that data, then I would just find reference photos of what it is I’m modeling, ideally blueprints so I can be exact and just model from there. Build a layout and then work in the details, depending on how much detail I need. If I need to add furniture inside the house, then I’ll do that. If we’re only going on the outside, I’ll leave the inside blank.
Tiffany:You start with the modeling and then your video team shoots a plate of the environment?
Kyle:Yes. Correct.
Tiffany:Then once you model it, what’s the next step, rigging, texturing, lighting?
Kyle:After modeling, the next step is applying materials and texturing. If it’s a brick wall, I’ll have to apply a brick texture to it. There’s also a process called UV’ing in there, which basically just makes it so it’s a 2D representation of the 3D model for texturing purposes. That’s the next step and then I texture. Then I texture in light at the same time because the look of the materials and textures are very dependent on the light. If I’m modeling something for a specific scene, we already shot the plate, and I try to match the light of the scene. If we shot outdoors, then I’d use a basic sunlight, to try to match the angle and all that.
Tiffany:I heard lighting can be one of the most difficult, most challenging pieces, especially if you’re dealing with metallic objects or how light reacts to an object and gives it a realistic look per se?
Kyle:It can be. The software I use, Moto, actually really helps simplify that process. It’s taken a lot of what was overly complicated, and broke it down into a more layer based Photoshop type style of texturing.
Tiffany:Then rigging would be for objects that are moving, like characters and that kind of thing?
Kyle:Yes, rigging is like adding the skeletal structure behind something. It’s a pretty complicated process, but for something like a house, that would not need to be rigged because it’s not moving.
Tiffany:If there’s anything architectural, just to sum it up, what are the steps again?
Kyle:Yes, we start with building and then texturing the model. Then light it and since we already shot the plate, I know I want to match the lighting of that, so I find the angle of the sun and everything and just match it as best as I can. Then ideally I know the camera settings. I know what focal length it was shot at and how far away it’s supposed to be and everything. I match that all up in the real world, into real world scale. Then if the camera is moving, I have to use some match moving software to track the camera. Then if we’re doing any sort of animation, I have to make sure the animation fits within the frame of the camera and then render it out and go into compositing, using any compositor, After Effects in our case.
Tiffany:This is great. Thank you again Kyle. I appreciate your time.
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