3D Animation & Digital Storytelling - Brief & Proposal

Brief:

This assignment requires us to create a 3D animation consisting of designing and planning, then producing a final idea using Carrara, and animating it.

The animation must be between 30 in 60 seconds in length (excluding titles), and must tell a complete story that has been planned and developed thoroughly. The animation must clearly show the progression of the story chosen.

The theme of the animation is 'Robots', and the notes taken on the film "Robots" (movement, expression, robot structure, materials and textures) will aid in creating the final idea.

Proposal:

For this assignment I will be designing and creating ideas for an animation that is aimed at families (keeping the young audience in mind in terms of story content) and entertainment, with a comedic theme. I think that this will give me quite a wide window of opportunity for ideas, without having to create too many varied designs that could be difficult to choose between and develop easily.

I can create such a theme by using aesthetics and a storyline that will draw attention, for example, using bright, vivid colours for the characters on a paler background to make the characters stand out, or using interesting shapes to form my characters. I could also create new, original character designs, which could cause curiosity from my target audience, drawing them to the animation.

For characters, I could use a standard robotic human form for the target audience to identify and empathise with, but in my opinion, creating completely new forms (for example, variations on animals, animated household appliances or original vehicles) would be more appealing, and as it would be my own original design, I could customise a colour scheme without any constraints or limitations.

To create a humourous story, I ideally want to create a second character for my first to interact with. This would then allow me to create situations for them both which could have varied outcomes, depending on the personalities of the characters (for example, a humanoid robot playing catch, breaking a window, and being chased around several obstacles by another character).

The content of the story would have to be monitored closely in order to determine whether it is appropriate for young audiences in the family as well as adults. I could do this by conducting research into 3D animations for children and draw ideas from the results I find.

I will be using Carrara to create my animation, using several tools such as the vertex tool (in order to create fairly unlimited shapes myself) and primitive shapes to form the structures of my character, props and environment. The movement of the characters can be controlled with joints and constraints, and the story can be animated on Carrara using key frames to structure the movements of the characters, props and scenery.

Unit 121 - 3D Animation - Research Project Part 1

Applications of 3D:


Recently, 3-Dimensional graphics have been utilised and manipulated in order to create visuals for a wide variety of applications and media. This has proven to be a very effective method of presenting visual representations from and to companies and organisations with minimal time, resources and money used.

Some examples of applications of 3D are:

- Product Design:

The use of 3D modelling programs such as Carrara, Maya or 3D Studio Max has allowed designers to create prototypes of products they have designed without needing to create a physical prototype for visual representations. This is highly effective for companies as it saves a lot of time creating a physical model, and also saves money due to not needing to source materials or equipment to form the model. The creator and client have ability to view the product from all angles, choose and alter textures easily, edit the shape and colour of the product and the possiblity of seeing it animated (depending on the product's functions), all without needing to physically craft the design.

- Animations, TV and Film:

The use of 3D modelling and animation has proven highly successful in terms of creating animations, which can be used for various forms of media, such as short films, commerial animations (which relates to product design), informative media (for education, health and safety etc.), TV (children's programmes, documentaries, education, advertising), film (special effects, CG film, character design) and interactive media (video games, website design, online games). Models and environments are created to depict situations that are appropriate for the target audience, and the developers can create reactions in interactive media, such as characters picking up a weapon in a game after a user presses a specific button.


- Training, Simulation and Engineering:

3D is playing a huge part in training people of varying careers nowadays using simulations to help create an interactive environment in which a person can be tested without needing to take them out into their field of work, which saves time and money. This can help the person assess the situation without too much worry of consequences of failure, which could cause unnecessary stress and possibly put the trainees and instructors in danger.
An environment would be created in a 3D program that trainees could be submersed into (usually by use of a separate room or cubicle with a screen displaying the graphics), and allowed them to interact with the environment to make the right choices in order to complete their training appropriately.