\n 4.8<\/span> Article Rating<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n The process of creating a 3D animation is much more complex than most people think. The number of steps to produce a 3D animated piece can vary to a great extent, depending on the animation studio involved and the scale of the project itself.<\/p>\n But generally, a lengthy list of tasks must be checked in the 3d animation studio<\/a> and a large group of people with different skill-sets must be engaged for a 3D animated video or feature film to be produced. In order to push such a complicated process forward efficiently and affordably, a solid structure and a detailed framework are needed: 3D animation pipeline.<\/p>\n Animation workflow or pipeline <\/strong>is a system consisting of people, hardware, and software aligned to work in a specific sequential order to do pre-determined tasks in a pre-determined time frame, which will lead to a 3D animation product or asset as the final output.<\/p>\n The final product could be a traditional animation such as a feature film, short film, animated commercial video<\/a>, television show, game trailer<\/a>, or video game asset<\/a>, or it could be something totally different. It\u2019s much like an assembly line for 3D animated video production.<\/p>\n Recently, more animation studios have been using 3d animations in their transmedia storytelling projects. If you\u2019re new to the topic, we recommend reading our what is transmedia storytelling<\/a> article before moving on to the next part.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n Here at Dream Farm Animation Studios<\/strong>, the following pipeline is used for the majority of 3D animation projects:<\/p>\n 3D animation production pipeline has three main stages:<\/p>\n Based on organizational considerations, resources, outcomes, and other factors, each segment of the 3D animation industry uses the three stages a little differently, but the main structure remains intact. The specifics of each project\u2019s pipeline may also be slightly different. However, the three main stages remain the same again.<\/p>\n Pre-production<\/strong> is the research, designing, and planning phase of the entire 3D project, which is split between two teams: The design team creates the idea, story, and designs, and the management team, who writes down the production plan (including budgets, teams, and time frames). The better the pre-production phase is done, the easier the production stage will be.<\/p>\n Pre-production consists of the following steps:<\/p>\n Ideas will be developed and improved until the whole story is shaped. This is a basic version of what\u2019s going to happen in the animation, including the characters, conflict, et cetera.<\/p>\n An insider\u2019s guide on writing the perfect story for a 3D animation<\/a><\/p>\n<\/li>\n The script is the formal, written, literary version of the story; including the character movements, environment, time, actions, and dialogues.<\/p>\n Dream Farm\u2019s 5-step guide to scriptwriting for 3D animation<\/a><\/p>\n<\/li>\n A storyboard is a non-moving visual version of the script. It basically looks like a comic book, including early ideas of camera staging, major character poses, or scene events.<\/p>\n storyboarding fundamentals in 3D animation Production<\/a><\/p>\n<\/li>\n A moving form of the storyboard is called the animatic which will evolve into the final edit of the entire project. The animatic is created in its most simple form, portraying the sequence timing of the project through 2D storyboard drawings.<\/p>\n Animatic in a nutshell; the storyboard made animated<\/a><\/p>\n<\/li>\n The final look of the project is decided at this stage; including the concept design, character design<\/a>, costumes, prop design, and environment. The mood and the concept of designs must be fully conveyed here. If you want to know the ins and outs of character design, check out the article about shape language in character design<\/a>.<\/p>\n Read more to find out what we talk about when we talk about design in animation pre-production.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n The production stage<\/strong> is where all previous efforts must pay off and transform into action. At this stage, visual elements of the 3D animation will be handed out to the designated teams and artists. Team leaders make sure time frames, and quality matches those of the determined plan in the pre-production stage and goes as smoothly as possible. The outcome of this stage shapes the entirety of the 3D animation.<\/p>\n The production stage consists of the following steps:<\/p>\n Simply put, a 3D version of the 2D animatic is called a 3D layout. The 3D layout contains basic 3D attributes such as the characters\u2019 size, shape, environment, a simple animation of the characters, proxy geometry, et cetera.<\/p>\n Curious to know more? Here you can find out what exactly a 3D animation layout<\/a> is and why it matters with an example.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n 3D modeling is the process of developing a geometric surface representation of any object in a specialized 3D software such as Maya or 3Ds Max.<\/p>\n Here\u2019s a quick guide to 3D modeling<\/a>\u00a0you can take a look at for more.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n The process of creating and applying textures (colors and surface properties) to a 3D model is called 3D texturing. Before coming to the texture artist, 3D models are usually in a default shaded flat color.<\/p>\n For more information, you can take a quick look at texturing in 3D animation production<\/a>. If you want to get a more in-depth guide on how to use color, check out the color theory in character design<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n During the rigging process, a bone structure is put into the 3D object so that the animators can move different parts of the geometric object (in character rigging, for example) as quickly and efficiently as possible.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n The movements of the 3D objects or characters in a scene or setting are created during the animation stage. Animation is usually the most crucial and time-consuming part of producing a 3D animated video.<\/p>\n Interested in learning to animate? Check out Animation Mentor\u2019s Ultimate Guide to Animation for Beginners\u00a0<\/a><\/p>\n<\/li>\n A 3D animator animates almost everything, but elements like hair, fur, water, fire, clothes, or dust; key-framing them would be too difficult or even impossible.<\/p>\n These elements are created during the VFX component of the pipeline; there are things you might not know about the visual effects stage in 3D animation production<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n Just like real-world lighting in photography or filming, 3D animation lighting is the stage at which the mood of a 3D scene or sequence is created through light based on the pre-production designs.<\/p>\n For more information, you can take a look at The ultimate guide to lighting fundamentals for 3D<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n When dealing with a 3D animation, every scene is separated and rendered into multiple layers, including objects, colors, background, foreground, shadows, highlights, et cetera. The layers are going to be united again in the post-production stage (Compositing).<\/p>\n If you are curious to find out more, take a look at The final step in 3D animation production: 3D Rendering<\/a><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n At this stage, the final touches are added to the project to make it look polished and professional (the definition of polished and professional might differ in various projects, of course). Post-production<\/strong> artists have a number of tools that can make up the look of a project in whatever way they want.<\/p>\n Post-production in the 3D animation pipeline includes:<\/p>\n To make a final output, the layers rendered previously are put together again in compositing. The layering process can be as simple as putting 2 layers together or as complex as matching hundreds of layers and adjusting their properties.<\/p>\n You can get more familiar with Compositing in animation<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n Some visual effects, such as sparks, dust, raindrops, camera shakes, et cetera, are more easily achieved in a 2D environment at the end of the project without sacrificing the quality. These effects are usually mixed with other layers in compositing.<\/p>\n Take a quick look at the 2D VFX<\/a> component of the 3D animation workflow for more on the subject.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n Also known as color timing or color grading, color correction is literally the last adjustment we make to a 3D animation in the pipeline. This step makes each shot and the whole project look more consistent.<\/p>\n Read more: A quick look at color correction in 3D animation<\/a> production.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n There are different options out there regarding the output format of the pipeline. However, the most common type is a digital video which is compatible with most digital devices and can be played on the internet.<\/p>\n Here is a short guide on choosing the right format for a video file.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n CGI stands for Computer-generated imagery and is defined as using computer graphics to make or utilize images in art, game art, feature films, and series, TV series, commercials, etc. There\u2019s no difference between CGI and 3D animation as both use the same techniques and methods to create and use art in different ways.<\/p>\n If you want to know about the 2D animation pipeline, check out our other article about the 2D animation production process<\/a>.<\/p>\n You can picture the 3D animation pipeline<\/strong> as a creative assembly line in which everything is planned out, from conception to publishing. The entire pipeline might consist of as many as 500 artists or as few as 2. The most significant point of having a workflow in place is that every single one of these artists must know what, when and how exactly the tasks in hand should be done and handed out to the next artist or group of artists.<\/p>\n
\n 18<\/span>
\n votes<\/span><\/p>\nWhat is an animation pipeline?<\/h2>\n
Key components of CGI animation pipeline<\/h2>\n
\n
1- What is pre-production in the animation pipeline?<\/h2>\n
![\"Idea](\"https:\/\/dreamfarmstudios.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/Idea-Generation.jpg\")
<\/p>\n\n
Story Creation:<\/strong><\/h4>\n
Script Writing: <\/strong><\/h4>\n
Storyboarding:<\/strong><\/h4>\n
Animatic:<\/strong><\/h4>\n
Design: <\/strong><\/h4>\n
![\"pre-production](\"https:\/\/dreamfarmstudios.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/pre-production-in-the-animation-pipeline.jpg\")
<\/strong><\/p>\n2- What is the 3D animation production process?<\/h2>\n
\n
3D Layout:<\/strong><\/h4>\n
3D Modeling:<\/strong><\/h4>\n
3D Texturing:<\/strong><\/h4>\n
3D Rigging: <\/strong><\/h4>\n
3D Animation:<\/strong><\/h4>\n
VFX: <\/strong><\/h4>\n
Lighting:<\/strong><\/h4>\n
Rendering:<\/strong><\/h4>\n
![\"3D](\"https:\/\/dreamfarmstudios.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/3D-animation-production-process.jpg\")
<\/strong><\/p>\n3- What is the animation post-production process?<\/h2>\n
\n
\n
Compositing:<\/strong><\/h4>\n
2D VFX:<\/strong><\/h4>\n
\n
Color correction:<\/strong><\/h4>\n
Final output: <\/strong><\/h4>\n
![\"post-production](\"https:\/\/dreamfarmstudios.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/post-production-process.jpg\")
<\/p>\nWhat is the difference between 3D animation and CGI pipeline?<\/h2>\n
Why do we use a pipeline for 3D animation production?<\/h2>\n
![\"difference](\"https:\/\/dreamfarmstudios.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/difference-between-3D-animation-and-CGI-pipeline.jpg\")
<\/p>\nGenerally, there are 4 main reasons for using a pipeline in 3D animation production:<\/h2>\n