Graphics Reference
In-Depth Information
The Importance of Following the Work Flow
All of that was just the barest overview. It should be obvious that creating a decent short animation is a very
specifi c and involved process. However, should you fi nd yourself thinking, “Oh, well, I can just skip that step!
What could possibly go wrong?” Here is a brief list of what, exactly, could go wrong:
Problem: No story. What happens: The animator begins by fully modeling detailed props and characters.
The project has no direction and never passes the modeling stage. Doom!
Problem: Too much story. What happens: After the third year of the project, you begin to think that you
should have concentrated on the character of Pecos Rose, instead of her fourteen sisters. Disaster!
Problem: No storyboards. What happens: Without storyboards to guide your shot breakdown and compo-
sition, you waste countless hours/days/years of your life animating actions and creating and detailing ele-
ments that will never see a fi nal render. Also, the vision of the story is created on the fl y, which can lead
to narrative and visual dead ends and more wasted work. Peril!
Problem: Creating detailed sets and surfacing before animation. What happens: Much work is wasted
because things inevitably change during animation. That entire set of kitchen knives you painstakingly
modeled and textured (with little food bits!) were part of a shot that was cut because the animation just
didn't turn out well enough. Shame!
Problem: Poor asset organization. What happens: You put weeks into a complex shot then realize that you
used the wrong versions of the set and characters, meaning that you either have to completely redo the
entire thing or have it stick out in the fi nal production like a line drawing at a Monet impersonator con-
vention. Horror!
From these few examples, it may be apparent to you that most of the really crushing problems will come
from skipping or short changing the preproduction steps. And really, if you've done the preproduction prop-
erly, you're not going to skip any of the normal production or postproduction steps.
Summary
The short animation process is a time-tested set of steps that, if followed, will help you to see your animation
project through to completion. The process involves an extended preproduction phase during which you
develop the story and work out the overall timing through the creation of storyboards and a story reel. The
production phase fi nds you working directly in your 3D application, building models and sets and actually
performing the animation. Finally, postproduction is where you render your work and composite and edit it
into a fi nal animation.
The greatest mistake committed by fi rst-time producers, and the one that will certainly kill a project, is to
jump into the production phase without adequate preparation. Without a producible story and the planning
provided by good storyboards, so much time will be wasted that the project will never see a successful end.
Skipping the preproduction process is like furnishing your house before you draw up the blueprints, lay the
foundation, and build the walls. It may seem quick and easy to put the decorative items into place, but it will
almost certainly turn out poorly in the long run.
Search WWH ::




Custom Search