Lets Talk Software

I talked a little bit about 3d animation in one of my last blog posts, so now I just want to show and explain a little bit about software and how it can be used to create a piece of 3d media.

In the world of 3d, there are multiple programs that could be considered "industry standard". These programs are highly robust, allowing you to make almost anything you desire. Perhaps the most popular and widely used across the industry in studios such as Pixar and Sony Animation is Autodesk's Maya and 3dsmax. While Maya and 3dsMax are fantastic programs, they are mostly used in very big projects with hundreds of collaborators, making them cumbersome to work with for a solo artist. They are both also ridiculously expensive, a single license costing upwards of 1600 dollars a year.

Exemplary work done in 3dsMax

Due to the aforementioned facts, I will be using a different program, one more suited to solo creators that has recently taken over the 3d artists landscape. This program is none other than Blender, an open-source 2d and 3d Animation Program. With the nature of it being open-source, this means that it is completely free to use for anyone, meaning I won't have to worry about paying for expensive licensing. Not only that, Blender has recently gotten some of the most mind-bending and shocking features that almost no other program has, even ones like Maya. As I said, it also acts as a 2d Animation program, meaning you can combine the 2 techniques quite easily. In my opinion, this makes it the perfect program for my film Opening.

Exemplary Work done in Blender

Now of course this doesn't mean I should just limit myself to this program alone, after all, many programs have to be used in the 3d Production workflow. For example, you might create a texture in Photoshop and then import it into your general 3d application to work with. You will eventually render out your result and put it into a compositing program like After Effects. 

If you want to check out any of the work that I have done using blender, ill link two of my pieces here.

https://vimeo.com/manage/453317567/general