Articles

Role of 3D Animation Software In Designing Graphics

by . November 28th, 2012

With new technologies coming up in the modern era, the role of 3D or three dimensional graphics have increased. Before you read further on the role of 3D graphics, first you must know the meaning of 3D graphics. As 2D or two-dimensional graphics only represent the width and height of graphics whereas 3D graphics represent the width, height and depth of graphics displayed. There is an added 3rd dimension to the previous two.

3D Graphics are used widely in cartoon, movie and gaming industry, which will depend on the type of software used. Some software are programmed to design living creatures while other software are programmed to design non-living objects like cars buildings, etc. These 3D software are also important for creating specific scenes not doable in the real world. For example, scenes depicting cars blasting and people getting involved in car accidents are the type of shots that can’t be taken in the real world. So what happens is that the directors of these movies make use of special software programs like 3D animation software where they stitch both real-time shots and computer generated images to develop a whole scene.

The choice on the 3D animation software depends upon your need and the price at which it is available. Some open source 3D software are available free of cost while there are some commercial 3D software are available at a price range of 30 to 50 dollars. There are even alternatives whose price reach the 1000 to 2000 dollars price range.

One of the best 3D animation software used by graphics designers is Maya. Maya 2012 is the latest version available and is compatible for use on Linux, Mac OS X and Windows. An Autodesk version of Maya is also a popular software for the creation of 3D animation graphics in movies, cartons and games. It has number of features like classic cloth feature which allows you the access to the movements of clothes over animated figure.

Anim8or is a freeware available for character animation and 3D modelling.  The images created in it can be saved in BMP, GIF and JPG formats. It has Open GL based real time operation, built in 3D object browser and joined character editor and more. It has the ability to create 3D scenes. Its True Type Font Support feature allows 2D and 3D extruded text for TrueType font. Furthermore, it also has OpenGL shaders for preview which looks real. It runs smoothly on Windows with 1GB Ram and 25 MB of disk space.

With changes in time and environment, the demand for new software like 3D animation software has also risen. On the plus side, the number of applications currently available at the market offer intuitive UIs that are easy to learn and navigate, making the process of creating 3D art as manageable as it could ever be in history.

 

[Kathyryn Shepard]

About the Author

Kathryn is the author for Chrisalex Corp. She has also written several articles on Office Stationery Suppliers for the website www.viking-direct.org.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: