3D Game Animation For Dummies

Kelly L. Murdock has written about computer topics ranging from multimedia to JavaScript. He has also created 3D models for feature films and worked as a freelance 3D artist.

• Introduction 1About This Book 1Conventions Used in This Book 2Foolish Assumptions 3How This Book Is Organized 3Part I: Creating 3D Content for Games 3Part II: Creating Interfaces, Modeling Scenery, and Texturing Backgrounds 3Part III: Designing, Modeling, and Animating Game Characters 4Part IV: Animating Game Cut Scenes 4Part V: The Part of Tens 4Icons Used in This Book 4Part I: Creating 3D Content for Games 5Chapter 1: Getting Started with 3D Game Animation 7This Whole Place Is Full of 3D — Identifying 3D Game Elements 8User interfaces 8Backgrounds 9Scenery and props 10Characters 10Cut scenes 11Opening the Toolbox — the Tools Used to Create 3D Game Animations 11Modeling, rendering, and animation software 12Paint and texturing software 15Compositing software 15Hardware requirements 15Creating 3D Games — Slightly More Complicated Than a Connect-the-Dots Puzzle 16Game design 16Art design 17Integration 17Testing 17Learning the Big Picture 17Chapter 2: Game and Art Design, and Creating Storyboards 19Documenting the Game Design: What Exactly Does This Game Do? 20Brainstorming 20Gathering feedback 20Writing a Game Design Document 21Adding flowcharts 21Obtaining approval 23Growing Ideas into Design — Beginning the Art Design Phase 23Sketching inspirations: You didn’t throw away your pencils, did you? 23Compiling reference materials 24Fleshing out details, and producing final designs 25Labeling details 25Creating Storyboard Documents 25Types of storyboards 26Specifying logical flow paths 26Storyboarding cut scenes 27Creating a master storyboard 27Who’s Talking Now? Adding Dialogue 27Chapter 3: Starting with Traditional Animation Basics 29Layering Images — the Simplest Animation Technique 30Look at the Birdie and Smile — Focusing the Audience’s View 30Avoid complex motions 31Displaying anticipation of intended motion 31Emphasizing motion with exaggeration 32Making foreground objects stand out 32Do You Have a Good Stopwatch? Controlling Timing and Pacing 32Establishing correct timing 33Establishing pacing 34Do I Need to Draw Every Frame? Accomplishing Efficient Animation Techniques 34Posing characters and in-betweening 34Using animation loops 35Panning images 35Animating Realistic Motions 36Animating physically realistic reactions 36Making realistic motion with primary and secondary motion 36Developing a Unique Style 37Part II: Creating Interfaces, Modeling Scenery, and Texturing Backgrounds 39Chapter 4: Creating Game User Interfaces 41Understanding the Basics of Interface Design 41Identifying interface information 42Defining interface backgrounds 43Using interface fade in and fade out 43Making the interface easy to navigate 43Including sounds 44Making the game area as big as possible: Maximizing interface real estate 44Starting with a Layout: The Process of Interface Design 44Importing drawing files 45Building a 2D layout 45Adding 3D Effects 54Enhancing with 3D objects 54Embellishing with 3D text 55Beveling the interface border 57Chapter 5: Modeling Scenery and Props 59Discovering 3D Space All Around You 60Moving about 3D Coordinates 60Selecting scene views 61Navigating scene views 62Using coordinate values 64Exploring the Various Modeling Types 65Polygon modeling for man-made models 65NURBS modeling for natural flowing surfaces 65Patch modeling for curved surfaces 66Moving, Rotating, and Scaling Objects 66Transforming objects 66Snapping objects into place 67Aligning objects 70Using pivot points 72Learning the Art of Modeling 73Using the easiest way to model 73Starting with building blocks 75Editing primitives 77Building surfaces from curves and splines 78Creating Lo-Polygon Models That Won’t Choke a Game Engine 83Tips for reducing polygon count 83Automating polygon reduction 85Chapter 6: Adding Details with Materials 87Defining Materials 87Color 88Transparency 88Reflectivity 88Refraction 88Luminosity 88Specularity 88Bump map 89Assigning Material Properties to Objects 89Changing the view shading 89Using preset materials 90Creating unique materials 93Assigning Material Properties to Object Parts 95Chapter 7: Mapping Textures 97Wrapping Texture Maps about Objects without Messy Glues 98Positioning Textures with UV Coordinates 100Offsetting a texture 100Scaling a texture 101Rotating a texture 101Tiling a texture 101Creating Seamless Textures That Tile Together: Look Ma, No Seams 103Creating noisy tiles 104Filling a solid tile 104Matching opposite edges 104Creating Raised Texture with Bump and Displacement Maps 106Using bump maps 106Using displacement maps 107Creating Realistic Environments with Textures 107Using reflection maps 108Adding a background image 109Creating a skybox for backdrops 110Painting on Textures to Add Dirt and Grime 111Efficiently Coloring Objects with Vertex Colors 113Baking Textures for Quick Model Loading 113Chapter 8: Creating Effective Lighting 115Starting with a Basic Three-Point Lighting Configuration 116Exploring the Different Light Types 117Point light 117Area light 117Direct light 117Ambient light 117Spot light 117Creating Lights 118Changing Light Properties 120Using light color 120Changing light intensity 120Enabling shadows 122Setting falloff 124Using Light Special Effects 124Adding lens flares 124Adding fog 126Making glowing lights 126Creating Realistically Lighted Scenes with Raytracing, Radiosity, and Global Illumination 128Raytracing 128Radiosity 129Global illumination 129Creating a Prelighted Map for Quick Scene Loading 130Part III: Designing, Modeling, and Animating Game Characters 131Chapter 9: Techniques for Modeling Characters 133Modeling Methods 134Knowing when to buy instead of build 134Creating low-polygon models 134Using symmetry 134Using a default stance 134Using mesh smooth features 135Modeling the Torso 135Chamfering edges 137Sculpting muscles 137Cutting limb holes 141Creating and Attaching Limbs 142Tapering limbs 144Lofting limbs 146Connecting limbs 146Bridging limbs 148Modeling Hands and Feet 148Extruding fingers 148Adding a thumb 150Modeling shoes 151Creating toes 153Adding nails 153Connecting hands and feet 153Mirroring the Body 155Making the Body Proportional 156Getting “Ahead”: Creating a Head 158Extruding a neck 159Using Booleans 160Modeling the windows to the soul: Creating eyes 161Creating a nose 164Creating ears 166Creating a mouth 166Adding facial hair 168Sculpting the head 168Creating Hair 170Adding Accessory Props 170Modeling clothes 170Dressing a head 171Adding jewelry 171Embedding weapons and props 171Chapter 10: Discovering the Basics of 3D Animation 173Pacing an Animation with Frame Rates: What’s the Going Rate? 174Changing the frame rate 175Setting the total number of frames 176Moving the Time Slider to select a frame 176Creating Simple Animations with Keyframes 177Animating an object by creating position keyframes 177Animating an object with rotation and scale keyframes 179Creating an attribute keyframe 181Locating keyframes with the Animation Controls 183Copying and pasting keyframes 184Automating the creation of keyframes with Auto Keyframing 184Moving an Object Along a Path 184Animating an object moving along a path 185Tracking an object’s motion with trajectories 185Ghosting objects to get a sense of their motion 186Using Animation Editors 187Viewing animation graphs 187Synchronizing animation keys 188Chapter 11: Animating Characters 193Rigging Characters to Move Realistically 194Creating a skeleton that lies under the character 194Setting constraints so the object doesn’t move when it shouldn’t 198Controlling character motion with kinematics 199Creating a Realistic Skin 201Skinning a character 201Setting a bone’s influence 202Adding deformations to create muscle bulges 203Animating with Bones 204Integrating Motion Capture for the Ultimate in Realistic Motion 207Lots of dots: Motion capture hardware 207Unique motion capture systems 208Buying motion 208Chapter 12: Animating Facial Movements 209Creating Morph Targets: The Character of a Thousand Faces 210Working on a clone 210Creating a blend control 211Learning to Talk: Speaking the Basic Phonemes 213Syncing Facial Movements with a Soundtrack 213Building Controls for Handling Eye Movements 214Chapter 13: Automating Reactions with Dynamics 217Incorporating Physics: I’m Glad I Don’t Have to Calculate This by Hand 217Soft and rigid body objects 218Special object types 218Making objects immovable 218Defining Physical Properties Such as Gravity and Friction 220Defining object properties 221Defining forces 221Using constraints 223Part IV: Animating Game Cut Scenes 227Chapter 14: Animating Scene Elements 229Using Cut Scenes: All the Stuff That Happens Between Game Levels 230The pregame show 230Introducing the game 230Explaining the game 231Tell a story with animation 231Presenting High-Resolution Images: What to Do After the Animations Are Finished 231Rendering backgrounds 231Rendering a title screen 231Rendering marketing materials 231Animating Cut Scenes: No Limits 232Modeling for cut scenes: I can use NURBS! 232Animating cameras: I finally have a chance to control the camera! 234Animating lights (and not just a flashlight) 236Animating textures: Just like television 237Chapter 15: Animating with Particles 241Creating Special Effects with Particles: A Treat for All the Pyromaniacs 241Creating smoke and dust 242Creating fire 242Creating clouds 242Pinpointing a Particle’s Starting Location with Particle Emitters 244Using emitter types 244Using an object as an emitter 245Configuring Particle Systems: Randomness Is the Name of the Game 246Setting particle rate 246Setting particle life span 247Setting particle shape and size 247Spawning new particles 247Changing particle materials 247Creating a Blizzard: Combining Particles with Dynamics 249Creating a Custom Particle with Instanced Objects: When Simple Shaped Particles Aren’t Enough 251Chapter 16: Rendering an Animation 253Creating Test Renders: Try It before You Buy It 253Using the Render View window 254Rendering an area 255Selecting a view and range 256Making animation previews 256Exploring the Rendering Options 257Selecting a format 258Setting resolution 258Using network rendering 258Adding Effects at the Last Minute 258Enabling anti-aliasing 259Using the depth of field effect 259Adding atmospheric effects 260Adding motion blur 260Raytracing Images for Realism 261Cartoon Rendering: Saturday Morning Will Never Be the Same 262Part V: The Part of Tens 265Chapter 17: Ten Types of Tools Used by Game Companies 267Introducing Your New Best Friend: 3D Modeling, Rendering, and Animation Tools 268Maya 2693ds max 269Softimage XSI 269Lightwave 270Remembering Your Old Friends: 2D Painting and Drawing Tools 270Photoshop 271Illustrator 271Painter 271Z-Brush 271Getting a Little Extra Realism: 3D Rendering Systems 272Brazil Rendering System 272Mental Ray Rendering System 272Putting All the Pieces Together: Compositing Packages 272After Effects 273Combustion 273Digital Fusion 273Removing What Shouldn’t Be There: Video Editing Tools 273Premiere 274Final Cut Pro 274Taking Your Designs Online: Web Creation Tools 274Flash 274GoLive 274Making Your Voice Heard: Audition, an Audio Editing Tool 275Animating Characters the Easy Way: Motion Capture Systems 275Vicon Motion Systems 275Motion Analysis 276Animating a Talking Face: Lip Synching Systems 276LifeStudio: HEAD 276LipSync 276Speaking the Programmers’ Language: 3D Programming Tools 276DirectX 277OpenGL 277Chapter 18: Ten Creative Jobs in the Animation Industry 279Producer/Director 280Game Designer 280Game Artists 2813D Modeler 282Lighting Director 283Animator 283Special Effects Artist 284Tester 284Grunt 285Trainer 285Chapter 19: Ten Ways to Land a Job as a 3D Game Animator 287Gaining the Necessary Experience: First Things First 288Developing software skills 288Getting involved in creating games 289Studying games 290Finding Animation Programs and Schools 290Knowing which degree to earn 291Knowing which courses to take 292Showing Off: Creating an Awesome Demo Reel 293Creating a demo reel 294Labeling a demo reel 295Sending out demo reels 295Establishing a Web Presence 295Securing a domain name 296Building an amazing Web site 296Adding your work to an online gallery 297Getting Feedback and Exposure 298Entering Web animation contests 298Entering animation festivals 299Improving Your Skills 299Learning from books 299Training by video 300Using Web tutorials 300Attending workshops 300Joining a user group 300Attending Animation Conferences 300Joining a Professional Organization 301Knowing the Right People 302Working Your Way Up 302Getting your foot in the door 302Getting on a beta test team 303Starting as a junior animator 303Making an internal move 304Being Persistent 304Appendix A: Using Game Engine Tools 305Selecting a Game Engine 305Using Game Engine Tools 308Creating a User Interface 308Accessing the GUI Editor 309Creating a new GUI page 310Adding controls and commands to a GUI page 312Using the Mission Editor 313Accessing the Mission Editor 315Creating a terrain 316Adjusting the Terraform 318Texturing the terrain 319Populating the environment 321Moving objects 323Defining the Scene Environment 323Loading Maya Files into the Game Engine 326Installing a DTS Export Utility 326Changing default units 327Exporting a Maya object 328Viewing exported objects 329Exporting textured objects 330Exporting animation sequences 332Making models available in the Mission Editor 333Creating Interiors 334Appendix B: Glossary of Animation Terms 337Appendix C: Directory of Animation Schools 351The Art Institutes 351Ringling School of Art and Design 351Full Sail 352California Institute of the Arts 352Vancouver Film School 352Sheridan College 352Savannah College of Art and Design 352DigiPen Institute of Technology 353Parsons School of Design 353Digital Media Arts College 353Ex’pression College for Digital Arts 353Vancouver Institute of Media Arts 353Academy of Art University 354Gnomon, School of Visual Effects for Film, Television and Games 354Oregon3D 354Index 355