There are many stages that go into the production of a 3D animated piece. Here is a breakdown of the process:
Stage 1 – Story
First and foremost, the story is formulated. They can come from children’s books, comics personal experiences, historical events and more. It starts with a vision from the director of what they would like to produce so that everyone on the team can start working towards the same goal. A script is produced for the idea before it is developed into a storyboard.
Stage 2 – Editorial
Here, things like animatics are made to be shown to directors, producers and studio executives so that they can see a visual representation of the early stages of the story development. The lead editor begins to build sequences from the images of the animatic. Editors and other staff can input temporary voice acting and temp tracks for this stage so that the sequences can be built up more accurately around soundtracks and dialogue. This is important so that the team can figure out the nature of the film as they go along.
Stage 3 – Art
This department consists of visual development artists who, using various types of media whether it be digital, traditional or others, create what the film looks like. This includes the characters, environments, props and any other main aspects. They pitch these designs to the director to see if what they’ve created is suitable for the idea. The director will request any changes if need be.
Stage 4 – Modelling
This department handles building characters, environments and props using 3D software. The modellers receive the information on what to work on from the art department. They create wireframes of characters and sculpt them so that they look the best they can from any angle.
Stage 5 – Rigging
Riggers design how characters move by placing joints, muscle and fat underneath the skin. They insert controls that control any wrinkles and indents that would appear on the character with certain movements to make them more realistic and naturalistic.
Stage 6 – Surfacing
Surfacing artists add colour and texture, giving characteristics that correspond to the nature of the surface that they are working on. This includes how light would interact with that material as well.
Stage 7 – Rough Layout
At this stage, the information from storyboards is referred to and re-created in a 3D space with a 3D camera in which the scenes take place. Staff determine the cinematography, initial staging and more for the characters.
Stage 8 – Final Layout
Here, the shots are prepared for animation – this is called anim prep. They create a master shot a replace the simplified geometric characters with the high-resolution versions supplied from the modelling, rigging and surfacing departments. They place the characters in a starting position so that they can then be animated by the animation department in the next stage. After the shot is animated, it comes back to this department for them to add any final set dressing. They also apply a stereo pass which is where they set where the left and the right eye would be following throughout the shot and strive to create an immersive experience.
Stage 9 – Animation
Here, the CG puppets of the characters are posed in their key movements of animation. Animators work out controls that are allocated to key movements of the characters by using real-life references. References are most often recorded within the team to get the angles and movement that they specifically want. Other than that, they can refer to external sources such as videos online. They are in charge of bringing out the personality of the characters.
Stage 10 – Crowds
The crowds department is in charge of the extras. They animate the background characters by creating a library of different actions that are applied to a ‘brain’ which is used to decide which action should take place and when.
Stage 11 – Character Effects
This department is responsible for designing the reactions of what characters interact with. These can include hair dynamics, fur, bot mechanics and more.
Stage 12 – FX
Particle-based engines are used to produce explosions, demolitions, water movement and more within this department. The small features such as footprints that add more substance to the piece are also handled here.
Stage 13 – Matte Painting
The matte painting department takes care of the background behind the modelled environments. This can include things like skies, mountains and cityscapes. The art department supplies them with colour keys that give them an idea of what they want to see in the backgrounds. They also paint pieces to go in the background using the modelled environments that exist beyond the set and the colour keys from the art department.
Stage 14 – Lighting
The lighting department applies computer-animated lights to the models and scene and put them together with the cameras, animation to check that the desired feel of the scene is conveyed. They then use compositing software to combine these aspects with the matte painting to get an overview of the final shot.
Stage 15 – Image Finalising
Image finagling artists clean up imperfections that shouldn’t be in the final render.
Stage 16 – Sound Design
A composer is used to create music that enhances the experience and heightens the emotion of the story. The diegetic and non-diegetic is equalised for the finishing piece.
Stage 17 – Marketing & Distribution
Companies then work to advertise their finished product to gain traction and interest building up to the official public release.
Within a production pipeline, anything could go wrong at any time. For example, the software could crash whilst staff are sculpting characters or painting backgrounds and not only would this lead to the potential loss of hours of work, but it would also consume time, having to get the program working again and re-doing what they’ve already done.
Having a schedule within an animation pipeline is very important because each stage within the process is very time-consuming in itself. A schedule will give staff a set period of time to work in to ensure that their finished product reaches the next stage in time so that the whole project is completed when expected and there won’t be any delays in getting the finished project to the paying client.
It’s helpful for staff to know other areas of the pipeline because it means that there will be more than one person that can help out in that area if necessary. Also, having versatile staff will ensure that communication between stages is a lot easier. For instance, if the person at the next stage has an understanding of what the person before them is doing, they will be able to point out what has been done with the product that they have been provided with, know how to work with it and how to work on top of it.
Financially, this is positive as it means that you won’t need as many members who specialise in a certain area which ultimately brings costs down by not having to have hired as many people.
Jasmine Cooper 