Introduction to 3D - Module Overview [University]

In this project, I began learning the basics of the 3D software Cinema 4D. At the beginning, I had very limited knowledge about how 3D animations are created or the tools that are used and had never used any 3D animation software nor had I created anything in a 3D space before. This project allowed me to take a look into how 3D animations can begin to be developed and has given me the opportunity to try it for myself. I have learned a variety of new skills in the software, such as modelling, how to add materials and texture, how to animate etc.

I only have a fairly small amount of research for the brief since the objectives of the brief were mostly with learning and experimenting with using the 3D software. I have found that the research I have done has influenced me in a number of ways that I can make use of in my future work, such as ways to shade, light a scene, use the camera and tell a narrative. This information is beneficial as it can be applied to work not only with 3D animation, but 2D animation, storyboarding and more.

Although I found it interesting to learn about the tools and try some experiments for myself, I found this project difficult. Not because of the theme or subject matter, but just because I thought that learning the basics and trying to use the tools was much harder than I expected it to be, and it was easy for me to make mistakes or not be able to continue working when I couldn’t figure out how to proceed or how to fix my mistakes. I did find the animation side of this enjoyable because the timeline in Cinema 4D works very similarly to the timeline in Adobe After Effects. Since I used After Effects for a previous project, it was simple enough for me to get the hang of moving my objects, changing values and adding key-frames in Cinema 4D. Also, playing around with the textures and their values was interesting.

If I had planned my time a bit better and had given myself a little wiggle room at the end, I would have gone back and done a lot more experimentation. As it stands, I have a good amount for workshops, but I really wanted to try making some of my own projects in 3D. For example, I was planning on creating a record player and animating it so that the vinyl would spin around on the turntable and also wanted to create a 3D version of the TV animation I did for the last project. In addition, I had wanted to do some responses to the Short of the Week animations I looked at - testing out that stop-motion style movement like in Beat and attempting to model a building and use cel shading like in In The Distance.

Likewise, if I had managed my time better and allowed myself more time, I would have looked at a few more animations for inspiration to analyse, and also would have looked at a variety of 3D animation in other parts of the industry, like in video games such as Spyro or Mario and in TV/films like Toy Story.

A positive with the project is that, now that I have learned some of the basics of Cinema 4D like simple modelling and tags etc., I can look at maybe trying to apply my knowledge of software again in the future for other projects. For instance, I am looking into 3D CGI for Research & Development, so I could always try to make something using the 3D software. Similarly, with my next character design brief, I can design my character and test them out in different mediums, one of which can be 3D.