subject: Avoid Walkthroughs 3D Animations [print this page] Author: Daniel Kreimer Author: Daniel Kreimer
Avoid walkthroughs? What sacrilege! One of the reasons you got involved in 3D modeling in the first place was because you could do walkthroughs. Architectural walkthroughs are sometimes necessary, but you will seldom see a good one that was worth the effort and heartache expended producing it. Before your camera starts walking, ask yourself: - What is the point?
- What is the benefit?
- What is the cost?" Think about 3D modeling a school building and using it as example, a slow 20 degree orbit of the exterior, a slow, short approach to the entry, and a camera pan and zoom on a detail might give all the information needed with great impact. A fly-around, a run to and through the entry, and miles of high speed trips down boring corridors and up through atrium space make the audience very uncomfortable and leave you prone to problems with lighting, shadows, and animation glitches. Watch movies and adopt some of their editing techniques, such as cuts and fades. If you count the seconds any scene is active before a cut or fade, it is seldom more than 10 seconds (300 frames) and often less than three seconds (90 frames). You will then compare the details from several distances as an example of some options available for saving time and resources. Render the scene from different camera distances and notice how close you must come to an object before the details start to show up. From the File pull down menu, pick Summary Info and compare the face and vertex count of each object.Several features are built into your 3D program as great enhancements to productivity, but they are often overlooked or not fully utilized. Some of these productivity tools are: Snap Settings, Grid Helpers, Tape, Protractor Helpers and Sections. About the Author:
