Description:
Whether or not you've got a background in traditional character animation, Character Animation in Depth can help you learn the art of creating animated figures in the digital realm. The author, Doug Kelly, offers hands-on techniques for building eye-catching and credible characters in a variety of tools. He reviews essentially the entire 3-D-graphics software market at the beginning of the book, and throughout the book he teaches you about how to harness the specific capabilities of some of these programs, such as 3D Studio MAX and trueSpace3. But in general, you can apply his advice to whatever 3-D modeling and animation program you prefer. Kelly focuses on helping you make (or build on) a career in character animation. He advises you on producing a demo reel for prospective employers and on making entire animated films. You begin by learning how to collaborate with an animation-production team and create a storyboard, script, soundtrack, and timing sheets as you create a story reel. The second part of the book focuses on character modeling. You learn how to design figures and faces and work with modeling tools to fine-tune form and texture. Advanced projects include casting from life and working with laser-scan data. Part three, "Texturing," helps you define base attributes and learn about texture maps and material placement. There's a good deal of hands-on help on making and applying 2-D maps for heads, wrinkles, and more. Advanced tools here include 3-D paint tools and shaders. In part four, "Setup," you learn how to prepare your characters for animation using replacement and displacement animation techniques. You also use the concepts of position, orientation, aim, and roll constraints to define your figures' movements. Here you also learn about switching, mixing, and blending constraints. Part five, "Animating," introduces you to the basic issues of character animation, including camera animation, timing, spline and keyframe controls, and shot composition. You focus on creating movements that reflect a character's personality, partly through the constraints that define a character's range of movements. You animate a basic walk and a caricature walk and work with balance and mass to produce staggers, double takes, and extreme takes--elements of classic (cartoon) animation. Part six, "Post-Animation Production," teaches you about lighting, rendering, compositing effects, title design, finishing touches, and final output. Finally, you get guidance on starting out in the animation industry, whether as part of an animation team or as a self-employed animator. Appendices include a glossary of digital and traditional animation terms, a bibliography, and directories of contributing artists, studios, and software companies. A full-color section shows various models by contributing artists as well as images from the book's projects. Files for these projects are included on the accompanying CD-ROM. You'll also find script templates, sample storyboards, and clips from animated films. --Kathleen Caster
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