3D

3D is the art of taking models, created by math equations, made in a modeler, and rendering them using a 3D renderer. The result is an image or animation that can often be almost photo realistic.

Fast facts:

1. 3D is used in most motion pictures
2. 3D is easy to learn, hard to master

Typical 3D work flow

A typical 3D work flow to create a final image or animation involves several steps.

First, a modeler has to be used to create 3D models. Textures have to be applied, such as bricks, wood or metal, and then settings have to be set for each texture to configure lighting, reflection, refraction, transparency and so on. The result is called shading. Then those models have to be positioned and placed in a scene. That can be done in the modeling software, or in a compositing software.

Characters can be added. They have to be modeled in the same way, but they also have to be rigged in order to animate them, and then posed in the wanted position and with a facial expression. Finally, a landscape has to be created, including an atmosphere, sun and so on if the scene is outdoors.

The last step is rendering a final image or series of images using a renderer, and possibly doing post-production work in an image editing software such as Photoshop.

Some well known 3D software

1. Autodesk 3D Studio Max
2. Autodesk Maya
3. Blender
4. DAZ3D Carrara
5. DAZ3D Bryce
6. E-On Software Vue
7. Google Sketchup
8. Pixologic Zbrush
9. Poser
10. Pov Ray

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