I have talked to several people about making their own animated series and telling their own stories.
There are many people with large ideas on what they want to create but sometimes they are limited in what they can do in way of TALENT. Some folks no matter how hard they try will never really ever be able to draw, 3d model, etc. But that doesn’t mean you cannot tell stories.
I remember in 1998 when I first saw Poser. I believe it was Poser 2.0. It had some ugly looking models and such but at that moment I could see the potential. It made my imagination fly. At the time I couldn’t model. It was out of my skill set. Poser at the time was very limited but then came Poser 4.0. From that point on I was totally hooked. I think I’ve bought every Poser version that came out since except 11 at this point. I really want 11.
But starting from 4.0 it allowed me to start making all kinds of animations, very quickly.
I wish I had all my animations but here are some animations I did with Poser 4.
I know not the best but those were my first attempts.
Here is a link to some more work. No just remember there was no streaming back then so I had to build it more on being able to get it small enough to be online.
http://www.newgrounds.com/portal/view/146408
Now I know those are quite crude but it was years ago.
The reason I write this article is I know there are tons of storytellers out there who want to tell a story. I’m sure you would love to have artists help you create all these cool worlds. But the truth is they won’t. It is a lot of work and you could go on for decades looking to create a team of skilled folks who you will work together with to make a cool project and usually only then it is a short or some fan film.
No you want to tell stories and so do I. The truth is Poser made me understand and see that I could do it on my own if no one else would help me.
Combined with ZBrush and other methods Poser is a very powerful tool that could help you bring your stuff to life especially if you apply a little imagination and ingenuity.
Now there are other folks in on the game as well including MakeHuman, Daz3d and Iclone.
Yes you can make your anime in full 3d animation. I am here to tell you it is not as hard as you think. In fact it may be a little easier than 2d style and give you the full on animation. Remember I shared several different methods with you. Each method can be used to quickly and creatively produce a visual story.
I personally like 3d animation because once the assets are done the creation of animation can move so much more quickly. I will mention though that a few tricks you would use in 2d would not work as well. For example a common trick in anime is to pan a 2d picture and hold that one frame. In 3d you almost constantly have to be moving unless celshaded or if it is more 2d rendered in nature and even still it may look a little weird. Another drawback is creating all those assets. It is very difficult and takes a lot of time.
BUT….
Once you create those assets you can reuse them over and over again and in any angle and even change the entire style. And that is where you can really take off. A ton of lone animators work using 3d to speed up the pace but also to raise the quality level a bit that might not be achievable in 2d. 2d does have a certain warmth to it but for the visual storyteller 3d may be your best bet for speed and quality.
But then again I think this 3d rendering of Snoopy in 2d captures it really well and adds a depth I do not think possible in 2d full animation. It feels so warm and fuzzy.
So imagine the above if you have a 3d model. You can easily reposition it, move it around, animate and render it in any angle and have them do anything.
3d can give you a real advantage if you do not want to draw frame by frame and do not want limited animation or the 2d tween/puppet style animation.
M Dot strange was able to in the last 10 years create 3 FULL Length animated features using 3d.
Dave was able to make this in about 18 months I believe.
Jeff Lew made this full animated feature in 3 years.
The World Gone Mad was created in 5 months.
The point is that you can make a series or a full fledged movie and it will not takeyou an eternity to do it utilizing 3d. I would say if you use some shortcuts and tricks you would greatly speed up you work and could possibly get a good average of about 3-6 minutes of animation a month, maybe even more. All it really takes is the models that are rigged and ready to move. The quality really depends on you.
I made this in less than 3 hours.
I mean it is not a master piece by any means but it gives you the idea of the speed and quality that can be achieved using some shortcuts.
The question is “What if I don’t know how to 3d model?”
Well the answer is there are tons of resources out there that provide you with 3d models that you can “Kit Bash” or just find the right outfit.
Poser, Daz 3d, IClone, MMD (freeware Anime making software).
All of these can be used to make an animated series, cartoon, anime, etc.
People may laugh, especially in the CG/Special FX and 3d community for using pre-made models and a program that seems like a toy or digital Barbie doll but the tools are what you make of them. (That is another post all together)
Here is an example of Poser being used in Animation
Mac Wave Studios has some great work.
Could your movie look like that? YES! Using pre-built props and characters. I don’t want to make it sound so easy but basically the scene above looks like Victoria from Daz 3d, background looks like something StoneMason created which you can purchase at Daz3d.com and some Mocap files with some great rendering and lighting in Cinema 4d.
All those things are now available to you.
What? Even MOCAP. Yes. Mocap has gotten cheaper and easier to use.
http://ipisoft.com/ here is a link to cheap Mocap Sofware.
http://brekel.com/ here is a free Mocap Software.
IClone’s pro package has MOCAP built into it.
Both of these 2 software packages use a Kinect Camera connected to a computer. Go to Amazon.com and get one for 45-150 usd.
Or if you do not have Mocap you can do something like this.
Addressing the folks who may laugh at you for using Poser, Daz3d, IClone, or MMD please check out the animations below.
Rosa was made using what looks like Aiko 4 or 5. Definitely Daz characters. This animation was made in about 1 year by 1 person.
RWBY is now a very popular US made Anime series created by Monty Oum. He uses Poser to animate with more custom characters. He has some great making of videos and tutorials. You can glean a lot from watching others work.
One of my favorite up and coming artists uses FREEWARE MMD to create animated shows. Kel-Chan is featured here. She uses “Kit Bashing” which basically is using bits and pieces from one character to the next to make original characters.
http://www.newgrounds.com/portal/view/650267
The point is you can do some really cool stuff using 3d and you can get alot done. Add some imagination and creative thinking and you can create something worth watching.
