3D Animation in a nutshell: by Morph

If you have wandered onto this post, you probably have a general understanding of what 3D Animation is. It's difficult not to watch a movie that hasn't used 3D Animation in one way or another to produce stunning visual effects and highly engaging characters. You need only look at movies like King Kong and Transformers: The Movie to realize how far 3D Animation has progressed in such a short time. Knowing that, the objective of this post is to either reaffirm what you already know or have you questioning what you thought you knew about 3D Animation and it's ever developing industry.
Simply put, 3D Animation is just animation within a 3D environment. The length to which 3D Animation is used within that environment depends largely on what is required. As a not-so-newbie newbie to the 3D Animation industry, I have learnt a great deal of things about what I thought I knew about 3D Animation. First off, the field of 3D Animation covers a broad range of lesser fields, the main ones consisting of modeling, texturing, rigging, animation, dynamic simulation, scripting and rendering. Each field in itself deserves its own moment in the spotlight so I will keep this post on the topic of 3D Animation in a Nutshell and will talk about these fields in larger detail in later posts.
Because 3D Animation is so expansive and dynamic a field as technology makes it easier for artists to visualize their work, it's easy to become lost within the many lesser fields within itself. Luckily, most 3D Animation enthusiasts do not possess the ability to perfect all fields. For example, someone who is good at modeling and texturing, may not be as good at scripting and rigging. Likewise, a person who is capable at animation may not have lighting and rendering as a strength. Does this mean 3D Animation is too impossible a field to create a career out of? You could not be further from the truth concerning 3D Animation. Because it is always developing, 3D Animation has the benefit of enjoying growing appeal from more and more 3D Animation enthusiasts than ever before. With modelers turning into lighting TD's and animators becoming proficient at dynamics simulation and rigging, there are more than enough opportunities to learn and grow in the 3D Animation industry.
And that, my fellow readers, is the challenge of learning 3D Animation. With so many avenues to pursue and so many places to stop and learn new tools and skill sets, we are given the awesome opportunity to become whatever we want. In reality, this is the way a MMORPG should be played. A kid uses 40+ hours on his computer playing an online game that lets him level-up his character a few levels on a bad week, signing off at the end with nothing more to show for it than a few game props and typing cramp. I on the other hand, can invest 40+ hours of my time modeling a character that'll put that kid's avatar to shame. 3D Animation provides the applications and means for me to create a character as realistic as technologically possible. Thanks to 3D Animation, I might also choose to design props, be they weapons or vehicles which will have you wincing in pain or whining in jealousy. If I so choose, 3D Animation makes it possible for me to create an environment for my character that could hold it's own against that of the Crysis or Unreal in-game environments. I could also make a short animation for my character within this environment, all thanks to 3D Animation.
Now sure, a kid might still enjoy playing a game that contains all of these things and more, but heck, why would I waste my time in a game created by someone else, controlled by their own rules and regulated by their own standards when I have the ability to develop my own. Need I say more..? I hope not but just in case, doing this as well as so much more is all possible because of 3D Animation.