RichardAn animatic is a series of storyboard images that have been timed into a pre-visualization video to preview an animated film, show, or video game. Animatics vary greatly in detail according to the length of animation and budget. Some are static storyboard frames showing just the timing of shots. Other types of animatics include more…
RichardFalloff maps are a type of map that can be found in most 3D & game engines. These maps can change the color of an object when parts of it start to face away from the camera. The render engine will calculate the angles of parts of your geometry in relation to the camera position,…
RichardProcedural textures are textures (sometimes also called maps) that are generated by the computer using a fixed set of parameters. This means that the computer can make unique variations of a texture all by itself! The process used to do this is called procedural generation. Procedural generation is a blanket term for when a computer…
RichardThe main difference between polygonal and NURBS modeling is the way the mesh is calculated by the computer. For polygon modeling it calculates polygons, which are flat planes that comprise a 3D shape (the way that a cube is made out of 6 squares for example). NURBS calculates the mesh as splines between points, which…
RichardLOD stands for level of detail, and it’s the process of making less detailed versions of your models that are viewed when they’re further away from the camera. This lowers the strain on the computer allowing it to render more objects while maintaining a high frame rate. There are generally 2 parts of the model…
RichardThe main difference between high and low polygon modeling is exactly what the name implies: whether you use a high number of polygons in your model, or a low number. However there are other things to take into consideration when deciding the detail and poly level of each model. Most notably the textures you use…
RichardA shader is an extra bit of code that is added to a render of a scene (or any other post production method). Shaders can alter visuals by changing the way textures and lighting are displayed, sometimes in ways that would be impossible with other techniques. Shaders were originally designed to alter just the actual…
