CGI Animation Production Company in Los Angeles
Animation has certainly come a long way over the past few decades – I’m sure we all remember with great fondness the traditional hand-drawn animation present in classic Disney movies such as “Snow White” and “Lion King”. Animation was, and still is, an incredible way to tell a story thanks to how flexible it is – you can play with colours, shapes and visuals however you wish to convey emotions accurately in subtle or exaggerated manners. Truly, animation is the best way to give your content personality. Back in the day, each frame was drawn individually by hand which, while resulting in stunning, captivating visuals that offer a nostalgic feel, proved to be a long, tedious process (as you can probably imagine). In comes computer generated imagery (or, more concisely, CGI) – popularised by Pixar with the release of Toy Story in 1995, and then subsequent hits such as “Monsters Inc.”, “The Incredibles” and “Finding Nemo”, computer animation has leapt to the top and become the preferred method of animation for many film companies, even going so far as to push traditional animation out of the picture. Even Disney has made the shift following the acquisition of Pixar in 2006, producing CGI movies such as “Frozen” and “Tangled”, both of which ended up being far more popular than one of their last traditionally-animated films, “Princess and the Frog”. CGI itself has evolved drastically over the last couple of decades, too – just compare the animation quality of “Toy Story” and 2019’s “Toy Story 4” and you will definitely see the difference. Another recent title that displays gorgeous and outstandingly realistic CGI is Marvel’s “Avengers: Infinity War”, as well as its sequel “Avengers: Endgame”. Done right, computer animation can generate visuals and tell stories just as well, if not sometimes better than traditional animation. CGI doesn’t only have to be used in movies, either; you can see it almost everywhere nowadays, from television series to commercials, and even in video games. It can be a great addition to promotional content to make it more visually engaging and interesting, as well as entertaining. You can use it to explain concepts in a way that is far more easy-to-understand and compelling than simple verbal explanations are.
How to Produce CGI Animation
Just because CGI animation may seem easier to produce than traditional animation, the truth is that some aspects of it can be just as difficult and tedious as its predecessor, if not occasionally more so. As such, it takes a highly skilled team to carry out such production, which is why if you want to include elements of computer animation into your commercial then your best bet would be to hire a CGI animation production company such as Beast Los Angeles. Our team consists of skilled, experienced individuals that know how to create high-quality and effective CGI visuals. There are several main steps that are carried out almost universally to produce a CGI animation, each of which being just as important as the other.
Script and Storyboard
One of the first things that needs to be done in the CGI animation production process is producing a script. The script will dictate the characters present in the scene as well as their poses, the backgrounds, and the dialogue, all presented in chronological order. This makes the later animation process significantly easier for the animators as they’ll have a structure to follow, making the final product a lot more comprehensible. Storyboarding also helps with this by displaying the story you are going to tell via a sequence of 2D illustrations which showcase the rough ideas of characters, environments, poses and camera angles.
3D Modelling
Once the script and storyboard have been laid out, we can begin modelling the props, characters, and background. This process involves transforming a shape into a 3D mesh, which you will then map a texture onto to give the model its colour and design. Once you have your complete model, you will then “rig and skin” it, which will allow you to make the model move about and be put into several poses. This step is important in order to make your characters walk and talk.
Animation
Now we get into the meat of it all – the actual animation process. Now that your story is laid out and your models ready to go, you can begin animating them. This can either be done through keyframe animation, where the model is manipulated frame-by-frame in a similar fashion to traditional animation, or through other methods such as using physics engines or moving objects about splines.
Final Revision
More challenging aspects of the CGI animation such as lighting and textures are put into the animation once the movements and environments are completed. Textures can include things such as hair, as well as realistic-looking skin (think Thanos’ skin texture in “Avengers: Infinity War”). Lighting is also incredibly important in making your models seem more realistic; this includes shadow placement and reflections of light. Once these aspects are done, your CGI animation is ready to go!
