3D Visualization and 3D Animation

What are 3D visualization, 3D animation and CGI? What are their advantages and how can you use them for your products and services?

What exactly 3D visualization is and how to best use it. Perhaps you are also faced with the question whether you should have a visualization created for you. Then this article is exactly what you need and also check Animation Singapore for more info.

What is a 3D visualization?

It first describes the representation of virtual models in a three-dimensional space. These can be simple or complex 3D models. It doesn’t necessarily have to be individual objects. When visualizing interiors, for example, many objects are put together in a 3D space.

Floors, interior walls and windows are objects or surfaces that represent a virtual space. The pure representation of a 3D model on the computer screen is already a 3D visualization.

What is rendering and what is 3D rendering?

Now you know that the pure representation on the screen is already a 3D visualization. Which is not bad for the beginning. But it only becomes really interesting when we can output it in some form, right? And exactly this process is called “rendering” in 3D computer graphics. When rendering, the software calculates the final image.
Unlike 2D graphics, the image will not simply be saved. The display on the screen shows the viewer the current scene.

It consists of objects that usually have certain material properties. There are also light sources for illumination. Last but not least, at least one virtual camera is part of the scene. They define the position and the viewing direction of the viewer. Now it becomes clear why the software cannot simply save the image. Several tasks have to be solved during the calculation.

What is shading?

Shading calculates the colors of the surfaces and the light directly incident on them. However, the direct illumination of other surfaces is not taken into account.

How does the masking calculation work?

In a scene with several objects, they can obscure each other. Depending on the angle from which the scene is viewed. The so-called raytracing is used for the masking calculation. An algthm based on the emission of rays. The principle is similar to that of a pinhole camera. Only that in raytracing the direction is reversed.

Depending on the surface, the emitted light particle is either refracted, absorbed or reflected into the interior of the object. With the exception of metals. Here the light cannot be refracted into the interior. In addition, non-metallic objects scatter the light inside them. This results in an overall soft appearance. This property of light is called volume scattering. We do not take it consciously in everyday life. But every non-metallic object breaks and scatters light differently inside. The 3D visualization is only photorealistic when the volume scattering of the rendering matches the material.

What is a 3D animation?

The word animation comes from the Latin “animare” and means “to awaken life”. In an animation, a moving image is created from many individual images. By the way, this technique is always used when we see films. On television, in the cinema or on YouTube. From a frequency of about 24 frames per second, we get an almost fluid movement. This makes 3D animation an extension of 3D visualization.

In the final rendering, at least 24 frames per second are calculated and a video format is written. Surely you know the term CGI. Or you have already heard it somewhere. CGI is the technical term for Computer Generated Imagery. The term stands for images created in 3D for computer simulation, film production and visual effects. These film images can only be created on the computer or combined with real images. The first CGI film scene appeared on the cinema screen in 1977 and lasted about 40 seconds. It was the animated wireframe model of the Death Star in Star Wars. But how are the actual movements created?

Keyframing animation and interpolation

There are at least two keyframes in classic keyframe animation. The start frame and the end frame. Now, for example, the object to be animated can be placed in a different position in the end frame. Then the interframes in between are generated by the computer. They are interpolated. This process is also called tweening (from the English in betweendt. between, in between). It ensures a smooth process – from the first to the last frame of the animation.

3D animation about hierarchical objects

The objects are organized in a tree-like structure. They are connected with each other and have a relative positioning to each other. As a constructor this structure is well known. This is because assemblies are organized in the same way in the CAD program.

Let’s assume you want to animate a robot arm. Then this robot certainly has various joint types and other moving parts. All connected in one component and movable in their function. The animation of assemblies of this type takes place using kinematic techniques. This is already integrated in many CAD programs.