Computers & Programming

A lot of people have thought of making their own low-budget movies. And by this I don’t mean just simply editing movie clips together that are taken on a family vacation or something. It’s obvious that hiring professional actors is an expensive option and if you think that taking your friends on as actors should be a cheaper option then maybe you need to think twice, since most of your friends won’t make very good actors. This is why making 3D animation movies has now become a popular low cost option.

When computers first made their entry, it took them a while (many years) to actually improvise themselves and get good enough graphics, even the stationary ones. But over the years, the quality of graphics has been getting better and better, not only when it comes to rendering still scenes, but also for hardcore animations as well. Unfortunately, since most of the big time Hollywood studios can afford the higher powered software and hardware, it has become something close to inaccessible to many of the amateur movie makers.

The high prices of professional 3D animation software have led to the evolution of machinima. In machinima, cheaper computer games are used to record your 3D animated movie clips. There are many computer games today that have an inbuilt camera or record function that help record the game action. As for the other computer games that don’t possess any built in facilities, there are additional facilities like Fraps that can also be used for recording the game action. Some popular machinima games are SIMS 2, Quake, and Unreal Tournament. These games come with the option of designing sets and characters, as a part of the game or by using utilities that are provided along with the game. Admittedly, getting the exact same movie clips from these games is very challenging.

If there have been so many difficulties, then why is it that nobody has ever attempted to produce a low budget software product that is specifically used for making 3D animated movies at home? Back in the mid 90’s, Microsoft attempted that with a product called the 3D Movie Maker, which was initially targeted at the kids market. However, this particular product was designed for our early computers and it turned out to be pretty basic, making it very slow on most home computers and it was thus discontinued. However, recently there has been a renewed interest in this particular need.

Reallusion helped to develop a modern 3D animation movie maker, known to us as iClone. This software comes as a godsend to all of those who would like to make movies using 3D animation. In its basic form it costs somewhere near to the cost of a top end computer game, and the more advanced versions or the Pro version is still very reasonably priced. Even though you can make an entire movie with the iClone, it is still better to construct a number of smaller series of animated clips and then to edit them and fuse them together using the Microsoft Movie Maker (or any advanced home movie editing software).

Isn’t it amazing that today, with a budget of less than say a $1,000, you can actually buy yourself a PC and the required software to make 3D animated movies from home, when 20 years ago, you would have probably needed millions of dollars for less capable facilities.

Creative verev offers 2d animation, 3d animation, interactive multimedia outsourcing, offshore design services, interactive DVDs, CBTs, E-learning Services. Creative Verve is Indian Animation company which is SBU OF Verve Communications and Offshore IT Outsourcing Company.

Article Source: ArticlesBase.com - The Evolution of Making Animations at Home with 3D Animation Movie Maker