To build a career in modern animation, higher education is certainly desirable, but there is another way. We tell you how to master the specialties of modeler, texture artist, animator, render-artist and compouser.
Modeler
What he does: after receiving a concept from the artist, that is, the external image of the object or character, creates a 3D-model.
At the same time, the concept often conveys only the mood, which should be preserved and conveyed to the viewer with a three-dimensional figure.
Typical mistake beginner: lack of understanding of how each model will be used in the scene, with whom / what it will interact.
Texture Artist.
What he does: creates a color scheme for a 3D model. The texture artist is responsible for realistic objects and visible material properties such as texture, roughness, and shine.
To make textures believable, you have to “understand the material” and be able to spot features of different surfaces and textures. Beginner’s tip: Observe! Take a photo – this will help you learn and fix in your memory how materials look from different angles.
But there’s no goal in any 3D project to make the world look exactly like in real life – it’s more important that all objects are kept in the same style. If we are talking about a fairy tale world, reality is embellished a bit. And that means that the textures have their own characteristics – for example, the stones may be covered with unusual patterned cracks that are impossible in reality.
A typical rookie mistake: not understanding the concept. In the work of a texture artist, there is always communication with the production designer, the only way to understand what he wants to reflect in the scene.
Animator
What does it do: It creates the movement of objects on the screen, be they characters (living creatures), machinery (cars, helicopters, trains, etc.) or objects (books, dishes, fabric, etc.). The main goal is to achieve movement in the frame so that it is as close to the real thing as possible.
A typical mistake of a beginner is little attention to the construction of the key scenes, i.e. poses that reflect emotions and intentions of the character. Very often the movements are “unnatural”.
Render-artist
What he does: gathers all the models in the scene, sets the light, adjusts the light-reflective properties of objects and materials. The result of the render-artist should be a high-quality detailed picture. To do this we have to review materials from the previous stages of production and to identify possible errors in textures and models.
Typical rookie mistake: experts for whom rendering – a new experience, most often incorrectly set in the scene light. A lot depends on it – accents, mood, even the weather.