Key technology of animation production

Computer animation combines 3D modeling and programming of objects. These models are constructed from geometric vertices, faces and edges in a 3D coordinate system. On the basis of the 3D model, texture must be used for rendering in order to achieve realism.

Animation data can be done by human animators setting keyframes or using motion capture, a technique described below.

Key frame technology

Key frame technology is to prepare a set of time-related values for the attributes that need animation effect. These values are extracted from the more critical frames in the animation sequence, and the values in other time frames can be calculated with these key values by a specific interpolation method, so as to achieve a more smooth animation effect.

The early computer animation generated several frames called “key frames”, and the computer interpolated the two key frames to generate a number of “intermediate frames” (each is a small modification of the previous one, how to modify is the main research content of computer animation). When the two key frames were played continuously, they were organically combined, and the whole scene moved.

The images numbered 1, 2 and 3 in the figure are key frames, and the rest of the intermediate frames are generated by using a certain computer model, and the animation effect can be generated by continuous playback.

Motion capture

Motion capture is the process of recording the motion of an object or a person. It is used in military, entertainment, sports, medical applications, as well as in the validation of computer vision and robotics. In film production and video game development, it works by recording the movements of human actors and using this information to animate digital character models in 2D or 3D computer animation. If the capture of subtle expression movements such as faces and fingers is included, it is often referred to as performance capture.

Motion capture offers several advantages over traditional computer animation of 3D models:

• Low latency, near real-time results. In entertainment applications, this can reduce the cost of keyframe-based animation.
• The workload does not vary with the complexity or length of the performance as it does when using traditional techniques.
• Complex motion and real physical interactions such as secondary motion, weight and force exchange can be easily recreated in a precise way based on physical principles.
• Compared with traditional animation techniques, the amount of animation data that can be generated in a given time is very large. This helps to improve cost effectiveness and speed up production cycles.

Your task

What is the principle of keyframe technique?

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