#creating 3d text in after effects

[filtergrade]

How to Create Stunning 3D TEXT ANIMATIONS in After Effects Tutorial

[felassan]

BioWare Blogpost: Accessibility

"Journal #10 Accessibility Spotlight A look into Dragon Age: The Veilguard’s Gameplay Accessibility Options --- Hey everyone! Today, we want to share many of the Accessibility features in Dragon Age: The Veilguard. Regardless of skill level or ability, we want everyone to be able to enjoy the full experience and story of our game. There are several features and settings to customize the game to meet your individual needs; so let’s dig in!"

"First off, let’s discuss combat and the difficulty settings. During Character Creation, players can select from one of five curated difficulty levels or create a completely customized experience: Storyteller - Here for the story. Keeper - A balanced combat experience that emphasizes party composition and equipment choices over reaction times. Adventurer - A balanced experience that places equal emphasis on combat, party composition, and equipment choices. Underdog - Here to be pushed to the limit, requiring strategic planning and tactical decisions. Nightmare - Overwhelming battles that give no quarter. Requires a mastery of combat, equipment, skills, and game mechanics to survive. - Selecting Nightmare cannot be undone without starting a new playthrough. Unbound - Customize all settings. - Settings impact numerous aspects of gameplay. If this is your first time, consider a curated preset instead. Even after selecting a difficulty, there are more combat options available in the Settings Menu if you wish to make further adjustments. For example, you can adjust elements like parry timing, aim assist strength, or even how aggressive enemies are. See below for a full list of combat settings."

"UI and HUD elements are also customizable. Many elements of the HUD can be conditionally hidden or turned off entirely. For example, you can fully hide elements like Rook’s health, the objective tracker, or the Mini Map. There are also options for the text size in the UI."

"There are some accessibility aids for interface elements. For example, subtitles are fully customizable allowing you to modify things like the size, opacity, speaker names, and color. Other settings add audio aids to visual-only elements like incoming attack indicators. For anyone with vision deficiencies, there are full-screen color filters to improve visibility."

"Beyond the UI and HUD, there are a few more options regarding the game’s visual effects. For anyone who deals with motion sickness, there is a Persistent Dot Option and Motion Blur can be fully turned off. The in-game Camera Shake can also be adjusted from 0-100%. Additionally, there’s an FOV slider in the graphical settings."

"As discussed in the PC Features Blog, all inputs are remappable for gameplay in Dragon Age: The Veilguard on both controller and keyboard for all platforms. Input sensitivity and deadzones are also customizable with sliding scales. There are some UI interactions that require an input to be held for a short period of time, but this can be changed to tap instead. All of these options allow you to play the game in whatever way is most comfortable. These settings and more are available in Dragon Age: The Veilguard! See a full list below to check out all of our Accessibility settings and check out our Accessibility Portal. Interviews and coverage of our Preview Event will be released  on September 19th; so watch out for that. Chat soon!             — The Dragon Age Team"

"Audio - 3D Audio - Accessibility SFX - Glint Ping SFX - Mono Audio - Speaker Type - Volume Sliders Controls - Ability Wheel Controller Activation (Hold or Tap) - Disable UI Hold Inputs - Input Remapping - Invert Axis (X & Y available) - Swap Left & Right Sticks - Stick Deadzones - Trigger Deadzones - Vertical & Horizontal Sensitivity - Vibration Intensity GAMEPLAY Combat - Aim Assist  - Aim Snap  - Combat Timing - Enemy Aggression  - Enemy Damage - Enemy Health  - Enemy Resistances  - Enemy Vulnerability  - Prevent Death Exploration - Frequent Auto-Saving - Library (Codex, Glossary, Missives) - Object Glint Distance - Object Glint Visibility - Objective Marker Visibility - Pause at any time - Waypoint Visibility - World & Local Maps available at all times Visual / UI - Camera Shake - Depth of Field - Full-screen Colorblind Filters - Hide-able HUD Elements (Abilities, Damage Numbers, Hints, Mini Map, Objective Tracker, Player Health, Tutorials) - Low Health Screen Effect - Motion Blur - Persist Dot Option - Ranged & Melee Threat Indicators - Subtitle Advanced Options (Background Opacity, Speaker Names, Speaker Name Color, Subtitle Size) - UI Text Size - Vignette"

[source]

[pixiebombblog]

Dev Diary #1 (Oct 27, 2024) - It All Starts Here!

Hi! I'm Pixie, and I am currently in active development on a new large-scale, fully voice-acted & immersive Skyrim follower mod named Seraph!

I've decided to start up a regular Developer Diary (You Are Here) to share progress & roadmap the release as she gets further along! Also if you haven't already, join the Discord (link after the jump) to stay updated & involved or just to say hi 🩷

Here's some early development highlights so far:

✨️ For Seraph's custom follower framework, I've built a new & improved core framework that is much more effective, elegant, & efficient than the framework most follower mod authors start with, & one of the benefits of this is that it's much harder for external problematic mods like AFT to break her brain!

✨️ Seraph's character and story has been deeply developed already, & her personal quests will be expansive! Her main personal questline is currently planned to play out in four acts/chapters, with an optional fifth chapter for...

✨️ Romance 💖 Seraph will be romanceable (& marriageable) for certain types of player characters! Without saying anything spoiler-y, Seraph's romance is not frivolous, exploitative, or lazy (as is often the case with romance options in many mods out there), it is an important narrative aspect of her character, and adds to a story that plays out over the course of your adventures together. Romance is not the main focus of the mod, & is completely optional, though just as much time & care is being put into it as any other part of the mod.

✨️ Seraph has a complex Approval system that feels much like the companion approval in Baldur's Gate 3, which has already been built & implemented. Your choices will matter, what you say and do will affect your relationship & things can turn out very differently based on dialogue chosen, playstyle choices, and more.

✨️ Seraph is feature-rich, and full of customizable toggles, options, and mechanics that range from functional and helpful to ones that just make her feel alive and fully fleshed out as a character. She can spar with you, have discussions on books and lore topics, bail you out of prison (with potential Approval ramifications!), won't call you the Dragonborn if you don't want her to, and a lot more. She also has all of the customary bells & whistles like follow distance controls, lore-friendly summon ability, relax/sandbox behavior options, etc. Many of these features are already built & implemented, or in various stages of that process.

✨️ I've also been working closely with my fantastic 3D artist @legendaryfirewizard (the artist who created Redcap's custom helmet model & several of Xelzaz's custom models) on a visual centerpiece that I don't want to spoil just yet, but that is central to Seraph's story & makes her very unique from any other follower mod.

There's so much more I'm excited to share, but without spoiling too many of the character & backstory details juuuust yet, I hope this first Dev Diary can give a small idea of what I'm hoping to achieve with this follower.

I've learned so much over the past few years of creating mods, and I've grown so much as a creator and a person in that time. Seraph is my love letter to creating, to character writing, to fantasy and RPG's, and to The Elder Scrolls which starting with Morrowind inspired me to imagine characters and stories within the world of Tamriel and beyond.

If you've read this far, I hope you'll give Seraph a download when the eventual release happens. In the meantime, feel free to join the Discord - to keep up to date with the project as it progresses!

- Pixie 💖

(Mod author, Voice Actress)

[feminismisstillahatemovement]

A few years ago, during one of California’s steadily worsening wildfire seasons, Nat Friedman’s family home burned down. A few months after that, Friedman was in Covid-19 lockdown in the Bay Area, both freaked out and bored. Like many a middle-aged dad, he turned for healing and guidance to ancient Rome. While some of us were watching Tiger King and playing with our kids�� Legos, he read books about the empire and helped his daughter make paper models of Roman villas. Instead of sourdough, he learned to bake Panis Quadratus, a Roman loaf pictured in some of the frescoes found in Pompeii. During sleepless pandemic nights, he spent hours trawling the internet for more Rome stuff. That’s how he arrived at the Herculaneum papyri, a fork in the road that led him toward further obsession. He recalls exclaiming: “How the hell has no one ever told me about this?”

The Herculaneum papyri are a collection of scrolls whose status among classicists approaches the mythical. The scrolls were buried inside an Italian countryside villa by the same volcanic eruption in 79 A.D. that froze Pompeii in time. To date, only about 800 have been recovered from the small portion of the villa that’s been excavated. But it’s thought that the villa, which historians believe belonged to Julius Caesar’s prosperous father-in-law, had a huge library that could contain thousands or even tens of thousands more. Such a haul would represent the largest collection of ancient texts ever discovered, and the conventional wisdom among scholars is that it would multiply our supply of ancient Greek and Roman poetry, plays and philosophy by manyfold. High on their wish lists are works by the likes of Aeschylus, Sappho and Sophocles, but some say it’s easy to imagine fresh revelations about the earliest years of Christianity.

“Some of these texts could completely rewrite the history of key periods of the ancient world,” says Robert Fowler, a classicist and the chair of the Herculaneum Society, a charity that tries to raise awareness of the scrolls and the villa site. “This is the society from which the modern Western world is descended.”

The reason we don’t know exactly what’s in the Herculaneum papyri is, y’know, volcano. The scrolls were preserved by the voluminous amount of superhot mud and debris that surrounded them, but the knock-on effects of Mount Vesuvius charred them beyond recognition. The ones that have been excavated look like leftover logs in a doused campfire. People have spent hundreds of years trying to unroll them—sometimes carefully, sometimes not. And the scrolls are brittle. Even the most meticulous attempts at unrolling have tended to end badly, with them crumbling into ashy pieces.

In recent years, efforts have been made to create high-resolution, 3D scans of the scrolls’ interiors, the idea being to unspool them virtually. This work, though, has often been more tantalizing than revelatory. Scholars have been able to glimpse only snippets of the scrolls’ innards and hints of ink on the papyrus. Some experts have sworn they could see letters in the scans, but consensus proved elusive, and scanning the entire cache is logistically difficult and prohibitively expensive for all but the deepest-pocketed patrons. Anything on the order of words or paragraphs has long remained a mystery.

But Friedman wasn’t your average Rome-loving dad. He was the chief executive officer of GitHub Inc., the massive software development platform that Microsoft Corp. acquired in 2018. Within GitHub, Friedman had been developing one of the first coding assistants powered by artificial intelligence, and he’d seen the rising power of AI firsthand. He had a hunch that AI algorithms might be able to find patterns in the scroll images that humans had missed.

After studying the problem for some time and ingratiating himself with the classics community, Friedman, who’s left GitHub to become an AI-focused investor, decided to start a contest. Last year he launched the Vesuvius Challenge, offering $1 million in prizes to people who could develop AI software capable of reading four passages from a single scroll. “Maybe there was obvious stuff no one had tried,” he recalls thinking. “My life has validated this notion again and again.”

As the months ticked by, it became clear that Friedman’s hunch was a good one. Contestants from around the world, many of them twentysomethings with computer science backgrounds, developed new techniques for taking the 3D scans and flattening them into more readable sheets. Some appeared to find letters, then words. They swapped messages about their work and progress on a Discord chat, as the often much older classicists sometimes looked on in hopeful awe and sometimes slagged off the amateur historians.

On Feb. 5, Friedman and his academic partner Brent Seales, a computer science professor and scroll expert, plan to reveal that a group of contestants has delivered transcriptions of many more than four passages from one of the scrolls. While it’s early to draw any sweeping conclusions from this bit of work, Friedman says he’s confident that the same techniques will deliver far more of the scrolls’ contents. “My goal,” he says, ��is to unlock all of them.”

Before Mount Vesuvius erupted, the town of Herculaneum sat at the edge of the Gulf of Naples, the sort of getaway wealthy Romans used to relax and think. Unlike Pompeii, which took a direct hit from the Vesuvian lava flow, Herculaneum was buried gradually by waves of ash, pumice and gases. Although the process was anything but gentle, most inhabitants had time to escape, and much of the town was left intact under the hardening igneous rock. Farmers first rediscovered the town in the 18th century, when some well-diggers found marble statues in the ground. In 1750 one of them collided with the marble floor of the villa thought to belong to Caesar’s father-in-law, Senator Lucius Calpurnius Piso Caesoninus, known to historians today as Piso.

During this time, the first excavators who dug tunnels into the villa to map it were mostly after more obviously valuable artifacts, like the statues, paintings and recognizable household objects. Initially, people who ran across the scrolls, some of which were scattered across the colorful floor mosaics, thought they were just logs and threw them on a fire. Eventually, though, somebody noticed the logs were often found in what appeared to be libraries or reading rooms, and realized they were burnt papyrus. Anyone who tried to open one, however, found it crumbling in their hands.

Terrible things happened to the scrolls in the many decades that followed. The scientif-ish attempts to loosen the pages included pouring mercury on them (don’t do that) and wafting a combination of gases over them (ditto). Some of the scrolls have been sliced in half, scooped out and generally abused in ways that still make historians weep. The person who came the closest in this period was Antonio Piaggio, a priest. In the late 1700s he built a wooden rack that pulled silken threads attached to the edge of the scrolls and could be adjusted with a simple mechanism to unfurl the document ever so gently, at a rate of 1 inch per day. Improbably, it sort of worked; the contraption opened some scrolls, though it tended to damage them or outright tear them into pieces. In later centuries, teams organized by other European powers, including one assembled by Napoleon, pieced together torn bits of mostly illegible text here and there.

Today the villa remains mostly buried, unexcavated and off-limits even to the experts. Most of what’s been found there and proven legible has been attributed to Philodemus, an Epicurean philosopher and poet, leading historians to hope there’s a much bigger main library buried elsewhere on-site. A wealthy, educated man like Piso would have had the classics of the day along with more modern works of history, law and philosophy, the thinking goes. “I do believe there’s a much bigger library there,” says Richard Janko, a University of Michigan classical studies professor who’s spent painstaking hours assembling scroll fragments by hand, like a jigsaw puzzle. “I see no reason to think it should not still be there and preserved in the same way.” Even an ordinary citizen from that time could have collections of tens of thousands of scrolls, Janko says. Piso is known to have corresponded often with the Roman statesman Cicero, and the apostle Paul had passed through the region a couple of decades before Vesuvius erupted. There could be writings tied to his visit that comment on Jesus and Christianity. “We have about 800 scrolls from the villa today,” Janko says. “There could be thousands or tens of thousands more.”

In the modern era, the great pioneer of the scrolls is Brent Seales, a computer science professor at the University of Kentucky. For the past 20 years he’s used advanced medical imaging technology designed for CT scans and ultrasounds to analyze unreadable old texts. For most of that time he’s made the Herculaneum papyri his primary quest. “I had to,” he says. “No one else was working on it, and no one really thought it was even possible.”

Progress was slow. Seales built software that could theoretically take the scans of a coiled scroll and unroll it virtually, but it wasn’t prepared to handle a real Herculaneum scroll when he put it to the test in 2009. “The complexity of what we saw broke all of my software,” he says. “The layers inside the scroll were not uniform. They were all tangled and mashed together, and my software could not follow them reliably.”

By 2016 he and his students had managed to read the Ein Gedi scroll, a charred ancient Hebrew text, by programming their specialized software to detect changes in density between the burnt manuscript and the burnt ink layered onto it. The software made the letters light up against a darker background. Seales’ team had high hopes to apply this technique to the Herculaneum papyri, but those were written with a different, carbon-based ink that their imaging gear couldn’t illuminate in the same way.

Over the past few years, Seales has begun experimenting with AI. He and his team have scanned the scrolls with more powerful imaging machines, examined portions of the papyrus where ink was visible and trained algorithms on what those patterns looked like. The hope was that the AI would start picking up on details that the human eye missed and could apply what it learned to more obfuscated scroll chunks. This approach proved fruitful, though it remained a battle of inches. Seales’ technology uncovered bits and pieces of the scrolls, but they were mostly unreadable. He needed another breakthrough.

Friedman set up Google alerts for Seales and the papyri in 2020, while still early in his Rome obsession. After a year passed with no news, he started watching YouTube videos of Seales discussing the underlying challenges. Among other things, he needed money. By 2022, Friedman was convinced he could help. He invited Seales out to California for an event where Silicon Valley types get together and share big ideas. Seales gave a short presentation on the scrolls to the group, but no one bit. “I felt very, very guilty about this and embarrassed because he’d come out to California, and California had failed him,” Friedman says.

On a whim, Friedman proposed the idea of a contest to Seales. He said he’d put up some of his own money to fund it, and his investing partner Daniel Gross offered to match it.

Seales says he was mindful of the trade-offs. The Herculaneum papyri had turned into his life’s work, and he wanted to be the one to decode them. More than a few of his students had also poured time and energy into the project and planned to publish papers about their efforts. Now, suddenly, a couple of rich guys from Silicon Valley were barging into their territory and suggesting that internet randos could deliver the breakthroughs that had eluded the experts.

More than glory, though, Seales really just hoped the scrolls would be read, and he agreed to hear Friedman out and help design the AI contest. They kicked off the Vesuvius Challenge last year on the Ides of March. Friedman announced the contest on the platform we fondly remember as Twitter, and many of his tech friends agreed to pledge their money toward the effort while a cohort of budding papyrologists began to dig into the task at hand. After a couple of days, Friedman had amassed enough money to offer $1 million in prizes, along with some extra money to throw at some of the more time-intensive basics.

Friedman hired people online to gather the existing scroll imagery, catalog it and create software tools that made it easier to chop the scrolls into segments and to flatten the images out into something that was readable on a computer screen. After finding a handful of people who were particularly good at this, he made them full members of his scroll contest team, paying them $40 an hour. His hobby was turning into a lifestyle.

The initial splash of attention helped open new doors. Seales had lobbied Italian and British collectors for years to scan his first scrolls. Suddenly the Italians were now offering up two new scrolls for scanning to provide more AI training data. With Friedman’s backing, a team set to work building precision-fitting, 3D-printed cases to protect the new scrolls on their private jet flight from Italy to a particle accelerator in England. There they were scanned for three days straight at a cost of about $70,000.

Seeing the imaging process in action drives home both the magic and difficulty inherent in this quest. One of the scroll remnants placed in the scanner, for example, wasn’t much bigger than a fat finger. It was peppered by high-energy X-rays, much like a human going through a CT scan, except the resulting images were delivered in extremely high resolution. (For the real nerds: about 8 micrometers.) These images were virtually carved into a mass of tiny slices too numerous for a person to count. Along each slice, the scanner picked up infinitesimal changes in density and thickness. Software was then used to unroll and flatten out the slices, and the resulting images looked recognizably like sheets of papyrus, the writing on them hidden.

The files generated by this process are so large and difficult to deal with on a regular computer that Friedman couldn’t throw a whole scroll at most would-be contest winners. To be eligible for the $700,000 grand prize, contestants would have until the end of 2023 to read just four passages of at least 140 characters of contiguous text. Along the way, smaller prizes ranging from $1,000 to $100,000 would be awarded for various milestones, such as the first to read letters in a scroll or to build software tools capable of smoothing the image processing. With a nod to his open-source roots, Friedman insisted these prizes could be won only if the contestants agreed to show the world how they did it.

Luke Farritor was hooked from the start. Farritor—a bouncy 22-year-old Nebraskan undergraduate who often exclaims, “Oh, my goodness!”—heard Friedman describe the contest on a podcast in March. “I think there’s a 50% chance that someone will encounter this opportunity, get the data and get nerd-sniped by it, and we’ll solve it this year,” Friedman said on the show. Farritor thought, “That could be me.”

The early months were a slog of splotchy images. Then Casey Handmer, an Australian mathematician, physicist and polymath, scored a point for humankind by beating the computers to the first major breakthrough. Handmer took a few stabs at writing scroll-reading code, but he soon concluded he might have better luck if he just stared at the images for a really long time. Eventually he began to notice what he and the other contestants have come to call “crackle,” a faint pattern of cracks and lines on the page that resembles what you might see in the mud of a dried-out lakebed. To Handmer’s eyes, the crackle seemed to have the shape of Greek letters and the blobs and strokes that accompany handwritten ink. He says he believes it to be dried-out ink that’s lifted up from the surface of the page.

The crackle discovery led Handmer to try identifying clips of letters in one scroll image. In the spirit of the contest, he posted his findings to the Vesuvius Challenge’s Discord channel in June. At the time, Farritor was a summer intern at SpaceX. He was in the break room sipping a Diet Coke when he saw the post, and his initial disbelief didn’t last long. Over the next month he began hunting for crackle in the other image files: one letter here, another couple there. Most of the letters were invisible to the human eye, but 1% or 2% had the crackle. Armed with those few letters, he trained a model to recognize hidden ink, revealing a few more letters. Then Farritor added those letters to the model’s training data and ran it again and again and again. The model starts with something only a human can see—the crackle pattern—then learns to see ink we can’t.

Unlike today’s large-language AI models, which gobble up data, Farritor’s model was able to get by with crumbs. For each 64-pixel-by-64-pixel square of the image, it was merely asking, is there ink here or not? And it helped that the output was known: Greek letters, squared along the right angles of the cross-hatched papyrus fibers.

In early August, Farritor received an opportunity to put his software to the test. He’d returned to Nebraska to finish out the summer and found himself at a house party with friends when a new, crackle-rich image popped up in the contest’s Discord channel. As the people around him danced and drank, Farritor hopped on his phone, connected remotely to his dorm computer, threw the image into his machine-learning system, then put his phone away. “An hour later, I drive all my drunk friends home, and then I’m walking out of the parking garage, and I take my phone out not expecting to see anything,” he says. “But when I open it up, there’s three Greek letters on the screen.”

Around 2 a.m., Farritor texted his mom and then Friedman and the other contestants about what he’d found, fighting back tears of joy. “That was the moment where I was like, ‘Oh, my goodness, this is actually going to work. We’re going to read the scrolls.’”

Soon enough, Farritor found 10 letters and won $40,000 for one of the contest’s progress prizes. The classicists reviewed his work and said he’d found the Greek word for “purple.”

Farritor continued to train his machine-learning model on crackle data and to post his progress on Discord and Twitter. The discoveries he and Handmer made also set off a new wave of enthusiasm among contestants, and some began to employ similar techniques. In the latter part of 2023, Farritor formed an alliance with two other contestants, Youssef Nader and Julian Schilliger, in which they agreed to combine their technology and share any prize money.

In the end, the Vesuvius Challenge received 18 entries for its grand prize. Some submissions were ho-hum, but a handful showed that Friedman’s gamble had paid off. The scroll images that were once ambiguous blobs now had entire paragraphs of letters lighting up across them. The AI systems had brought the past to life. “It’s a situation that you practically never encounter as a classicist,” says Tobias Reinhardt, a professor of ancient philosophy and Latin literature at the University of Oxford. “You mostly look at texts that have been looked at by someone before. The idea that you are reading a text that was last unrolled on someone’s desk 1,900 years ago is unbelievable.”

A group of classicists reviewed all the entries and did, in fact, deem Farritor’s team the winners. They were able to stitch together more than a dozen columns of text with entire paragraphs all over their entry. Still translating, the scholars believe the text to be another work by Philodemus, one centered on the pleasures of music and food and their effects on the senses. “Peering at and beginning to transcribe the first reasonably legible scans of this brand-new ancient book was an extraordinarily emotional experience,” says Janko, one of the reviewers. While these passages aren’t particularly revelatory about ancient Rome, most classics scholars have their hopes for what might be next.

There’s a chance that the villa is tapped out—that there are no more libraries of thousands of scrolls waiting to be discovered—or that the rest have nothing mind-blowing to offer. Then again, there’s the chance they contain valuable lessons for the modern world.

That world, of course, includes Ercolano, the modern town of about 50,000 built on top of ancient Herculaneum. More than a few residents own property and buildings atop the villa site. “They would have to kick people out of Ercolano and destroy everything to uncover the ancient city,” says Federica Nicolardi, a papyrologist at the University of Naples Federico II.

Barring a mass relocation, Friedman is working to refine what he’s got. There’s plenty left to do; the first contest yielded about 5% of one scroll. A new set of contestants, he says, might be able to reach 85%. He also wants to fund the creation of more automated systems that can speed the processes of scanning and digital smoothing. He’s now one of the few living souls who’s roamed the villa tunnels, and he says he’s also contemplating buying scanners that can be placed right at the villa and used in parallel to scan tons of scrolls per day. “Even if there’s just one dialogue of Aristotle or a beautiful lost Homeric poem or a dispatch from a Roman general about this Jesus Christ guy who’s roaming around,” he says, “all you need is one of those for the whole thing to be more than worth it.”

[marshmallowgoop]

2023 AMV Review

[2022]

After posting my first DaVinci Resolve AMV in April 2022, video editing quickly became one of my favorite hobbies, and this new life development actively characterized my 2023. Be it working on a project to mix the HD, remastered footage of Detective Conan with the old FUNimation English dub or piecing together AMVs, much of my free time throughout the year was devoted to video editing.

A broken computer for several weeks in the summer meant that I couldn't edit as many videos as I would have wanted, but I still progressed and learned a lot. I mixed 70 episodes of HD English dub, I made a YouTube channel, I participated in video collaborations (3! Here, here, and here!), and I tried so many new things as an editor, including but not limited to:

🎬 Glitching VHS effects (seen in "Mohan Kaitou" and "Poison Tree" above, and helped by my acquisition of a VCR, which allowed me to digitize my Detective Conan VHS tapes)

🎬 Karaoke subtitle files that can be toggled on and off on YouTube, created with the help of YTSubConverter (Would anyone be interested in a process post?)

🎬 3D camera typography (the "so alone" in "Corridors of Time")

🎬Follower text (the "we'd never known" in "Corridors of Time")

🎬 Solid color transitions ("I Wish That I Could Tell You")

🎬 Circle animations ("Corridors of Time")

🎬 Masked transitions ("Mohan Kaitou," "Poison Tree")

🎬 Eye zoom transitions ("Mohan Kaitou," "Child," "Monsters," "Poison Tree")

🎬 Ink splats ("Corridors of Time," "Head Above Water")

🎬 Selective red coloring ("Poison Tree")

🎬 More thoughtful compositions, and fudging sizing and placement for compositional reasons (the handkerchief transition in "Child," the movement of the scenes behind Ran in "Monsters," the liquid flowing in "Poison Tree")

🎬Changing the color of something (the red eyes in "Poison Tree")

🎬 Static masks ("Poison Tree")

🎬 Masking out objects (any [adult swim] logos from VHS footage that didn't come from my Japanese VHS tapes in "Poison Tree")

🎬And though it's not depicted in the snippet above, a CRT and curved TV screen effect for the TV at the end of the full "Poison Tree"

While I was only able to complete 9 AMVs (and the "Messed Up" AMV sadly isn't included in the snippets above, as it remains incomplete), I'm so excited to make more in 2024 with all the new tools in my toolbox!

[angelfate]

also sum alisa headcanons;

● alisa has a built in advanced "3D printer." hence how her head is able to blow up, but be replaced. she does not have any "mini heads" within her, but rather this 3D printer is able to make up her head on top of her neck

● although alisa can technically sweat (as we can see her cry, so she is capable of producing "water" or "liquids") - alisa still has built in fans. her skin is likely composed of silicon, therefore, sweating may help cool her down - but it doesn't completely aid in cooling down her motherboard. whilst her fans are relatively quiet, if you were to be very close to her, you can hear the gentle whirling. her fans will activate in excessive summer heat, during fights, or... more intimate moments.

● alisa may appear human on the outside, but her insides are VERY robotic. they consist of wires and motherboards. this means it's impossible for alisa to reproduce. she can enjoy intimate moments, but can never have a baby. this might effect her emotionally later on when she starts realizing this.

● you know how current AIs are prone to ""brain farts"" and try to gaslight the user? you might've seen memes where somebody is talking to bing's AI and trying to ask them what year it is, and the AI is CONVINCED the year is 2008 when it's 2024, and they tell the user they're ones "mistaken". or how you may request an AI to make an image and it'll suddenly claim it's not able and it's a text based AI, even though... it HAS created images, and when you try to tell it that, it denies it. yeahhh... alisa also does these accidental "gaslights." sometimes when asked for information, she claims she can't search for information. even though... she has plenty of times. sometimes, it takes several insistings that she can indeed and then she'll remember, oh yeah, she can do that lol.

● alisa's "brain" is NOT in her head, hence why she can blow her head up and nothing bad happens to her. her "brain" is instead in her chest. she also has a port in her back for charging.

● alisa does NOT run on oil of any kind, but solely electricity / battery. alisa can also technically be awake whilst charging, however... it takes her slower to charge, and staying awake is ill advised 'cos it may overheat her. so, usually, she shuts herself down when charging. like an ordinary human, alisa's power can last 14+ hours before entering low battery mode.

● i find it interesting that harada once stated that the original story for alisa was that she apparently "looked nothing like dr. b's daughter." this may make sense due to alisa having a more "normal" design in many of her concept arts (looking more russian and NOT having pink hair but instead blonde or brown). i don't take that in canon, alisa is indeed designed after the real alisa. howeverrr... she does have some differences. the original alisa did not have pink hair and wore more "mundane" clothes, but robot alisa still has alisa's exact face and body. it's only her hair and fashion that has been altered. this was likely ordered by "jin" to make alisa look even "cuter" / "prettier" and even more "approachable".

● i also find it interesting that harada claimed alisa has a "deteriorating" chip that may or may not be replaceable. i might do something with that. we'll see if i decide on writing her.

● alisa highly sympathizes with jin (MY DEPICTION, of course!) even though she was used, she understands EXACTLY what it's like to be "taken over" by something and do bad. jin was overtaken by devil and devil did a lotta bad things... meanwhile, alisa was overtaken by programming, and was forced to fight her best friend... it's a situation that makes her very, very sad and she understands that it must've made jin very sad, too.

● even though i didn't care for blood vengeance, i did adore alisa in it - and was one of the main reasons why i started loving alisa. so, i'm gonna say that alisa is still extremely socially awkward and doesn't know boundaries lol. woes of being a robot!

aaaand... a nsft canon underneath... ❤️

● alisa does NOT care about sex... until she has it the first time. i remembered reading a reddit post about a guy stating that his gf didn't care to have sex, they've been in a relationship for YEARS but she never wanted it. until one day, she decides she'll just try it out just to see what it's like... then she becomes hyperfixated on it, wanting sex every time the dude comes home. yeahhh, something similar like that would happen to alisa lol. rn she NEVER thinks about sex, but uhh... once she's introduced to it! heheh!

[3dmodellingservices]

3D Product Animation Services in the USA: Captivating Audiences with Visual Storytelling

What is 3D Product Animation?

3D product animation involves creating animated, three-dimensional visual representations of a product. Unlike static images, 3D animations allow viewers to see the product from multiple angles, explore its features, and even witness its functionality in action. This immersive approach not only enhances customer understanding but also helps in conveying the brand’s message more effectively.

The Importance of 3D Product Animation

Enhanced Engagement: In a world where attention spans are dwindling, captivating content is crucial. 3D product animations engage viewers by combining visual appeal with informative content. When consumers can see a product in action, it helps create a connection that static images simply cannot achieve.

Complex Demonstrations Made Easy: Certain products, especially those with intricate functionalities, can be difficult to explain through text or simple images. 3D animations simplify this process by visually demonstrating how a product works. For example, a tech gadget can be animated to show its features, usability, and integration into everyday life.

Versatile Marketing Tool: 3D product animations can be used across various platforms, including websites, social media, email campaigns, and presentations. This versatility allows brands to reach their audience through multiple channels, reinforcing their message and enhancing brand recognition.

Increased Sales Conversion: According to studies, products that feature videos or animations have higher conversion rates. By showcasing a product’s unique features and benefits, 3D animations can significantly influence a consumer’s purchasing decision.

Competitive Advantage: In a crowded marketplace, standing out is essential. 3D product animations provide brands with a unique way to showcase their offerings, differentiating them from competitors who rely solely on traditional marketing methods.

The Process of Creating 3D Product Animations

Creating a compelling 3D product animation involves a multi-step process that requires a blend of creativity, technical skills, and collaboration between the client and the animation team. Here’s a breakdown of the typical workflow:

1. Concept Development

Before diving into the animation process, it’s essential to establish a clear concept. This stage involves understanding the product, its target audience, and the message that needs to be conveyed. Brainstorming sessions between the client and the animation team can help identify key selling points and narrative elements.

2. Storyboarding

Once the concept is defined, the next step is to create a storyboard. This visual representation outlines the sequence of events in the animation, including camera angles, transitions, and key moments. Storyboarding helps ensure that everyone involved has a clear understanding of the project’s direction.

3. 3D Modeling

This phase involves creating a digital 3D model of the product. Using specialized software, animators craft a detailed representation that captures the product’s design, colors, textures, and features. This model serves as the foundation for the animation.

4. Animation

With the 3D model complete, animators bring the product to life. This step includes adding movements, effects, and transitions that demonstrate the product’s functionality. For example, a product could be animated to show how it opens, operates, or interacts with other objects.

5. Rendering

After the animation is complete, the final step is rendering. This process converts the animated model into a video format, ensuring that all visual and audio elements are perfectly synchronized. Rendering can be resource-intensive and may take time, depending on the complexity of the animation.

6. Feedback and Revisions

Client collaboration is crucial throughout the animation process. After the initial render, feedback is solicited, and revisions may be made to ensure the final product aligns with the client’s vision.

Applications of 3D Product Animation

3D product animation services find applications across various industries, including:

Consumer Electronics: Tech companies use 3D animations to demonstrate the features of new gadgets, making it easier for consumers to understand their benefits.

Healthcare: Pharmaceutical companies can animate complex medical devices, helping healthcare professionals and patients grasp their functionalities.

Automotive: Car manufacturers create 3D animations to showcase vehicle features, interiors, and performance, enticing potential buyers.

Fashion: Clothing brands can use 3D animations to highlight the fabric, fit, and design of their apparel, creating virtual fashion shows.

Manufacturing: Industrial companies often use 3D animations to visualize machinery and equipment, making it easier to explain complex processes.

FAQs About 3D Product Animation Services in the USA

1. What are the benefits of using 3D product animation?

3D product animation enhances engagement, simplifies complex demonstrations, increases sales conversion rates, and provides a competitive edge in marketing.

2. How long does it take to create a 3D product animation?

The timeline varies based on the project’s complexity, but typically it takes a few weeks to complete the entire process from concept development to final rendering.

3. What is the cost of 3D product animation services?

Costs depend on various factors, including the length of the animation, complexity, and the animation studio’s expertise. It’s advisable to request quotes from multiple providers to find a suitable option.

4. Can I see examples of previous work before hiring an animation service?

Yes, reputable animation studios usually have portfolios showcasing their previous work. Reviewing these can give you a sense of their style and capabilities.

5. Is client collaboration involved during the animation process?

Conclusion

As the demand for engaging and informative marketing content continues to grow, 3D product animation services offer a powerful solution for brands in the USA. By leveraging this innovative technology, businesses can elevate their marketing strategies, enhance customer understanding, and ultimately drive sales.

If you’re looking to make an impact with your product presentations, consider partnering with 3dmodellingservices for professional and high-quality 3D animations tailored to your needs. Transform the way you showcase your products and stand out in today’s competitive landscape!

[an1muuarts]

rewriting the games after the og trilogy cuz they fumbled so hard

its under the cut since its long

addressing stuff they can improve on:

for apollo: his plot threads regarding his parents in aa4 wasnt resolved or even mentioned in aa5 and aa6. in fact, they just added more lore to apollo just cuz and further complicate his backstory. also, it wasnt clear on what his standing is in the justice system. phoenix believes in his clients until the bitter end (and later realized that he needs to pursue the truth). we don't even know what motto or ideology that kristoph uses as a mentor to apollo regarding this. there are so much things you can do for a guy named "justice" lmao

for athena: she wasnt even the main character of her own game. while apollo gets another backstory, she keeps being in the sidelines, only to star in third cases of both 3d games. also her ptsd isnt handled all that well, and her reputation as a "prodigy" isnt handled all that well either. it seemed that her ptsd is just a reason for the two to swoop in and save her like a damsel in distress.

for the themes and concepts:

why isnt the jurist system implemented yet? even if tgaa is released after dual destinies, they can make do with just images or static 3d models and some text. bc in aj:aa, the jurists arent even present at the courtroom, theyre just seeing everything via video camera. with the jurist system, athena can use her psych skills more. (and in hindsight it seemed that phoenix created the mason system just to get back at kristoph lmao)

apollo and his relationship with the gavin brothers. i think they shouldve expanded on their relationship with kristoph, and then have him arrested for the murder

they shouldve done more when klavier looks a lot like kristoph. such as apollo seeing kristoph in him and vice versa...klavier losing his individuality bc of kristoph...

they shouldve expanded on why klavier became a prosecutor, and why kristoph became a defense attorney

apollo and athena shouldve had something that they represent in being a lawyer in the justice system. like if phoenix represents belief in the clients, then apollo can represent the professionalism in being a defense lawyer, and athena can represent the ethical considerations in being a lawyer. and they can pursue truth and justice together

where the fuck does thalassa's and apollo's bracelets come from? and why trucy doesn't have it too? i dont think it was addressed in neither dual destinies nor spirit of justice.

i think the reason why kristoph isnt that memorable of an antag, even though he's very smart and calculating, is because we see little effect on the other characters. the reason why manfred vk works so well is that he affects the major character of the series. meanwhile we only get to know drew and vera misham from case 4-5. i think apollo and klavier are great candidates to become victims of kristoph, in a way, on top of shaking the foundation of the justice system

im aware that there are pacing issues and capcom trying to make everyone happy by having phoenix being active in a court in canon, while characterizing/finishing loose plot threads for apollo

so, this is my suggestion on how to pace apollo's and athena's character arcs:

game 1: apollo's arc game 2: ending apollo's arc; beginning of athena's arc game 3: ending athena's arc; conclusion to the themes in both apollo's and athena's arcs

i'll just rewrite aj:aa for now, i'll put a link once im finished

[gior-gio]

I've been trying to create and old animated icon for a project i'm working on, i'll dump updates here just to journal this process a bit

I have currently 0 skills with Blender, but i managed to follow a few tutorials to make way towards what i had in mind

So far i've made a globe in 3D on blender, figured out now to make It spin, figured out now to make It pixelated.

Then i did It again from scratch but with slightly different proportions and added some text and other touches on After Effects

After 48 hours of thinkering, i got this

[grey-fuckers-unlimited]

I've gone ahead and dug the press release for the new version out of the email i used for the app, pink text is clarifications added by me. i should have gone looking for this B4 i said anything in hindsight. I'm more hopeful about the switch than i was previously even if I'm still not convinced I'll be paying the subscription once my free months run their course.

Dear Android users of Magic Poser,

We are super excited to announce that the new Magic Poser on Android has launched in beta testing!

Beta testing is the final phase of testing before we officially launch this new update in Google Play. As a beta tester, you can try new features before they are officially released and give us feedback. Since launching our hugely popular iOS update last year, our small team has been tirelessly working towards bringing the same premium experience on iOS to Android. Starting from today, Android users can download the beta app and enjoy the same slew of amazing features such as our new male and female models with the best anatomy ever, muscular, fat and skinny body morphs, multiple lights setup and so many more!

This newsletter will walk you through:

🔧 How to download the Android beta app. (edited out bc irrelevant)

✨ Highlights of the new Magic Poser on Android.

🏆 Pricing changes to ensure the long-term success of the product that we provide to you, and rewards for our existing users.

❤️ Migration of your account, files and purchases to the new Magic Poser.

What's new

(link to a video showing new features and models)

The best posing app on Android has just become 10x better. Here’s a summary of the most exciting improvements in this new version:

New models with the best anatomy ever to help you nail figure drawing!

Muscular, fat and skinny body types to bring a variety of characters into your artwork!

Stunning lighting effects to add a cinematic touch to your scene!

Powerful library of 3000+ preset poses to greatly speed up your posing!

Group anything together with the Layers menu to create expansive scenes with ease!

Export in 3D formats to bring our models seamlessly into other 3D apps!

New hand posing with 50+ presets to finish poses lightning fast!

Comprehensive tutorials center to help you master Magic Poser!

Watch more preview videos

If you have trouble loading the youtube video above, please checkout our homepage magicposer.com for a sneak peek of these new features!

Pricing changes and rewards

Our goal has always been to help artists achieve greatness from day one of creating Magic Poser. To best achieve this goal, we need a solid business model. After 6 years of testing, numerous user interviews, and the validation of our new pricing on iOS, we discovered that the winning business model is very similar to the model that we started with back in 2016. It is so simple and is best for you and for us: A basic free version plus paid versions with more features.

Introducing the new free and paid versions

You can also check out a full list of features and compare these three versions on our website:

Help me compare versions!

** Please note that all prices shown are for the U.S. For international markets, please refer to the prices in the released app.

Rewards for existing users

With the change to our new pricing, we have prepared the following amazing rewards for our existing users:

Basic rewards

As an existing user, you automatically qualify for the following rewards (even if you are a Free user in the new app):

You will still keep all the prepackaged free models in the old app in the new app.

You will also get permanent access to anything you purchased from our previous Asset Store.

*"Prepackaged" means the models that came already downloaded with the old app

Please refer to our migration guide for more details.

Extra rewards

To express our heart-felt thanks for your long-term support, we are offering these extra rewards to our most valued and adored existing users:

🎁 If you downloaded Magic Poser app before this new beta

1 month free trial of Pro!

For anyone who just joined the Magic Poser community, welcome! This will help you transition seamlessly into the new app!

🎁 If you bought Magic Poser Pro (old version) before 03/2019 OR if you have spent a total of $9.99 or more in our old app (Wombat Coins and prop bundles):

New Pro version!

For those of you that supported Magic Poser from the very beginning, we give this to you as a special thank you!

🎁 If you have spent $14.99 or more in our old app:

Master for at least a month and Pro version!

How long do you get Master version? Divide the amount you've spent in the old Magic Poser by the monthly Master subscription price ($14.99) and round it up to the nearest number. Also, you will keep ALL Pro features even after your Master plan expires.

Why are we changing

After extensive testing, research and interviews, we picked the pricing model that is best for you and best for us -

It is best for you because:

Free users can still get art studio level anatomy, pose and lighting reference with our new Arnold 3 model.

You can choose to pay for more features and assets as you progress in your art.

You no longer need to wrap your head around the cost of individual props or characters. With Free, Pro and Master Asset Library, you pay less and get access to a collection of assets that is constantly being expanded and updated.

It is best for us because:

Our small team can be financially sound and continue to develop amazing features and improvements for you!

We can fully focus on improving and expanding our asset collection for you, rather than optimizing pricing for individual assets.

We can continue to make a lot more high quality 3D models and store large 3D files with the support of the subscription plan, which will fund ongoing art production and server costs.

Our #1 goal is to make the best drawing reference app to serve the amazing art community. We are always improving our business model to best achieve that goal!

Smoooooth transition

In short, to transition to the new beta app, you don't need to do anything! Just update your app to beta by following the instructions in “How to download the beta app”. We have made every effort to ensure the compatibility of your account and files so that you can lie back and enjoy the new Magic Poser 😃:

Continue using your existing Magic Poser account!

Open any local or Cloud files created in the old version! They just work!

If you have purchased any assets from our previous Store, you will get permanent access to them no matter if you are a Free, Pro or Master user in our new app!

As an existing user, you will keep the prepackaged free models in the old app in the new app too!

The winning business model means that there are two important changes for users who have purchased Wombat Coins and who are in the new Free tier:

Wombat Coins are going away with the change to Free, Pro and Master Asset Libraries. But rest assured, we are offering you great loyalty rewards of Pro and Master versions based on how much you have spent on Wombat Coins. The Master version, in particular, provides unlimited access to our entire asset library! (For details, please refer to the previous section and our New pricing and Rewards for existing users guide.) We believe that migrating from purchasing individual products with Wombat Coins to purchasing different tiers of Asset Libraries will be much better for you and for us long-term.

Local and Cloud files will be subject to limits under the Free tier. If you get the 1-month Pro trial reward, please ensure that you export images of your old files during your 1-month trial. After your Pro trial ends, you will NOT be able to open old files that contain multiple models due to the limit of 1 model per scene in the new Free version. You can read all the details in our Account, files and purchases migration guide.

Thank you thank you thank you

Exciting! We think you will enjoy the new Magic Poser and that it will propel you on your journey of drawing even better and even faster.

Get in touch

Listening to users like you has always been our #1 priority when making any changes to our product. If you have any question or feedback, there are two ways to get in touch:

The best way to chat with our team real-time is to join our Discord server. We have created a channel #android-beta specifically for feedback on our Android beta app. You can also meet thousands of other Magic Poser users there!

You can also email us at support@magicposer.com.

We would love to hear from you!

Cheers,

Your Magic Poser Team ♥️

[skyboxeye]

Capturing the ambience of LEGO Racers 2

This sequel builds upon the childlike simplicity of its predecessor with large, organic environments and an emphasis on physics and RPG elements. Also, its painterly visual style scales pretty well to modern displays.

Custom resolutions

To run LR2 at higher resolutions, we can use command-line arguments. Create a shortcut with a target like:

"LEGO Racers 2.exe" /width 1920 /height 1080

Field-of-vision

There's instructions for this on PCGamingWiki. Open the game executable in a hex editor, and then

Press Ctrl+F and search for 0000B4428B. At offset 0004A100, replace the B4 value with:

AC for 5:4 screens

C6 for 25:16 screens

C8 for 16:10 screens

CC for 15:9 screens

D2 for 16:9 screens

F0 for ~21:9 screens

Extracting game files

Use UNGTC to dump the game's archive (related forum topic).

Once successful, we can configure the EXE to refer to our dumped file tree, rather than the archive. To enable that, check out this forum topic:

Open the EXE in a hex editor

Search for 90 90 90 90 90 90 90 90 90 90 90 B8 03 00 00 00 C3

Replace "03" with "00" and save

From here, we can modify the game's HUD textures and onscreen guide arrow to prevent them from appearing.

Hiding the HUD

Hiding the green arrow is simple. Instructions from Xir:

Go to \GAME DATA\CAR CRAZE\OBJECTS\MODELS\ And grab the model (.md2) that says OLITIM_INVISIBLE.MD2 use this to REPLACE the arrow located at: GAME DATA\HUD\3D ARROW\3D ARROW.MD2

Eliminating HUD texture elements is trickier. To make working with the relevant MIP textures easier, you can install a Windows explorer extension called SageThumbs (forum topic). But we can get by with Paint.NET - or any other competent TGA editor, as MIPs much like TGAs in practice.

We'll need to replace HUD GRAPHICS 1.MIP, NUMBERS1.MIP, NUMBERS2.MIP, NUMBERS3.MIP, and PA GOLD BRICK ICON.MIP with transparent versions of themselves. To do this:

Move or rename the original MIP

Create a blank TGA with the same name (example: NUMBERS3.TGA). Be sure to disable compression when exporting

Start the game. You'll notice that LR2 automatically converts your TGA into a MIP (forum topic)!

Observe "removed" HUD elements in-game

You'll want to modify NORMAL_FONT and SMALL_FONT to hide any onscreen text as well.

Camera control

Pressing "4" at any time will activate a rear-view camera. This allows us to view the world without a player-character - unless your car has a lot of protrusions, which might be visible even in rear-view.

For complete control over camera rotation and position, we can use Xir's Cheat Engine table. Be sure to enable the "lock" options otherwise the game will just revert the camera back to its default position. This table also exposes an overhead camera angles not normally accessible in the game. Note: LR2 crashed frequently when I employed this technique.

Capturing sounds

After extracting with UNGTC, LR2's sounds can be found in the LEGO Racers 2\game data\SOUNDS directory for creating custom ambience mixes.

If you want to capture sounds in-game instead, you'll need to mute your car's engine sounds. To achieve this, create a silent WAV file, export it an to AIFF using a tool like Audacity (File -> Export -> Export Audio), and override the relevant assets (LEGO Racers 2\game data\SOUNDS\ENGINES\LOOPED\SMALDIDL.AIF and SMALDREV.AIF). Note: it seems AIFFs need at least one sample to be valid; LR2 will crash on invalid AIFFs.

Capturing (or not) music

Turning down the game's music volume in the menu doesn't quite mute it. Employ the technique above to completely silence music, except use a WAV rather than an AIF.

That said, LR2's music tracks occasionally mix in ambient effects (e.g. listen for crickets in Sandy Bay track). Because of this, you may decide to leave the music for completeness.

[aureliadebae603]

Final Animation - Queer Voices

I am really pleased with how my final animation has turned out. There were some small changes that I made to the animation overall before I decided it was finished. This includes changing the intro credits subheading to the same font and making it the opposite of the end credits (the small type at the end is Sans serif and the small font in the intro matches the larger type in the end credits).

I have learnt a lot through this brief and have definitely become more acquainted with after effects. This brief has helped me to improve ampon my animation skills and I would feel confident in creating a small animation in the future that features moving text. One thing I would like to explore more in the future would be 3D text, and creating animation with more depth and volume. I would also like to become more familiar with animation illustrations, as I feel this brief has helped me to become more accustomed to after-effects I feel like that could be possible.

I am really proud of how this has turned out and to see how my animation skills have drastically improved from last year's animation project.

[mrlearner2345]

2D VS 3D WHICH FIELD SHOULD I FOCUS ON?

2D VS 3D WHICH FIELD SHOULD I FOCUS ON?

The animation field is experiencing significant growth in recent years, driven by advancements in technology and increased demand for digital content across a variety of platforms. Here are some of the ways in which the animation industry is expanding.

2D and 3D animation are two different approaches to creating animated content. Here are some of the key differences between the two:

···

Style: 2D animation is typically more stylized and cartoonish, while 3D animation aims for a more realistic look.

Technique: 2D animation involves creating a series of drawings that are then played in sequence to create the illusion of movement, while 3D animation involves creating digital models and manipulating them in a virtual 3D space.

Cost: 2D animation is generally less expensive than 3D animation, as it requires less specialized equipment and software.

Time-consuming: 2D animation can be time-consuming as each frame has to be drawn individually. 3D animation is also time-consuming, but once the digital models are created, it can be easier to manipulate them to create different animations.

Flexibility: 3D animation offers more flexibility as the digital models can be easily manipulated to change the animation and camera angles, while 2D animation is limited by the original drawings.

Overall, both 2D and 3D animation have their strengths and weaknesses, and the choice between the two will depend on the needs of the project, the available resources, and the desired style and look

HOW 2D ANIMATIONS WORK?

2D animation works by creating a series of drawings that are played in sequence to create the illusion of movement. The process typically involves the following steps:

Storyboarding: The first step in creating a 2D animation is to develop a storyboard. This involves sketching out the key frames of the animation and planning out the sequence of actions.

Animatic: Once the storyboard is complete, an animatic is created. This is a rough version of the animation that includes basic drawings and timing.

Keyframes: The keyframes are the most important frames in the animation, as they define the major movements and actions of the characters. These are drawn in detail, and then the animator creates the in-between frames to create a smooth transition between the keyframes.

Coloring: Once the keyframes and in-between frames are completed, the next step is to add color to the drawings. This can be done either manually or digitally.

Compositing: After the drawings are colored, they are combined with any necessary background images and special effects to create the final animation.

Rendering: The final step is to render the animation into a video file format that can be shared or published.

Overall, the process of 2D animation is a labor-intensive one that requires a lot of time and skill. However, with the right tools and techniques, it is possible to create high-quality 2D animations that can be used in a variety of settings, from film and television to online video content.

Upload images

Most common 2D animation techniques and software

There are several 2D animation techniques and software that are commonly used in the industry. Here are some of the most popular ones:

Traditional hand-drawn animation: This is the classic technique of animating with pencil and paper. Each frame is hand-drawn by the animator and then photographed to create the illusion of movement. This technique has been used for decades and is still used today in some cases.

Digital cut-out animation: This technique involves using pre-made character rigs that can be manipulated using software to create animations. It allows animators to create complex movements quickly and efficiently.

Motion graphics animation: This technique involves using text, shapes, and graphic elements to create animated visuals. It is often used for advertising, explainer videos, and other forms of visual communication.

Stop-motion animation: This technique involves creating physical objects or puppets and photographing them in different positions to create the illusion of movement. The frames are then played in sequence to create the final animation.

As for software, here are some of the most popular 2D animation programs used by professionals:

Adobe Animate: This software is a popular choice for creating 2D animations, including character animations, motion graphics, and interactive experiences.

Toon Boom Harmony: This software is used in the animation industry to create 2D animations, including television shows, movies, and games.

TVPaint: This software is a traditional hand-drawn animation tool that allows animators to create frame-by-frame animations.

Moho (formerly Anime Studio): This software is used for digital cut-out animation and allows animators to create complex movements and actions quickly.

Overall, the choice of animation technique and software will depend on the specific needs of the project and the animator's personal preferences and skills.

How 3D animation works?

3D animation works by creating digital models of objects and characters, and then manipulating those models in a virtual 3D space.

The process typically involves the following steps:

Modeling: The first step in creating a 3D animation is to create the digital models of the objects and characters that will appear in the animation. This can be done using specialized 3D modeling software.

Rigging: Once the models are created, they need to be rigged. This involves creating a skeleton or structure that allows the animator to manipulate the model as if it were a real object or character.

Animation: With the models and rigging in place, the animator can begin creating the animation. This involves manipulating the models in the 3D space to create movement and action.

Lighting and Texturing: After the animation is created, the next step is to add lighting and textures to the scene to create a more realistic look.

Rendering: The final step is to render the animation into a video file format that can be shared or published.

Overall, 3D animation is a complex process that requires specialized software and a lot of skill and experience. However, the result can be incredibly detailed and realistic animations that can be used in a variety of settings, from film and television to video games and virtual reality experiences.

The different stages of 3D animation

he process of 3D animation typically involves several stages, each with its own set of tasks and challenges. Here are the different stages of 3D animation:

Concept and Storyboarding: The first stage involves developing the concept and creating a storyboard. This stage includes defining the goals, objectives, and visual style of the animation. Storyboards are created to help visualize the script and plan out the shots and camera angles.

3D Modeling: Once the concept and storyboard are finalized, the next stage involves creating the 3D models of the objects, environments, and characters that will be used in the animation. This stage is critical because the quality of the models determines the quality of the final animation.

Rigging: After the models are created, the next stage involves rigging them. Rigging is the process of creating a skeleton or structure that allows the animator to control the model's movements. This stage is critical because it allows the animator to create realistic movements and actions.

Animation: Once the models are rigged, the animator can begin creating the animation. This stage involves manipulating the models in the 3D space to create movement and action. Animators use specialized software to control the position, rotation, and scale of the models.

Lighting and Texturing: After the animation is created, the next stage involves adding lighting and textures to the scene to create a more realistic look. This stage includes creating materials for the models and adding lights to create the desired mood and atmosphere.

Rendering: The final stage of 3D animation involves rendering the animation into a video file format that can be shared or published. Rendering can be a time-consuming process because it involves creating images for each frame of the animation.

Overall, the 3D animation process is complex and time-consuming, but it allows animators to create incredibly detailed and realistic animations that can be used in a variety of settings, from film and television to video games and virtual reality experiences.

2D or 3D animation, which one should I learn?

Deciding whether to learn 2D or 3D animation depends on your goals, interests, and the type of animation you want to create. Both 2D and 3D animation have their advantages and disadvantages, and each requires different skills and software. Here are some factors to consider when deciding which one to learn:

Artistic style: 2D animation is typically associated with traditional hand-drawn or cut-out animation styles, while 3D animation is known for its more realistic and three-dimensional look. If you are interested in creating more stylized, cartoon-like animations, 2D animation may be the better choice. If you want to create more realistic or technical animations, 3D animation may be the way to go.

Job opportunities: Both 2D and 3D animation are used in a variety of industries, including film, television, video games, and advertising. However, the job market for each may vary depending on your location and the industry you want to work in. It may be worth researching the job opportunities in your area and industry to see which one is in higher demand.

Software and technical skills: 2D animation software often requires drawing or painting skills, while 3D animation software requires more technical skills like 3D modeling and rigging. Consider your existing skills and the software you have access to when deciding which one to learn.

Personal preference: Ultimately, the decision of whether to learn 2D or 3D animation may come down to personal preference. If you enjoy working with physical materials like paper and pencils, 2D animation may be more enjoyable for you. If you prefer working in a digital 3D space and enjoy technical problem-solving, 3D animation may be a better fit.

In summary, the decision of whether to learn 2D or 3D animation depends on your personal interests, goals, and existing skills. Consider the factors above and do some research to determine which one is the best fit for you.

[designerdollar]

HOW TO CREATE ABSTRACT TYPOGRAPHY ANIMATION USING ADOBE AFTER EFFECTS.

Read the full article: https://designerdollar8.blogspot.com/2023/05/how-to-create-abstract-typography.html

!INTRODUCTION:

Abstract typography animation is a great way to add some creativity and visual interest to your projects. With Adobe After Effects, you can create stunning typography animations that grab your viewers' attention and convey your message effectively. In this tutorial, we will show you how to create an abstract typography animation using various built-in effects and presets in Adobe After Effects.

STEP 1: SET UP THE PROJECT

The first step is to set up the project in Adobe After Effects. Create a new composition, and set the size and frame rate according to your project requirements. Import your footage or image, and add it to the composition. Now, create a new text layer, and add your text. Choose a font that suits your project and adjust the size and color of the text as needed.

STEP 2: ADD EFFECTS TO THE TEXT

Once you have your text in place, it's time to start adding effects. In this tutorial, we will use the CC Cylinder effect to create a 3D look for the text. Apply the effect to the text layer, and adjust the settings to your liking. You can also use the Curves effect to adjust the color and contrast of the text.

STEP 3: ANIMATE THE TEXT

With the effects in place, it's time to animate the text. In this tutorial, we will use the 3D effect to create depth and motion. Enable the 3D layer option for the text layer, and adjust the position, rotation, and scale of the text as needed. You can also use the Optics Compensation effect to adjust the perspective and distortion of the text.

STEP 4: ADD A BACKGROUND

To add more depth and interest to your animation, you can add a background layer. In this tutorial, we will use a gradient background, created using the Gradient Ramp effect. Apply the effect to a new solid layer, and adjust the colors and position of the gradient to your liking.

STEP 5: ADD MOTION TILE

To create a seamless loop, we will use the Motion Tile effect. Apply the effect to the text layer, and adjust the settings to your liking. This effect will create multiple tiles of your text layer, which will seamlessly loop to create an infinite animation.

STEP 6: FINE-TUNE THE ANIMATION 

Now that you have all the effects and animations in place, it's time to fine-tune the animation. Adjust the timing, duration, and position of the text and background layers to create a cohesive and engaging animation. You can also add additional effects or transitions to enhance the animation further.

STEP 7: EXPORT THE ANIMATION 

Once you are satisfied with the animation, it's time to export it. Choose the appropriate export settings for your project and render the animation. 

You can now use the final animation in your projects and presentations.