The 3D Animation History

Animation has been a fascinating and entertaining art form for over a hundred years, evolving toward betterment. Animation remains one of the newest art forms practised by artists today compared to any other art form. The animation holds a pretty simple definition as it can be defined as images of physical or digital objects being edited to appear as if they are moving, it creates an illusion. Illustrating or sculpting figures in different positions is the first step in animation. Then the subject is photographed to create a frame. More frames are designed and photographed, and each frame depicts the issue as it would appear if it were a moving subject. A time interval is then applied to each frame and shown in sequence. So in layman’s terms, we can say that 3D animation production creates moving images in a digital environment. In this blog, we will look at the history of 3D animation as one of the most popularly used animation styles.

Humble beginnings

In the early 20th century, the first animation that came to life was ‘Clay animation’, also known as ‘claymation.’ It includes creating clay models of real-life objects to produce stop-motion films showing the models as they move. Subsequent stories are told with the help of characters made from clay segments. One of the earliest claymation films was a trick film by Edison Manufacturing titled The Sculptor’s Welsh Rarebit Dream in 1908. Later on, in 1972, the claymation became the heart and soul of the Aardman filmmaking company that gave birth to Shaun the Sheep and Wallace and Gromit. The technique used in claymation is very creative yet intricate. But the results are so impressive and charming that they undoubtedly hold the worth of the painstaking process. Landing in the sixties, computer animation started to take off and soon, computer-generated imagery (CGI) replaced claymation as the most common animation style. Pixar released Toy Story in 1995, the first completely computer animated film in history. It proved hugely successful and also exposed the enormous potential of 3D animation through the use of computers.

Boeing blast

Nobody knew that a random employee at Boeing started experimenting on the computer with early forms of 3-D imagery of airline pilots. And the rest is history. William Fetter is the name of the artist who created the first actual 3-D image of the human form in short films for Boeing. He used wireframe drawing in pilot modeling to test a pilot’s ability to reach the aircraft’s instruments, and then it acted as a 3D representation of a human.

Modern CGI

CGI (computer-generated imagery) provides a new face to 3D animation, one of the significant differences between traditional animation and CGI animation is the drawing. In the CGI animation, the picture was substituted with 3D modeling creating an advanced version of conventional stop motion. CGI is a combination of two animations that use 2D computer drawing. The character models were deemed remarkably sophisticated for their time, with high-quality lighting, multiple layered textures, and a wide variety of facial animations that had not been achieved on such a scale. After the massive success of Toy Story, CGI took over the animation cinema with the production of renowned movies like Finding Nemo, The Incredibles, Monsters, Inc and Up.

What’s next?

With the consistent technological advancement, we should be prepared for the more advanced and refined version of 3D animation. New technologies are the birth of the expansion of the human mind, and 3D animation is one of its revolutionary inventions. This invention has not widened the spectrum of the entertainment industry but redefined the whole gaming experience. Today we can play games in virtual reality, living the experience of being the protagonist in the game. We should be prepared for the further evolution of animation other than current AR or VR trends. Animation has no limits, and it can serve various purposes like it can assist you in achieving the long-term success of your company with the correct use in marketing strategy.

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