Computer 3D animation design

Designing an animated friend, or a TV title sequence, are you up to the long nights and the poor dress sense? Vincent Woods, co-organiser of Design North East finds out what some of our local computer animation companies have to say.

The jeans, T-shirt and a tired look seem to come with the territory of being a computer animator, but behind this look I found a passionate energy for creative solutions. Here in the North East we have many young companies now taking on some of the bigger outfits in London. I talked to two people with small but fast growing businesses. Firstly David Jeffries who set up Mere Mortals less than two years ago based in Newcastle making animation for TV, CDROM and web as well as games for on line and mobile platforms.

"Everyone here has a great enthusiasm for gaming and animation, a keen eye for detail and probably, most importantly, an ability to visualise what a client wants",

David explained.

But what if the brief is a few words?

"It doesn't matter whether it's a scribble, a fully drawn story board, or a twenty page document they all need a level of interpretation and understanding. We don't just go off and beaver away for days on end, it's very important to communicate with the client and that is how animators should work its people talking to people. They aren't working on a factory production line they are designers of a unique product at every turn and that needs constant communication."

This people theme seems a constant reference in all Design Files and Kevin Kelly partner of M.A.A.D, a Multimedia, and Animation And Development company in Gateshead, reinforces this.

"You cannot work in isolation in this business, computer animation is usually part of a multimedia programme or video graphic sequence and this always means interfacing with other mediums and other designers, project leaders and of course clients."

Saatchi and Saatchi, The Designer Group, Proctor & Gamble, are some of the International organisations they deal with. So working in the North East doesn't mean you have to have local clients. Recently Yoko Ono former wife of Beatle John Lennon gave a personal thanks for the work done by Mere Mortals and partners Imagine Non-linear Post Production. Even if you don't get to travel all over the world your work is likely be seen all over the world.

"The beauty about computer animation is that anything is possible. We not only recreated a product in 3D for 'Cover Girl - Makeup' we also showed how the molecules of the product work and created a virtual view of the product on a shop shelf along with its advertising and in store promotions,"

explains Kevin from MAAD.

This will be used as part of a multimedia programme for internal communication, as part of sales presentations or for use by the press and media."

The other beauty about this work it seems is that you can quickly and easily show others exactly what you're doing over the Internet. Soon you will be able to sit on a beach and view the animation made by a tired, hard working computer animator via your new colour LCD KJAVA mobile phone… Or just maybe it's the computer animator lying on a beach, sipping a cocktail, showing you the work he has just completed whilst you sit, sweating and stressed in your office? As they say anything is possible in this field.

Brief history of computer animation

'Sketch Pad', a 2D animation package was developed in the 1960s and in the early 1970s many experimental computer animation pieces were made. Then in the late 70s Jim Blin from the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, part of NASA designed and produced an animated sequence which visualised the Voyager space probe mission which was seen all over the world for years to come. This probably stimulated the movie industry who, a few years later produced Tron. Then in the early 80s Michelin produced the first complete TV ad using computer generated animation for their new MX tyres. From this the computer graphics production facility was born, along with ever increasing development of faster better hardware and software. Today you can get free software form the front of a magazine that can far exceed anything provided just a few years ago.

Dr Mathew Holton, Head of visualisation at the University of Teesside.

Knowing about Max and Maya

Over the last few years there has been an explosion in the education world of courses related to computer animation and other related fields. The problem has been keeping pace with the huge demand for these courses. Talking to the universities many are developing new courses each year for these subjects and constantly buying new hardware and software.

The computer animation software you could look at include Maya, 3D Studio Max, Softimage, Lightwave, and After Effects. No doubt if you are interested or working in this field already then you are best viewing the University web sights which are included in the details below.

• HND / BA (hons) / MA in Computer Animation.
• BA (hons) / MA, in Creative Multimedia
• BA (hons) in Computer Games Design
• BA (hons) in Creative Visualisation
  University of Teesside
  Tel: 01642 218 121 www.tees.ac.uk
  
  
• BA (Hons) Multimedia Design
  University of Northumbria at Newcastle
  Tel: 0191 227 4802 www.unn.ac.uk
  
  
• BA (Hons) Electronic Multimedia Design
  University of Sunderland
  Tel: 0191 515 3593 www.sunderland.ac.uk

What the guru's say:-

"British people are at the centre of the video game industry, (which is now economically more important than the music industry) and it's no coincidence that the British companies are the world's biggest players in the 'next big thing', convergent technologies of mobile telephony and hand held computers. Britain has long produced a disproportionate share of the world's social and economic innovations, but while this record of creativity should be celebrated, our attention must also be focused on building on this extraordinary record. The challenge ahead of us is clear: to create an education system which enables the UK to play to its historic strengths, and in doing so develop the prosperity and well being of the nation as a whole."

Lord Puttnam, CBE FRSA, Oscar winning film producer, Chancellor of the University of Sunderland and Chairman of the General Teaching Council

Tom Bentley Director of Demos, one of the UK's leading independent think tanks and the author of 'The Creative Age' and 'Learning Beyond the Classroom' asks what is creativity?

"The most common misconception about creativity is that it involves artistic sensibility. Albert Einstein, Steven Hawking and Madame Curie were no less creative in their contributions to their fields than Picasso or Shakespeare. Similarly, creativity is not equivalent to brilliance. While some people may be fascinating to talk to, or may express novel thoughts, they are not necessarily more creative than others. It requires the ability to solve problems progressively over time and apply previous knowledge to new situations."

Taken from the RSA and Design Councils book on 'Education Futures' 2001

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This document is reproduced with he kind permission of The Journal and Benchmark Communications.