BASICS: CAMERA ANIMATION
A quick guide to the essentials
If you’re new to CGI, you may feel that there are far too many tools to choose from in a dizzying array of software. This series aims to break everything in CGI down to the very basics, so that every artist can be armed with the knowledge of which tool is best. This month we continue our look at cameras by exploring camera animation.
Animation is a core skill that needs to be addressed by most CG artists. While many artists don’t need to learn all aspects of animation, there are some that are critical. A core animation skill that should be explored is how to animate the camera.
Learning camera movement can bring to life practically any aspect of a project, from subtle pull-ins to tracking shots. Even setting up a turntable animation is a useful skill to learn.
Learning how to animate the camera is also arguably the safest place to start when learning about animation in general, as many of the skills, such as working with animation curves, are applicable to most animation types.
When learning about camera animation, a couple of factors need to be taken into consideration. First of all, how long does an animation need to be? Animation files quickly take up space on a hard drive, and they also require a longer amount of time to render, as each frame of an animation needs to be created. This can be mitigated by the fact that animation render sizes tend to be smaller than those required for stills. Also, the eye is more forgiving of detail loss when items are moving, especially if effects like motion blur are applied.
To avoid camera movement ‘gotchas’ like gimbal lock, where cameras can go out of control, using a camera that is parented to null objects is a really safe method of building up movement – which is also easy to troubleshoot.
As ever, watching real-world examples of how film cameras are used will enhance an animated scene. Small features such as camera shake, or accounting for the fact that the camera is being held by a ‘virtual’ human, are effective tricks to use and are supported by many digital content creation applications.