2021/10/14
Whether 2D animation or 3D animation, they share same animation principles.
With the development of CGI technology, 3D animation represented by Disney has become a major mainstream. Its free expression of action and excellent presentation of materials are a big advantage of 3D animation. The addition of various technologies, such as motion capture, has also led to the rapid development of 3D animation. The unique style and expressive tension of 2D animation can not be ignored, and it is becoming increasingly mature, especially in Japan and other regions. Animators try to incorporate 3D techniques into 2D animation, such as Toon Shading ( Cel-shading ) techniques. This post gives some examples of Toon Shading for comparison and analysis.
Some of the advantages of 3D animation, such as the fact that once a character is modeled, it doesn’t have to be repainted, saving time to spend elsewhere, can help a lot. As the Japanese style of 2D animation has a large number of fans around the world, many companies have tried to produce Toon Shading animation. The Leader is a 2019 Chinese animated web series based on the life of German philosopher Karl Marx. This animation makes a lot of use of the Toon Shading technique, but there are a lot of problems.
If the studio reduces the number of frames in order to save money, the characters are modeled out of shape, and corners are cut on some of the frames, that can result in strange 3D movements or a rigid image. Much of the action in the animation didn’t have Anticipation. Meanwhile, it did not seriously consider the Secondary Action.This makes the character feel very mechanical.
For example, there is a scene in the animation when Marx goes to attend the banquet held by Yanni’s family. The character’s walking movements are too stiff, which brings uncomfortable feelings to the audience. It’s weirder in 3D animation when the action is sloppy and not precise.
The other problem is “Timing”. Most 2D animations are drawing one “twos” ,which makes slow movements more fluid and dynamic. But the animation didn’t adjust the frame rate very well in 3D, which made it too smooth. But they don’t have enough detailed movement, so the characters are stiff. In this regard, I think the film Spider-Man: Into the Spider-verse can be regarded as an excellent case. Also as an animation using Toon Shading technology, it has good enough action. At the same time, in order to show the unique style, the frame rate was deliberately reduced to imitate drawing one “twos” or drawing one “threes” of 2D animation.
Another animation that I personally think is really good is RWBY. (Thanks again to author Monty Oum for this series, RIP.) The action production of this animation is amazing. The animation takes full advantage of 3D animation. More complex camera handling and action design. The possibilities of animated combat action are fully explored. Generally speaking, 3D character movements are difficult to exaggerate the expression, but it brings excellent visual impact to the audience. The animation also uses many one-shot scenes, which are difficult to complete in 2D animation.
Another feature of this animation is the perfect combination of action pictures and background music, which is basic on good character action. The animation’s interpretation of the aesthetics of violence is impressive.
No matter which animation above, in fact has its excellent desirable place, this post is only aimed at these animation part of the aspect.