2D vs. 3D Animation: A Few Considerations

Choices for techniques in motion graphics and animation for video are many. The primary decision is not which software, but whether 2D or 3D. If you are featuring a talking lizard for an insurance company, then best you find a genius 3D animator (although you will likely use After Effects to marry it to live action video). But for affordable animation, compositing, motion control and graphic effects, our money is on After Effects.
With the latest plug-ins and a knowledgeable designer, After Effects allows for creation of 3D-like animation in an edit suite, without the extensive modeling and wire framing required in 3D animation programs. This allows for efficiency in altering individual elements in the presentation. With most presentations for commercial and government clients, modification through various levels of approval is a way of life. Making changes in a 3D animation program can be much more cumbersome and time-consuming.

In a whimsical video promotion for AOL/McAfee, EFX editors and designers composited a wide range of animated elements and special effects. You can view the video at
http://www.efxmediatv.com/media.cfm?c=576&m=1028



After Effects is a compositing/motion graphics program from Adobe with some limited 3D abilities. Although not technically 3 dimension, it doesn’t mean you cannot achieve the look of depth, thus the illusion of 3D. After Effects works with 2 dimensional objects and offers the ability to manipulate these objects within "Z" space (depth).

Frame from an Orbital meeting presentation that can be viewed at
http://www.efxmediatv.com/media.cfm?c=574&m=2432&

Creating 3D-looking objects has been likened to building a cardboard box from postcards. If you take the box apart and look at the individual pieces, you see that the front picture on the postcards easily. But look at them form a side view, and its much more difficult. Below is a sequence from an investment video using the concept of assembling 2d layers together to form a box, we achieve the appearance of 3 dimensional objects, as shown in this step by step process.

Understanding this and other After Effects capabilities, our editor/animator, John Nelson decided to build a 3 dimensional world with 2 dimension elements for an animated video primer about cloud computing for President Obama’s CIO (working for our client Touchstone).

We implemented this technique in various ways to create many of the 3 dimension looks in the Cloud Computing video, which quickly became a motion graphics designer’s playground. View at http://efxtv.com/media.cfm?m=2691


After Effects is a very powerful compositor as well. With ease it has the ability to build a virtual set, composite objects, or key people into that environment.



A scene from the animated “It’s Easy” for US Census Bureau.
You can see the entire animation at http://www.efxmediatv.com/media.cfm?c=582&m=3160

Layering multiple video elements for this AOL Network Strategy video at http://www.efxmediatv.com/media.cfm?c=574&m=1034









Skilled artists are given control over the color, contrast, edge details, and noise/grain manipulation. These four categories have to be controlled in order too composite objects in a realistic and believable way. You will see a lot of these controls in action when keying green screen footage or adding elements to enhance a video. After Effects is capable of many things and is being used in more applications as Adobe continues to improve capabilities and work flow relationships between programs. After Effects is no longer limited to the video world, as it has become an important tool for interactive and Web designers to create animation and effects for Web-only videos and Flash-based content. AE integrates with the most popular graphics application in the world (Photoshop) as well as the other Adobe products that are ubiquitous in the video industry (Flash, Illustrator, Encore). Further, 3rd Party companies are constantly working on plug-ins for AE that simplify and expand the designer’s animated palette.

The EFX Company (dba EFXMEDIA) EFX Media is one of the country’s leading full service video production and media communications firm with a complete production, post-production, graphic arts and creative department located in Arlington, VA. EFX Media has a team of exceptionally talented, experienced, and dedicated professionals trained in traditional media, the latest interactive and distribution technologies as well as business communication. Our core business revolves around Full Service Video Production, Interactive Solutions, Media Services and Online Video Distribution. We emphasize creating benefits and value for our clients. We have developed methodologies based on industry best practice and years of experience that allows us to deliver quality services. We are a small business, on the GSA schedule. Our staff of 20 managers, producers, directors, cameramen, engineers, editors, designers, writers, schedulers, and office staff has been carefully developed to find the most capable and loyal personnel available to manage projects and to best serve our clients. Additional information about EFX and samples can be viewed at www.efxmedia.com. Just a few of our clients include: US Army, US Navy, Tricare, FEMA, USDA, OCC, US Marshals Service, Library of Congress, IRS, US Census Bureau, Department of Justice, National Geographic, UN Foundation, Booz Allen, Serco, SRA, General Dynamics, America Online, Exxon-Mobil,, and many others.

Victor Van Rees The EFX Company ( dba EFXMEDIA)
vvanrees@efxmedia.com
2300 South Ninth Street Arlington, VA 22204 Voice 703-486-2303 Cell: 703-447-8950
View our demos at: www.efxtv.com
View our blog at: http://efxmediavictor.blogspot.com/