Hi. A friend of mine just had an idea to sell 3D animated series to a local TV station. So, we were wondering what does it takes to set up a decent 3D production house? Especially about the human resource aspect. We're looking at a product somewhat between 'Barbie's Adventures' and 'Captain Scarlett' (or 'Starship Troopers', same quality both). Project must be completed in 7 months. There are all together 13 episodes; 30-minutes each. We decided to use Max because the motion flow and the motion mixer seem to be invaluable in projects like this.
Then, we were also wondering about the proper workflow : I mean, I have encountered numerous posts about riggers, modellers, animators, and lighting people - are these necessary? What do they do actually in a broadcast production? Who came first, who started work after modeller - and the stuffs.
I've looked around and didn't find any 'for dummies' books about this. I just make flybys and walkthroughs, no broadcast stuffs, so any help is very much appreciated.
*Something just crossed my mind: is it possible to make each episode costing about 5K USD? Where I come from, lower middle class family can live comfortably on 1.5K USD/month income, like me. In case you're wondering, the TV station pays about 11.75K USD for each 30-minute episode. For first try, we're thinking of playing safe and just subcontracting from another company and they pay us around 6K - 7K USD which is their standard practice. (Yeah, it sucks but I just wonder if we could pull this through...) For reference, a full 3D 30-sec TV montage here costs as low as 2K USD.
Thank you all.
Hi there,
I just joined this board yesterday. But, I was very interested in your post. Your idea is a good one and it can be pulled off I believe. I do a lot of different things digitally, but if you look around at some of the animation stuff out there on the web, models are often untextured because the person creating them just builds..isn't good with color..doesn't have the patience whatever...to do the "skins and textures" that need doing. I try to work with mostly photographic texturing for my works, as it ties in with my photography work. But, I also create from 3D Paint and other programs too. I think if you can guarantee that there is a paying market for this...(and you would have to get people to commit I thinK) that the pieces will fall into place as long as people can stick to deadlines. If they can't deal with deadlines..they can't work the project. If you look to the new artists community I think you will find more willing participants, as we are always looking for resume builders if nothing else. So, let me know how this ends up..would be happy to "skin" some frames for you. I would probably work on a "I'll do this much...then ya gotta pay me" type deal..like if you were do one project, and it turns out well..you decide to do another...I kind of expect payment at least for the second one. I am looking to make this my career. 7 months should be enough time..depending on how much work goes into it. There are lots of programs that simplify many things now...from Bryce and Poser to more advanced programs. Most of those programs have :"cartoon render" format...which makes character and scene creation much easier..but again it depends on the talents of the artists involved. you should have these people available if nothing else. Model makers don't necessarily create a lot of big scenes...and scene makers don't necessarily build models. If you want from scratch..you need to find people that can build models. You start with the scenery in my opinion..where it takes place...day, night that sorta thing. But, some would start with the models. Will look forward to seeing if this turns into a discussion :)
I will watch this thread for replies, as I think it is a good idea you have . :)
Heidi (The following links are to my portfolio of work. Anything that isn't a photograph was created in bryce, poser and photoshop for the most part with some new stuff using Apophysis the Fractal program.
http://www.artwanted.com/copperhead
http://www.cafepress.com/copperheads
http://members.finerworks.com/copperhead
Hi there all,
I think something like that can be pulled off, but it depends on management. When groups start to get bigger, management gets an issue, you need someone to keep things flowing smoothly.
About the workflow, i would first try to visualise and design the series, dont start modeling yet, design some characters and environements. Design the story and derive the script from that, what happens when, on what scene, what does this guy say, how is he standing at that time, these things, making a storyboard comes in real handy in here. After that you can start modeling, maybe even during design and adjust along the way. See what polys and what effects you can render with your rendering capacties, and derive your workflow on that, normal maps sure help when on a polybudget. After modeling you want to get materials and texturing done, maybe even at the same time. And start laying out the environement, and meanwhile rig the characters. after that, lightning can be placed, and effects incorporated, you can start working on the first scenes, animating the characters, the world, and the camera's, and maybe some help from a videopost editor, like premiere, or after effects, to combine the scenes, edit some global things, add some scene effects. You can either use specialized artists skilled in only one branch of the progress, or generalists, or a mix.
I am certainly highly interested in this, and if you are interested, i would like to help. I am more of a generalist, though my skills are almost as deep as specialists, I can handle modeling, design, texturing(photographic and handpainted), mapping, rigging, animating, lighting. If you would like to work with me, or just like to talk about this, please contact me @ joris_hoogeboom@hotmail.com (email and MSN)
