Animation Blog

3D animation is the equivalent of a fashion trend in Hollywood studios. With the exception of Disney, who will release a classic 2D animation The Princess and the Frog this December, most of the animated movies are all in in-depth 3D animation. Most of the heavy lifting comes from the giant commercial 3D animation studios Dreamworks and Pixar. But in fact, even small-scale and independent studios are exploring the virtues of 3D with short feature films and even a venture back in stop-motion animation.

People have always had a fascination with replicating reality in the movie screen. While animated movies are far from live-action movies, their rendering in 3D allows movie viewers to experience the character and their world as though they were here with them. This is why 3D animation has always been a main attraction, if not novelty, of cinema. In fact, this is not the first time 3D animation has been a trend. That distinction belongs to the 1950s.

“It comes off the screen right at you!” While this slogan would look like an advertisement for an iMax cinema, one should know that this is the copy for the poster of the 1953 horror film The House of Wax 3D. This was the first romance of viewers with 3D. In this horror film, a ghost persona was hurling a paddleball in the faces of the viewers.

Moreover, films like Frankenstein 3D by Andy Warhol, the Nightmare on Elm Street (where blood splattered on the screen) and Bwana Devil (with the slogan “What do you want? A good picture, or a lion in your lap?”) strengthened the boom of 3D in the middle half of the 20th century.

However, audiences grew out of the 3D trick and dismissed it as a novelty because of the downsides of watching a 3D film back then: poor image quality and nausea from the 3D glasses.

With technology improving, the original problems of 3D has been corrected. Now image quality is sterling because there are no moving parts which has been causing motion sickness. 3D animated films come to movie theaters as a 500GB hard drive. The normal speed of images is at 144 per second, making for a very comfortable viewing experience. There is more chance for immersion in the world of the movie.

This is one of the most compelling perks of the recent renaissance of 3D animation. Beyond improving the quality of films, it has also jumpstarted the movie theater industry once more. With the distinct experience of 3D viewing, moviegoers are now encouraged to get off their home systems.

Moreover, one of the most important part about 3D animation is that it wards off piracy. “Ninety per cent of piracy is due to someone taking a camera into a movie theatre,” says Jeffery Katzenberg, president of DreamWorks Animation in a news interview, “You can’t camcorder 3D. So the by-product of this is that it will have some serious implications about that.”

However, there are still downsides to the current 3D animation boom which have to be addressed in the near future. The illusion of 3D images in the movie theater, brought about by the 3D glasses, creates a darker image on the screen. It significantly affects the vibrancy of images – a big problem in this age of high-definition visuals. Moreover, those with monocle visions will not appreciate the added dimension given by 3D animation.

More importantly, there can be too much reliance on 3D animation for the success of the film. In the end, it is still about the story, the action, the jokes and the characters of the film.