3D Modelling in Video games and Film

The current trends in 3D modelling in both video games and film is to create the highest possible quality render for the production. In film however the focus is staying within budget whilst still creating an almost photorealistic animation whether it be VFX for live action films in order to make a character look like they belong in that world e.g. The Hulk in "The Avengers", or a fully CG film with cartoonish characters which extreme intricate details e.g. Toothless in "How to Train Your Dragon".

For a film like "The Avengers" incorporating a giant green rage monster amongst live action sequences is difficult to do but the people at ILM were able to use motion capture technology to place the Hulk in his scenes. To make him a real transformation of the actor Mark Ruffalo they studied his face and expressions very closely and in the end for the first time ever they were able to create a Hulk with the face of the actor playing his human form.

3D models of both Mark Ruffalo's face and the Hulk's

For "How to Train Your Dragon" there was a different approach to character creation and animation. The movie is entirely CG which requires a lot more in some instances and a lot less in others. A film like this allows the animators to create more cartoonish looking characters and to give them more cartoonish action but at the same time they put so much detail into everything it all seems like it could be real. From putting individual blades of grass swaying in the wind to freckles on Hiccup's face and even to the individual scales on Toothless the dragon.

Toothless from "How to Train Your Dragon"

Now video game animation and 3D Modelling is much different. While film production allows the animators to create what they need however they need to do it in order for it to look good and be within budget and done in the time given to the animator, animators in the video game industry must use closed polygon meshes in order for that particular asset to work within the game engine. Even more so they must create a low poly version of the character and often must rely on the texturing to give an HD look as the game engine cannot handle the rendering of all the assets if the models are too complicated. There are a number of tricks used in the video game industry that allows for an HD look without crashing the game engine. This article gives very good examples and also demonstrates the differences between 3D modelling for games and film.

Taken from the article linked above. Original source from forums.gametrailers.com

References

F, D. (2013). 3D Modeling for Film and Game - Gnomon Workshop - VFX and Game Designers | The Gnomon Workshop News. Thegnomonworkshop.com. Retrieved 4 July 2014, from http://www.thegnomonworkshop.com/news/2013/03/video-games-film-whats-the-difference-its-still-3d-modeling-right/

Ohnotheydidnt.livejournal.com,. (2012). THE AVENGERS: VFX Breakdown Featuring The Creation of The Hulk. Retrieved 4 July 2014, from http://ohnotheydidnt.livejournal.com/71764881.html

Schoolofdragons.com,. (2014). Toothless – How to Train Your Dragon Characters – School of Dragons. Retrieved 4 July 2014, from http://www.schoolofdragons.com/how-to-train-your-dragon/dragons/toothless