Creating cinematic for an app/Question about 3D Models

Question

I would say that I'm fairly new to the modeling and animation field but I'm not a complete beginner. I'm trying to create a cinematic for a program, just don't exactly have the time to go through all of the steps of creating my own assets...not to mention I don't know the entire pipeline. I was thinking that maybe I can purchase some completed 3D Models that are already rigged, textured, have materials, and some UV Mapping. Import them into a program like Unreal Engine and set up a few scenes.

1. Is this possible and could I achieve good results?
2. How do I know what the 3D Model I purchase must have in order to work with the program I choose?
3. Anything that stands out screaming "DON'T DO THAT"?

I hope this isn't a silly question -_-

I'm sure this gets asked all the time and I'm going to go look it up right after but if someone could shed some light on what a good pipeline for creating a good looking model would be?

Example: If I create a mesh in blender, what are the next steps to get some good textures on it and materials and rigging?

The basic pipeline

1. Pre-production
2. 3D Modelling
3. UV Mapping
4. Texturing and Shaders
5. Rigging
6. Animation
7. Lighting
8. Rendering
9. Compositing

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I guess what I'm really wondering is what program workflow is ideal for someone on a budget? I know people use all kinds of programs but any recommendations would be extremely appreciated.

Answer 1

Realistically speaking you can't do this on budget, yourself. Even with free software it is still not doable without a significant commitment of resources.* In other words your own time and effort.

Personally, I can only afford to do even short (3 minute) productions if somebody is ready to pay my day to day salary for doing that. Since even with all the production assets it can easily take a week or two to get even 3 minutes produced. But then working without a client is relatively panless and there was a time i could do this.

1: Is this possible and could I achieve good results?

Yes, if you have the time to spare. Knowing what you are doing would be a plus but not necessary. I would triple my timetable if you aren't familiar with animation (say less than 100 hours), or drop my expectations to minimum.

I would try to recruit somebody who has done this as this would be cheaper.

2: How do I know what the 3D Model I purchase must have in order to work with the program I choose?

To be honest, you don't. And unless a standard rig works for you then you generally cant buy these assets. I would probably rig the characters myself anyway, as i would get a wider range of options and its easier to art direct these.

Anyway look for models that are allready textured, as this will save you a lot of time and effort. Shading is also usually very easy, unless you go for something highly nonstandard for art reasons.

3: Anything that stands out screaming "DON'T DO THAT"?

Well what can i say. Simplify, simplify, simplify. The biggest problem is to try to attain too high quality production. The risk is then that you get nothing out in the other end. So take a good look at what you actually need, not necessarily everything you want.

Students around me who fail to complete the animation course (most do!) fail because of lack of project management skill. It comes down to:

1. Not being ready to realistically allocate resources to each given task is one thing. See, most people disbelieve the time commitment needed.

2. Not being flexible enough to compromise in order to save time at certain tasks. Having a vision is one thing, not having anything to show for it is a failure.

* I fact the cost of the 3D application is neglible, since even a small production time saving will reap huge gains every DAY.