Production of 3D animated short films in Unity 5

: can game engines replace the traditional methods?

Abstract

In 3D animation cinema, the elements of a scene are created by artists using computer
software. To generate the final result, there must be a conversion (rendering) of the threedimensional
models to two-dimensional images (frames) that will later be joined together and
edited into a video format.
3D animation films have traditionally been rendered using pre-rendering engines, a time
consuming and expensive process that usually requires the use of multiple computers rendering
at the same time (render farms), renders which may need to be repeated if the results are not
ideal.
Videogames, on the other hand, are reactive applications where the player may have
different possible courses of action that will generate distinct results. In those cases, it is
necessary that the engine waits for the player’s input before it calculates the following frames.
To allow for fast calculations in real time, 3D game developers use game engines that
incorporate real time rendering methods which can generate images much faster than the prerendering
engines mentioned above.
To be able to generate a large number of frames per second, there must be an
optimization of the entire scene, in order to reduce the number of necessary calculations. That
optimization is created by using techniques, practices and tools that are not commonly used by
animation cinema professionals.
Due to that optimization necessity, videogames always had a lower graphic quality than
that of animated films, where each frame is rendered separately and takes as long as necessary
to obtain the required result.
Physically Based Rendering (PBR) technology is one of the methods incorporated by
some rendering engines for the generation of physically accurate results, using calculations that
follow the laws of physics as it happens in the real world and creating more realistic images
which require less effort, not only from the artist but also from the equipment. The incorporation
of PBR in game engines allowed for high graphic quality generated results in real time,
gradually closing the visual quality gap between videogames and animated cinema.
Recently, game engines such as Unity and Unreal Engine started to be used – mostly by
the companies that created the engine, as a proof of concept – for rendering 3D animated films.
This could lead to changes in the animation cinema production methods by the studios that,
until now, have used traditional pre-rendering methods.

Date of Award	28 Jul 2017
Original language	English
Awarding Institution	Universidade Católica Portuguesa
Supervisor	Sahra Kunz (Supervisor) & André Cruz (Co-Supervisor)