9.4 Digital Animation
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the need for elaborately built stages and models and soon led to the creation of novel
animations that could not be produced using traditional techniques. This new form of
3-D animation involves three major, interrelated tasks: creating objects and scenes; defin-
ing motions; and rendering.
Creating Objects and Scenes Animators create their objects and scenes in much the
same ways as 3-D graphics artists do—through modeling, surface definition, and scene
composition. As discussed in Chapter 6, modeling defines the shapes of objects using
techniques such as polygons, splines, and metaballs. Surfaces are defined by specifying
materials (glass, metal, wood, etc.), applying image and bump maps, and establishing
properties ...