Animation : Use of 3D animation vs 2D by Matthew D Rhodes

If you can pump out quality animation using Unreal, you’ll be at an advantage. the program is only going to get better and more popular. It’s advantage is super-fast rendering. modeling and rigging you may still be better off in other programs.

That's where Blender comes in handy.

In the grand scheme of things it doesn't really matter which one you decide to use. What's more important is "Is the vision of the project you had in your head represented on the screen?" Some ideas would work really well in 3D, others would be better in 2D simply because of the aesthetic. While its tempting to use the latest and greatest tools, I'd say focus on the tools you need for the idea.

Are you making games or animation. For games the obvious choice would be 3D. If its animation its less procedural and the style and you trademark is more important. It's hard to stay away from standard solutions, Poser for example tends to look like a lot of other work because its easy to pick up.

Terence Daniels i plan on expanding into video games later but With how serious a lot of my work tends to be simple 2D animation wouldn't suffice. I invite you to read my Pilot episode, "Shadow Legacy". posted on Stage 32 and consider which would be better for it. Even my screenplay, a dark comedy "The Customer is Always Right" Wouldn't look good in 2D animation compared to a movie like "BeBe's Kids."

You can produce 3D content in Blender that appears 2D by utilizing the correct material shaders. You can produce 3D-cel shaded animation in UE using materials or 2D using sprites. There's also a "branch" of UE that is for 2D animators. I have not used it myself only seen a YT video on it; link to the actual program is https://praxinos.coop/odyssey.php.

Ultimately, it's about the stories you as the creator want to tell and the audience you're seeking to engage. Some anime purists hate 3D-cel-shaded anime. Others embrace it. If your goal is to produce photorealistic animation, then UE is an option. Lumen can be made to look really good, though the Pathtracer can make environments and characters look even better. Blender is an option for photorealistic characters as well (using Cycles).

2D animation does not mean it will only appeal to kids and 3D animation does not mean it will appeal to adults. Castlevania, Samurai Kamui, Jujutsu Kaizen, Family Guy Paradise PD all have huge adult fan bases. Likewise 3D movies in cinemas tend to be more for kids or family in general. Go with the medium you prefer and the one that serves you vision. If it is 3D, go that route. Also as mentioned by Jefferson Donald you can make 3D look 2D these days and the technology is getting better and better, so it is easy to have the best of both worlds.

Kevin Jackson @Jeff Donald. With my work I'm wanting to borderline Realism. While i understand Anime there are those out there that consider Anime to be children's content as it is animated. I get into fights with my dad still over the fact he wants to call it cartoons. Even then I just don't feel 2D animation would do well for my projects.

Well the fact that there are sex scenes with heavy nudity and heads being chopped off and blood in anime. It definitely can't be considered for kids. But I get the mis-perception. Unreal is a great platform. Honestly I hear because the rendering is real time you aren't getting as realistic a render as traditional rendering but I honestly cannot tell the difference and what I see coming from Unreal is gorgeous. I've been looking into doing a short film with Unreal and generate the character with Meta Human.

Matthew D Rhodes - You've said it, "I just don't feel 2D animation would do well for my projects." That's what's important to you and assumingly your intended audience. The tools are there.

there was a movie back in the early ought's that blew me away for animation of it's time. It didn't do well commercially but what they accomplished back then was almost ground breaking. Do you remember "final Fantasy: The Spirits Within?" By todays standards you can likely tell that it's CG animated but when I first saw it I had a hard time distinguishing between a real actor and the characters. They had a behind the scenes look of a couple of the characters just lounging around with their actors in mocap suits.

With my first project, "Shadow Legacy" I want people to take it seriously as a drama that has been compared to Game of Thrones. I saw what happened with Disney's "The Lion King" and I don't want that either.

Matthew D Rhodes I remember Final Fantasy The Spirits Within and it does remain a benchmark for me. When I saw it I knew animation would not be the same again. It was amazing to see how real it looked back then.

Matthew D Rhodes Have you generated any visuals yet, I really thrive on such things.

Terence Daniels I've got some concepts art and I've been in contact with a professor that is allowing his students to use a scene from my project as a class project and I'll be given the final to use in Crowdfunding.

Any style can now be marketed to any age group. Blue Eye Samurai is 2D and very R-rated, and Sausage Party, on the surface, looked like a Kids' movie but was also R-rated. As many have pointed out, it comes down to vision, and in the case of independent production, it comes down to practicality - what can you produce with the resources you have.

Bob Harper It's a good thing Unreal Engine doesn't charge to use until you make money off your projects.