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Google Launches 3D Animator For Anyone To Easily Bring Their Drawings To Life
By Mikelle Leow, 13 Apr 2021
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Image via Google AI Blog
If you’ve taken a glance at the behind-the-scenes processes of studios like Pixar, you’d know that animating in 3D is especially time- and labor-intensive, and that it is a specialized discipline which takes years to master. Hoping to bring this practice a little closer to the masses, Google has rolled out an intriguing, time-saving 3D animation tool for amateurs and professionals alike.
The open-source animator, curiously named Monster Mash, is run on the simple basis that “most forms of artistic expression have a casual mode,” Google’s AI team explains in a blog post. At this stage, creators have the license to quickly process a thought wholesale “without fear of making a mistake,” describe visual designer Cassidy Curtis and principal scientist David Salesin. They draw parallels between a painter’s rough sketches and an actor’s ad-libbing.
Expanding on this idea of casual creation, Monster Mash instantaneously converts simple drawings into animated “rich, expressive, deformable 3D models,” without ever having to exit “the 2D plane.”
The tool is derived from a belief that 3D models can be developed with a set of overlapping 2D parts. It takes flat outlines drawn by the user, and then combines and inflates the regions into animated 3D figures.
Image via Google AI Blog
Image via Google AI Blog
With programs like Monster Mash, Google hopes to “democratize” the out-of-reach field of 3D computer animation.
The team fathoms the project will not only help out budding artists, but also significantly streamline the iterative process for professionals facing tight deadlines. Give it a go here.
Image via Google AI Blog
Image via Google AI Blog
Image via Google AI Blog
Image via Google AI Blog
Image via Google AI Blog
[via Android Police, images via Google AI Blog]
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