게임엔진을 활용한 3D 애니메이션 제작 파이프라인 고찰

Abstract

Studios that produce 3D animation or 3D full-computer-graphic (CG) images must consider efficiency. Due to time constraints during the production process, top-quality 3D animation or 3D full-CG images must be obtained promptly. To achieve this goal while minimizing expenses, it is important to design pipelines in accordance with the production field and environment in every case. One recent trend is to use game engines in 3D animation production, and the pipelines produced in traditional ways are changing accordingly. This research applies real-time rendering technology from game engines to 3D animation production. Doing so means that the writing, animation, effects, and rendering processes can be shaped in the game engines. High-quality resolution results can be checked in real time, which helps producers communicate better and, most importantly, greatly reduces the rendering time. This increases the efficiency of the production process. While examining efficiency, I compared the existing method with the proposed rendering process using a game engine. It took 100 times as much time to print an image of the same time span. Expert verification was also conducted. For this study, I also intensively interviewed five field producers who have 5‒14 years of experience using the Unreal engine in the field. All said that they felt the burden of learning more software but were satisfied with the new tool because its novel technology greatly increased efficiency. These producers also anticipate that this pipeline will change in many ways in the future. This study contributes to the existing research on pipelines, which are used in a range of ways in 3D animation production, the display and media industries, and in education.