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When the movie Avatar became the highest grossing film in the history of cinema, people suddenly started paying attention to 3-D animation. But of course, this process did not begin with this new movie. In fact, this type of animation has been around for more than twenty years now.

The first movie to use 3-D animation was the Dennis Quaid vehicle, Tron. A few years later, another movie used 3-D animation, and this time they made it an essential part of their project. The movie the Last Star Fighter used nearly thirty minutes of compute generated animation and it cost them. According to the studio, the film featured a full half hour of computer generated 3-D scenes and for that they had to hand over three million dollars, compared with only one thousand for Tron.

Though the effects were impressive, both movies were only minor hits, which meant that the studios were none too pleased. It would be another decade before a movie studio would have the temerity to attempt another major 3-D animated picture. But this time the company produced the first full-length animated picture, rather than just creating short scenes or segments.

The company that invested in this promising new technology/art form was Pixar, which was owned by Disney. For years they had produced short films and inserts, but when they choose to become involved in moviemaking, the company invested nearly everything they had. The first film they produced was called Toy Story, and it was also the first full-length 3-D animated feature.

As you may know, the movie was a global hit that earned hundreds of millions of dollars. This unexpected success prompted other companies to invest in 3-D animation and the string of hit movies continued to grow. In the past decade alone movies like Shrek, Toy Story 2 and Final Fantasy have been mainstream hits.

Why the Sea change? Well, for one thing the cost of this new technology decreased over time. Like any new technology, as competition increased and experts flooded the field, the costs inevitably came down. Things like airbrushing, clipping path and masking and retouching were no longer budget breakers.

In the coming years, movie studios continued to release impressive new films that relied on 3-D animation, but none of them compared with Avatar. The cost of the film, like other James Cameron epics, went well over budget and is estimated to be between 280 and 400 million dollars.

What does the success of this movie tell us about 3-D animation? Well, for one thing it lets us know that it is undeniably a cross-generational art form, which means that both children and adults appreciate it. In fact, most of the people who have seen the movie are adult moviegoers.

But when it comes to the industry, 3-D animation can be used in more than just major motion pictures. The simple truth is that this process is far more popular in business than it is in art. What we mean is that businesses often seek out companies that specialize in this type of work and hire them to product major presentations or product introductions.

How does it work? Well, instead of producing drawings, simple slides or project designs, an animated presentation with 360 photo editing will inevitably give the viewer a much better understanding of the product that is being reviewed. These presentations allow the creators or presenters to rotate and reposition the product any way they choose on the computer screen, which gives users a much better understanding of what the product is and how it operates than a simple 2-D picture.

And if the product performs some action, the 3-D presentation can demonstrate this movement. Though the creation of a complex 3-D animations project is well beyond what the average computer savvy tech can produce, freelance companies can be hired at a reasonable rate on the internet.

All you have to do is provide detailed instructions and these companies will create impressive 360 product animations. But as complex and advanced as the process appears, there are still a few preliminary steps that must be taken. For example, when figures or character must be recreated in 3-D animation, the artist must have tailored solutions or basic models. These models are often made out of wax or clay and they must then be scanned into the computer to serve as a 3-D model of the actual character.

Again, in spite of the seemingly complicated process, reproducing a character or product realistically on screen may take a few attempts and tens of thousands of dollars. For example, the smash hit Shrek took 5 years to bring to the Silver Screen. It is important to note that most of these films were created by the company Pixar, which continues to collect accolades and win awards as well as rack up the box office receipts.

But when it comes to technical processes like clipping path inserts or modeling, the experts have certainly reduced the costs and increased accessibility. This is evident in the number of new uses for this impressive new technology.

Probably the most popular use of 3-D animation technology for businesses is in the real estate market. The actual process is called real estate visualization, which means that shoppers can simply check online and take a virtual tour of all homes and apartments that are for sale. As you might expect, a 3-D tour can give people a much better idea of how much space is available in a home or apartment. This not only saves shoppers the time and trouble of visiting unattractive apartments, but it also helps buyers locate sellers much more easily.

For sellers that would like to post pictures of their home or apartments on the internet, real estate photo editing is a useful tool that can help sellers put their real estate in the best light. In the final analysis, this new technology provides users and viewers with more effective presentations, whether they are promoting a major motion picture, a new product or a residence.