From the course: Animation Foundations: Fundamentals

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X, Y, and sometimes Z

X, Y, and sometimes Z

From the course: Animation Foundations: Fundamentals

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X, Y, and sometimes Z

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When modeling drawing or animating in the computer, we need to create a representation of the world in software. We do this by splitting the world into axes. If you're doing flat animation, you will only have two dimensions, x and y. This is much like a piece of paper, or a computer screen. X is usually represented as left and right, while y is up and down. 3D animators get a third dimension, the z dimension which allows for the simulation of depth. The z axis is usually depicted as forward and back but this can depend on how you're looking at the scene. Forward and back from this viewpoint is left and right from another viewpoint. It's all relative. If you only have two dimensions to play with, depth can be simulated by using standard perspective tricks. Objects that are further away are simply scaled or drawn smaller so they look farther away. By animating the object getting larger in perspective it appears to move towards the camera. Now, when animating, each motion you have will…

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