As soon as motion graphics became sufficiently developed, they became a staple of corporate video and the advertising industry because of their versatility and spectacular appearance. Initially, they were used to create dynamic text effects for scene transitions and other supporting functions, but they soon matured, morphed into 3D animations, and took center stage in full-length videos and movies produced at studios like Disney and Pixar, not to mention the many video games whose characters seem so real that one would almost expect to find their handprints before Grauman’s Chinese Theatre.
Often the distinction between motion graphics and 3D animation is now blurred, but happily it is the effect rendered, rather than the formal definition of how it is produced that interests most of us.
The realism of particle physics is provided by a sub-system in such video processing software as After Effects, Maya, and others, which consists of a particle emitter and a physics engine to control the motion of the generated particles. This particle system is highly configurable, easy to produce, and in practice is usually attached to an object in 3D space to produce effects ranging from campfires to rain, or even hair, fur, and grass that moves like its real-life counterpart. It is often the system, for example, that produces the exploding 3D text sometimes used as a scene transition, the comet tail in a science fiction movie, or the snowstorm from which a single flake drifts before the screen to display its delicate and intricate structure.
Particle physics are at the very heart of what makes motion graphics and 3D animations vibrant and exciting. It provides realistic motion, breathes life into inanimate objects, and turns dull scenes into engaging, sometimes even startling, venues in which to present a product or idea. If you would like to see what this technique can do for your web videos, presentations, corporate sales videos, or public relations campaigns, contact us today and let us show you what particle physics can do to enhance your company’s image.
