Expert: Andrew Ransavage - 9/16/2010

Question
sir,,,
i am doing diploma in animationa n vissual effect but i am confuse that where i can be specialzied in
i am looking more for after effect than maya so can u tell me which is best for me
i am looking for vfx than 3d so can u explain me the difference between 3d and vfx
thank you
tsering


Answer
3D usually refers to the process of modeling, rendering and/or animating 3D objects, products, characters, environments, etc... This is done in applications like 3ds Max or Maya.  Visual effects is after you've rendered, or generated your image(s) from the original source (3ds Max, Maya, etc..) you add effects, styles, editing, color correction, etc.. to create the final product.  This is typically called post-production and is done with applications like After Effects, Combustion, etc... For example, you create an animation of a character walking down the street in Maya.  With visual effects in a program like After Effects, you could then add lens flares, film noise, color correction, even add in a new sky, etc...  This is what visual effects or post production is all about...