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3D anime is so ugly and I don't get why it's a thing

pleaseinsertdisctwo

pleaseinsertdisctwo

Banned
Oct 31, 2017
14,991
Edit: By "3d anime," I mean when characters are in 3D, but are animated with intentionally low framerate to mimic a 2D look.

(I'm pretty sure someone made a thread about this years ago but it's fine)

I've been seeing an influx of 3D anime everywhere and I'm just appalled. I have never seen a good looking example of 3D anime; even that "Land of the Lustrous" anime looks really ugly to me.

And here's one of my favorite examples of 3D anime:




Just one of the ugliest things I've seen, but I've also seen a lot of people defending the cutscenes of this game, some even saying that they're "great" or "amazing"... So maybe I just don't get it.

It's not like I'm opposed to using CG; in fact, I like it when some machinery/parts of the environment/etc. are CG; but the characters themselves? Hell no and I've never seen a non-ugly example.
 
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Hace

Hace

Member
Sep 21, 2018
894
it's to save money, op

also 3d can look good

PolishedDesertedAracari-size_restricted.gif
 
Rex Dart: Eskimo Spy

Rex Dart: Eskimo Spy

Member
Oct 30, 2017
999
If they're designing, modeling, rigging, texturing, lighting, rendering and compositing in 3D to 'save money' over 2D drawings, they're doing it wrong.
 

Deleted member 3294

User requested account closure
Banned
Oct 25, 2017
1,973
CG anime does have a reputation for looking pretty bad, but there's been quite a bit of improvement lately. I haven't seen it but I hear Promare's mix of 2D and CG animation works really well. There's also Land of the Lustrous and Beastars from Orange, and the new CG Lupin movie looks pretty nice.
 

Deleted member 18021

User requested account closure
Banned
Oct 27, 2017
4,000
It saves time and money when you don't have to draw the robutt a bunch of times.




Most of the time, it's down to how it's used in the show.
 
Sanka

Sanka

Banned
Feb 17, 2019
5,778
Hace said:
it's to save money, op

also 3d can look good

PolishedDesertedAracari-size_restricted.gif
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Cgi artists are way more expensive than 2D key animators. It only becomes cost efficient if you can use the assets for a long time.
It's mainly there to save time and because the anime industry is lacking 2D animators.
 
Segafreak

Segafreak

Member
Oct 27, 2017
2,756
Anime in general has been going downhill ever since they stopped hand drawing.

But tbh, big budget CGI anime movies look dope (Captain Harlock, FFXV Kingsglaive), not anime shows with CGI elements
 
Cdammen

Cdammen

Member
Oct 27, 2017
522
Sweden
Rex Dart: Eskimo Spy said:
If they're designing, modeling, rigging, texturing, lighting, rendering and compositing in 3D to 'save money' over 2D drawings, they're doing it wrong.
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Because drawing a new frame from scratch is laborious? You create models once and that's it. Upfront it's a cost, but they save time and thus money in the long run?

Anyone else wanna chime in on this?

I like the 3D if it's done well. Or is used in conjunction with an actual hand-drawn style, like for effects or sweeping shots.
 
Chairmanchuck (另一个我)

Chairmanchuck (另一个我)

Teyvat Traveler
Member
Oct 25, 2017
9,091
China
tenor.gif


tenor.gif


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I was sad that Sidonia was 3d CG.

I think it can be done well, but then there needs to be a good budget. Blame still looked great and not as lifeless as other anime who use it:

tumblr_oqifkeZspP1tbz7xxo2_500.gifv
 
Rosenkrantz

Rosenkrantz

Member
Jan 17, 2018
4,937
Thank Polygon Pictures for that. What's the point of 3D if you're still emulating animation on 3s?
 
OP
OP
pleaseinsertdisctwo

pleaseinsertdisctwo

Banned
Oct 31, 2017
14,991
Crossing Eden said:
MfqK08p.gif

BRk2rBQ.gif


This isn't really anime as described by the OP, this film was animated like a traditional CG film, (and clearly had a much larger budget than your standard anime adaptation). OP is referring to things that have toonshading.
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Ok maybe I should clarify: by 3D anime I mean stuff like Berserk, where the models are (low-detail...) 3D, with reduced framerate to mimic 2D animation.

I usually think cel-shaded games are gorgeous.
 

capitalCORN

Banned
Oct 26, 2017
10,436
Cdammen said:
Because drawing a new frame from scratch is laborious? You create models once and that's it. Upfront it's a cost, but they save time and thus money in the long run?

Anyone else wanna chime in on this?

I like the 3D if it's done well. Or is used in conjunction with an actual hand-drawn style, like for effects or sweeping shots.
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Yeah, who the fuck do you think is animating? Have you ever tried to manipulate vertices?
 
Thorn

Thorn

Banned
Oct 25, 2017
24,446
People are showing rare good examples when there's tons of awful cheap looking CGI.

Unless done amazingly well, CGI ages horribly.
 
Crossing Eden

Crossing Eden

Member
Oct 26, 2017
53,331
Honestly anime with 3d models and celshading usually aren't very different from 2d anime when it comes to animation flaws, people are just so used to them in 2D that they've ignored them and thus the flaws in CG seem "new"
 
Shopolic

Shopolic

Avenger
Oct 27, 2017
6,859
Chairmanchuck said:
tenor.gif


tenor.gif
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Came here for this!
That was one of the ugliest things I ever saw in my life. I haven't read the manga, but watched 1997 series and it was so good. this new one had interesting story too, but that visuals... :|
Why did they do this? Why not making some high quality anime instead of this abomination?
 
Chasing

Chasing

The Fallen
Oct 26, 2017
10,707
pleaseinsertdisctwo said:
Ok maybe I should clarify: by 3D anime I mean stuff like Berserk, where the models are (low-detail...) 3D, with reduced framerate to mimic 2D animation.
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I mean you're kind of limiting yourself there. 3D anime encompasses more than just low-poly/reduced framerate serials. Even then, for those, it's sometimes hard to tell if it's because of creative or budgetary reasons.
 
Lotus

Lotus

One Winged Slayer
Member
Oct 25, 2017
105,809
I can't shit on it anymore because Land of the Lustrous and Beastars exists
 

Deleted member 48813

Banned
Oct 20, 2018
1,281
Brazil
Even the best-looking 3D anime still looks off to me honestly. Beastars is the only one that looks kinda good to me, but I'd still like it more if it were 2D. I don't like how choppy 3D anime feels, and the character movement feels more rigid to me as well.
 
tokkun

tokkun

Member
Oct 27, 2017
5,406
Shambalakan said:
Came here for this!
That was one of the ugliest things I ever saw in my life. I haven't read the manga, but watched 1997 series and it was so good. this new one had interesting story too, but that visuals... :|
Why did they do this? Why not making some high quality anime instead of this abomination?
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...

To be fair, 2D Berserk has its own sins. A lot of the action scenes aren't even animated and they just give you a panning shot over a still image.
 
Edgar

Edgar

User requested ban
Banned
Oct 29, 2017
7,180
8a2906b4bc130f15911ab847537634cfd48a5c78_hq.gif

Ufotable has probably the best implementation and blend of 3D and 2D

Second place I would give it to Wiit studios of Attack on Titan fame
63a683a032c8b8913ad9dfd3029c8809.gif
 
Crossing Eden

Crossing Eden

Member
Oct 26, 2017
53,331
Shambalakan said:
Came here for this!
That was one of the ugliest things I ever saw in my life. I haven't read the manga, but watched 1997 series and it was so good. this new one had interesting story too, but that visuals... :|
Why did they do this? Why not making some high quality anime instead of this abomination?
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The director wanted to make a 3D show. And a large part of the production was building all the assets/art direction, leaving little time to actually...animate.

HStallion said:
It's animation from Japan. It's anime.
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Emphasis on "as described by the OP"
 
NeonZ

NeonZ

One Winged Slayer
Member
Oct 28, 2017
9,377
Etotama looked good, and it's from 2015. It was SD for the 3d scenes, but I don't think that had much to do with it (ignore the low frame rate screen scrolling in the beginning of the video)

 
OP
OP
pleaseinsertdisctwo

pleaseinsertdisctwo

Banned
Oct 31, 2017
14,991
Edgar said:
8a2906b4bc130f15911ab847537634cfd48a5c78_hq.gif

Ufotable has probably the best implementation and blend of 3D and 2D

Second place I would give it to Wiit studios of Attack on Titan fame
63a683a032c8b8913ad9dfd3029c8809.gif
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That's not 3D anime tho.

I'm totally fine with backgrounds being CG. It's when the characters are in 3D with intentionally low framerate that I have a problem

And, if I may add, those gifs are gorgeous
 
XaviConcept

XaviConcept

Art Director for Videogames
Verified
Oct 25, 2017
4,907
I dunno, I see plenty of 2D shows that could have used some 3D here and there. Im typically not a fan of how it looks (High Score Girl being a pretty good example) but most EVERY show uses 3D in a way you dont notice.

BTW Land of the Lustrous is perfect in 3D, could not see it being as good a fit as a 2D show

In the 90's it was a bit of a point if pride to hand animate mechas, water, etc so Im a little sad to see that stuff go but its such a huge time saver that those 3D shows probably couldnt get made otherwise
 
Finaj

Finaj

Member
Oct 25, 2017
5,360
The only 3D anime shows I find acceptable are Land of the Lustrous, Beastars and RWBY.
 
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