3D Animation

I need some help!

My initial intentwas to learn how to make some animations for my grand kids that wouldtell some of my stories like the one about a bluebird and a fox, somekids that find lost pirate treasure, or even the more ambitious storyentitled “The Mouse House Caper”! Perhaps I am naive but forcertain I was uneducated about “computer based animation”.Nonetheless, I ventured out into the online world to find out what Ididn’t know but needed to know about “animation”. So far, ithas been a wonderful and exciting journey. At 69 years old I havefinally discovered what I want to do when I grow up! However I stillfeel a bit lost and unsure how to move forward. That is what I wouldlike to know – what is a viable pathway to travel down the road to3D animation competence! To that end I’d like to ask for youradvice and experience hoping that will help me map out my “animationtravel plans”!

Perhaps a broad, butbrief review, of where I have been so far may be helpful toconsidering a recommendation of where I should go next. I’ll alsolist a few constraints that impact my 3d animation travel plans.Hence, here are some points for context:

1. I cannot affordexpensive software platforms. That includes software such as anyAdobe products (or any “subscription” type products for thatmatter), AutoDesk Maya, or anything that cost more than $1000.

2. I will work on alaptop. My current plan is an HP Omen Laptop, (16.1” screen, I-7Intel CPU, NVIDIA RTX 3060 GPU, 32 GB ram, 1 TB SSD).

3. I am not inclinedto pay for basic tutorials as they seem to be a “pig in a poke”situation. That said, however, I have kissed many, many YouTube“frogs” looking for the rare tutorial “prince”! It has beenexceedingly tiresome and seemingly never ending search sometimes!

4. I have studiedthe history of animation including the twelve principles, etc.

4. I researched,done the tutorials, and worked on trial versions from a variety ofdifferent animation software platforms including the following:

   A. ReallusionCartoon Animator (2D animation)

   B. ReallusionCharacter Creator 3 (3D Characters)

   C. ReallusionIclone 7

   D. DAZ3D Studio

   E. Epic GamesUnreal Engine

5. I am currently“hip deep” in learning Unreal Engine and find it very powerfulbut I also find it ….

   A. Exceedinglycomplicated but viable

   B. Very, very gameconstruction oriented,

   C. An unintuitiveGUI arrangement – unobvious to me on how to insert a character intoa scene!

   D. The tutorialsare a strange mix of both very good and very bad teachingpresentations,

   E. Epic Games hassome excellent animator development initiatives such as metahumans(genuinely exquisite photo realistic characters), a 30 day“fellowship”, and a recent symposium for telling stories withunreal engine to name a few)!

At this stage of my3d animation journey my simple mind finds that “computer basedanimation” has the following major production components!

1. Characterconstruction and development (modeling, rigging, texturizing)

2. Environmentand/or scene construction

3. Integration ofcharacters into an environment (movements, expressions, props,dialogue, sounds)

4. Rendering

5. Compositing

6. Final touches

My simple mind alsobelieves that the proverbial “pipeline” notion in 3D animationmeans that there is no one software that can handle all 6 componentsof the process. The trouble I have is that I do not know whichsoftware will easily fit together to make a strong “flow” of 3Dproduct or even more importantly which software is best suited forwhich 3D production components.

Today I amfrustrated, disheartened, and rudderless about what compass heading Ishould be sailing to get back on my 3D Animation proficiency journey. Any advice that may get me back on course?