3D animation in Anime is lazy and cheap.

Have you guys noticed the increase in 3D animation in anime lately? I remember the first one I saw with that crappy animation of Beserk Season 2. Is there anybody here who feels like me that Japanese producers have found out a way to make animation even cheaper so they are all getting on the 3D ship now? Recently I just started watching an anime on netflix that was in 3D. The story looked so interesting, but it had that awful 3D animation that cheapened the whole experience. In my opinion the only successful use of an entire 3D animation series was RUBY. What do you guys think? Is there a place for 3D animation in the anime world?

There's a place for 3D animation in anime, but not the way it's starting to be used now. Considering the low budgets most anime have it's shouldn't be surprising that they would cut corners to stretch their budget a bit further. If the 3D actually adds something to the series and has a purpose for being there then I'm fine with it. I just hope this doesn't become one of those trends in anime we have to deal with for years to come.

One could also say: "2D Animation in Anime is Lazy and Cheap" and that statement would ring just as true (no laughtrack this time...) (...OKAY FINE LAUGHTRACK!!!) (#LAUGHTRACK) I don't claim to know everything about Japanese animation, but their schedules are EXTREMELY TIGHT. We can't expect them to create masterpieces in the timeframe given, let alone fix glaring issues which I'm sure they're aware of (this is why blu-rays have so many improvements; they're given a bit more time/leeway to polish things up). If a scene must be completed by a given date, they have no choice but to hand in whatever they have. It's unfortunate, but that's how the animation industry works (manga, too). It's a deadline business that doesn't allow polishing unless there's a massive budget to support it. In terms of actual 3D animation, I think it's a good thing to explore in anime, as crude as it may be. Not many people agree, but look how far we've come in 3D video games. Someone had to take that first step in order to set the new standard. It's a group effort of learning from each others mistakes, improving their skill set, and technological advances. In short, SOMEONE HAS TO FAIL IN ORDER TO CREATE THE PATH FOR OTHERS TO ACHIEVE!!! THAT'S WHAT WE'RE WITNESSING AT THIS VERY MOMENT!!! Heck, even crap-ass 2D anime have very polished production values ("Kono Bijutsubu ni wa Mondai ga Aru" comes to mind #WOMP) We couldn't say this at the start of the digital anime era. And hopefully we can say the same for 3D anime... in 10 years (#LAUGHTRACK) Hopefully sooner! :P In short-short, as mush as we like making fun of "QUALITY" anime moments (trust me, I like making fun of it too #WOMP), we don't give the Japanese the credit they deserve, nor the time to grow. Their growth is important for the entertainment industry. Critique, but understand the limitations put on them (aka deadlines) (and profit margins #WOMP) In short-short-short, look at this, AND TELL ME IT'S NOT PERFECTION: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c9YSc_dwH7o https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c9YSc_dwH7o (EDIT: opps, skip to 0.42)

("It's... not perfection") (GODDAMIT HE'S SUPPOSED TO SAY IT!!!) ("O-Oh!") (#WOMP) (The reason I include that specific Aikatsu vid is the improvements made over 4 seasons) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_QmQaJamR88 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_QmQaJamR88 (I still wonder about that frame rate tho. Some people set it to 60fps but I'm not sure if it originally aired at that frame rate. I guess I'll have to check the blu-rays to find out...)

ALSO wait let me make a side note since frames-per-second is a thing... when animation studios combine 2D and 3D, I think they should lower the 3D framerate/smoothness to match 2D animation. I hate when there's that discrepancy, like "OH HEY WHY IS THAT OBJECT MOVING MORE SMOOTHLY THAN THE REST!??!?!" I can't find examples but it happens a lot.... or used to! As another side-note, I like how KyoAni incorporates 3D cars/vehicles in their animation. It's very seamless, in my opinion.

I actually thought the animation in Bubuki Buranki and Ajin were really well done. The main problem I see is when 3d is added to crowds, but hand-drawing crowds just walking by would be tedious, so I understand. (but then again, they put full effort into backgrounds that are only visible for like 15 seconds, so maybe that argument is invalid). After watching Berserk 2016, my step-brother actually said, "I wish there were more 3d anime," claiming that it's better than the 2d counterpart. I feel this is an interesting claim though, as he generally dislikes anime, and it's hard to find something he likes, so it makes me wonder if maybe that has something to do with it. As for slowing the frame rate, that's not exactly the problem, but rather reducing the frames. When you create a 3d animation, all the inbetween frames are generated for you, which creates a smooth motion. There was actually a fighting game that was done in 3d with the intent to look like a 2d anime, and in order to solve this problem, they removed the auto-tweening and intentionally created small mistakes and exaggerations in the motion. I don't remember the name of the game right now, but if I find it, I'll add a link or something. The basic problems in 3d are motion and lighting, and both of those can be fixed by removing the smooth tweening and editing surface normals (the calculated facing of each polygon). Basically, we're currently completely capable of making 3d appear exactly (almost) like 2d, we just need someone that's already in the field to do it first.

"As for slowing the frame rate, that's not exactly the problem, but rather reducing the frames" You're right!! Uhhh, that's probably what I meant to say! (#WOMP) You raise a good point on auto-tweening (totally forgot that was a thing... 3D is not my field!) and intentionally removing/reducing frames is defo a way to achieve that anime feel. Back on fps, I'm almost certain anime is animated at 12fps (but runs at 24fps on tv) (or maybe it's animated 24fps but on twos?) (which I guess would be 12fps on ones?...), and 3D is generally animated at a higher rate to prevent choppiness. To me, 3D is more like "sculpting" a moment, while 2D is, well, drawing it. So I agree that someone with expertise in both would have a better chance at animating in a believable way. As for that 3D fighting game, I think you're talking about Guilty Gear Xrd! http://www.polygon.com/2015/5/26/8663003/guilty-gear-xrd-cel-shading-making-of (or possibly one of those other anime-fighter games, who knows) For 3D crowds, totally agree. I remember Sakamichi no Apollon had a completely dead/lackluster 3D student crowd (and a horrendous 2D-crowd but that's for another time...) and while motion and lighting are important, in this case it's character "acting" that sells whether the crowd feels real or not. The motion can be there, but the character has to "act" human to prevent distracting from the point of interest. Then again this is more subjective due to cultural differences. What we (in this case Americans) find awkward or "off" in anime can be a natural movement/gesture in Japan. I feel this is one of the many reasons Americans hate dubs ("Hey! We weren't talkin' bout dubs!") (Oh, uhhh... #WOMP)

Also side note: talking about 3D anime gets me so pumped ERRRRRRGHHHH!!! I remember being so stoked when I saw that Hatsune Miku "World is Mine" video!) (Along with Tupac #WOMP) (but really hologram Tupac nearly gave me a heart attack but then I saw his pants animation and thought "Oh, that's not Tupac") (#WOMP) I know the animation may seem off but I still get chills seeing Hatsune Miku rise like a Phoenix and everyone praising their new overlord! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O17f3lB7BFY https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O17f3lB7BFY (admittingly I start to cringe at 1:38...)

YES! GUILTY GEAR! Sorry, for the caps... I couldn't find it again, so I'm glad someone knew what I was talking about. I first found it while researching the possibility of 2d-like 3d rendering, so it was just something I stumbled on down a very long rabbit hole. There's actually a lot of advantages to using 3d animation, which is why I believe it is going to improve quite a bit in the near future. Personally, I've been experimenting with 3d environments that can be rendered to look like 2d anime backgrounds (the house in Wolf Children was done this way) because I could do a lot camera rotations and the like (mostly because painting a 2d image is hard) (#WOMP) <---sorry Unnatural movements? Surely you don't mean Kingdom's glorious 3d battles scenes! Also, more on the game side than anime, there's the rise of live2D Euclid: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xg40RzBIqTY I suppose it might also be possible for use outside of games though.