What are CGI effects?

P

Phil Pill

New member
WARNING! Before you answer the question, I have to warn you, I have a very limited vocabulary of technology, so it would be nice if you could simplify things! Thanks!

Ok, so I am a teenage guy looking to get into video editing. I have NOOO clue where to start with this stuff. In my future, I would love to be some sort of director/CGI editor.

http://www.maxon.net/products/cinema-4d-studio/who-should-use-it.html

I heard that this is a good program, but I have no clue what it is for. Is it just for special effects? or what else can I do with it? Like I mentioned, my tech vocab is very limited, so try explaining to me:

1.) What exactly can all this software do?
2.) Is this a good program or not?

P.S. I have an i7 Processor, desktop, with a good monitor, so PLEASE help me!
 
>What are CGI effects?

'CGI' stands for 'computer generated imagery'. In everyday speech, it refers to when image data is generated or altered in some way by means of a computer before being used in a finished piece of artwork, typically a video.

>What exactly can all this software do?

I've never used it, so I couldn't tell you exactly. Wikipedia describes it as 'a modeling, animation and rendering package'. I assume therefore that its uses are similar to other software of this sort: That is to say, it provides an environment for the user to set up a 3D scene, options for rendering that scene (that is to say, generating an image based on the scene data and parameters), and tools for having the scene change over time so that a sequence of rendered images using different time parameters can be combined as frames in a video to give the illusion of motion or other time-based effects. It may have built-in functionality for combining the rendered images in this way.

>Is this a good program or not?

It sounds like it. However, it is proprietary. That means you have to pay in order to use it. Since you are by your own admission a total beginner at this stuff, I highly recommend against buying a program to start with; it will cost you a lot of money, and will probably come with an enormous set of options and capabilities that you won't understand and thus won't be able to use effectively for a long time. It is probable that it has been designed for very powerful computers, or even networks of computers working together (known as 'render farms' in this context), and a single home PC may not be powerful enough to take full advantage of the program.

Instead, I would suggest starting with some free software that does the same kind of thing. Free software may not be as powerful, complex or efficient as the proprietary stuff, but it may be easier to learn due to having fewer options, and in any case since it's free you have very little to lose in trying it out. Several such programs exist. For instance, one program I've been using for several years now is Art of Illusion:
http://www.artofillusion.org/downloads
It is an easy program to learn (relatively speaking), and comes with a fairly good range of customization options. Render times for simple scenes should be quick on any modern computer. The downside is that it is not so good for photorealistic rendering; all but the most advanced scenes in AOI will still look somewhat 'cartoonish'. It also requires Java in order to work, although chances are you already have Java on your machine.
 
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