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Animation usually appeals to artists and studios looking to engage viewers with lively characters and scenes. Hence, they create figures that bounce, collide, and react in ways that feel real or entertaining. Beginners may wonder how to make motion real rather than stiff. On the other hand, professional animators may search for new methods to inject personality into their work. However, a challenge lies in portraying weight or energy, so the audience connects with the on-screen action. That’s where one central concept of Squash and Stretch comes in, giving life to even the simplest shapes or most complex facial features. This article will explain squash and stretch and what techniques you can use for smooth animations. Furthermore, you will learn about its use and what challenges and limitations it faces.Part 1. What is the Squash and Stretch Concept?Squash and stretch animation is a principle that shapes how objects compress or elongate during motion. When characters bounce or collide, this emphasizes changes in volume to make actions convincing. It also often appears in classic cartoons or modern videos where animators highlight weight and flexibility. With this, a character's face will become long in a loud shout, then it comes to its original shape, emphasizing stress.Furthermore, in 2D animation, the shape of a drawing changes from one frame to the next. The animator draws an object slightly wider and flatter when it hits a surface, and longer and thinner as it moves away. Conversely, 3D animation uses digital tools and software, where you can adjust the shape of a model during movement, making things feel alive and natural.Part 2. Why Use Squash and Stretch?As you now understand the concept of squash and stretch animation, let's discuss some specific reasons why these principles matter:Clear Sense of Impact: Users apply squash and stretch to reveal collisions by flattening shapes at contact points, highlighting striking moments in any scene. That temporary deformation captures the force of each impact, then swiftly returns to its default shape.Comic Timing: The use of exaggerated squashing and stretching at key instants can boost laughs, especially during quick slip-ups and slapstick gags. These bold shape changes break normal continuity for a second, surprising viewers with abrupt comic beats.Smooth Transitions: While using squash stretch animation connects extreme poses, removing sudden breaks in movement or stiff transitions between poses. Moreover, each shape shift eases bodies from one pose to the next, helping viewers follow arcs easily.Enhances Style: This technique can match the look or style of different animations, from serious to silly. Furthermore, it allows artists to change the motion style to fit the story they are telling, which can be used in cartoons or games.To Bring Emotions: Users can try this to show how characters feel with changes in shape, like surprise, fear, or happiness. Even without words, viewers can guess emotions by watching the face or body movements.Part 3. Techniques for Applying Squash and Stretch in 2D and 3D AnimationNow that we have explored the use of animation squash and stretch, we’ll go through their techniques in 2D and 3D animation: Use Guides or Grids: Grids help you check shape changes and keep the design consistent throughout the motion. Squash and stretch offer a visual map that makes it easier for users to stay on track and helps maintain size and balance while reshaping for motion.Follow Arcs of Motion: Most natural movements of squash and stretch follow curved paths, and arcs to keep the motion smooth and flowing. Besides, users can shape changes around these paths to guide the action clearly and make the animation look smooth or flat.Keep Volume Constant: Animators should focus on shapes as they bend or stretch, but the overall size must feel stable to the viewer. Thus, keeping the volume steady avoids visual confusion or awkward motion, resulting in movement that does not break the form of the character.Match with Timing: Stronger shape changes go well with faster actions, while slower moves need softer shape shifts. Additionally, users can decide the length of each action to manage how much shapes change, ensuring the stretch animation perfectly fits any scene’s overall tone.Blend Subtle and Bold: Some scenes only need gentle shape shifts, while others gain humor or suspense from large deformations that catch the eye. Furthermore, squash animation might hint at surprise, but long stretches highlight dramatic jumps or comedic collisions.Pro Tip for 3D Artists: Improve 3D Animation Rendering EfficiencyAs discussed earlier, creating animated cartoons and short videos using squash and stretch is not a difficult task. However, animators face real challenges when rendering complex animations, and multiple filters are applied to them. Additionally, rendering requires massive computational power, and offline rendering demands expensive hardware on PCs. Hence, animators should use Fox Renderfarm, a powerful cloud rendering service with which they can improve 3D animations easily.This render farm works effectively with Windows, Mac, and Linux, allowing users to render animations on any device. Furthermore, animators can pick CPU or GPU resources depending on project needs, rendering everything from simple scenes to high-end effects. It also offers 24/7 customer support with high availability and no unnecessary waiting. Key FeaturesSecurity and Confidentiality: Fox Renderfarm stands out with ISO27001 certification and TPN accreditation, ensuring top-level data protection. Moreover, it provides secure data transmission via a proprietary protocol, ensuring the confidentiality of animation projects.Plugins and 3D Software: Users can directly migrate their squash and stretch animation to this online rendering service since it supports nearly all popular 3D software and plugins. Hence, you can seamlessly render animated film projects created through software like Blender, Maya, Cinema 4D or 3ds Max.Affordability: This service makes cloud rendering inexpensive by providing new user a $25 render coupon on their first login as a welcome bonus. Additionally, it offers freelance support by giving customers a discount coupon of up to $2,000.Vast Storage: It supports fast SSD-based storage, which eliminates common slowdowns or I/O bottlenecks during the rendering process. Besides, large or demanding projects flow smoothly with swift data access and hassle-free processing.High Transmission Speed: The embedded Raysync technology helps speed up your work by letting you upload and download projects instantly after rendering. Plus, with up to 99.99% rendering service availability, you get a stable pipeline that remains swift and reliable from start to finish.Part 4. Challenges and Limitations of Squash and StretchUpon exploring how to apply squash and stretch animation, it becomes important to understand some of the common issues and limits that come with it:Excessive Distortion: Excessive shape distortion in every frame can make viewers lose track of important actions, leading to confusion. Users often limit strong volume changes to major hits or comedic bits that underline key scenes.Mismatched Tones: Broad squash stretch animation can clash with dramatic scenes styled for realism, creating awkward feelings among viewers. Users might favor subtle volume shifts instead, preserving serious moods while adding lifelike references to shape changes.Hard to Control: Getting the right amount of shape change takes practice and a good sense of motion. Furthermore, users will usually exaggerate or underplay the deformation, requiring careful adjustment for smooth, balanced movement.Needs Proper Tools: Some animation tools or models are not made for shape bending and stretching. Additionally, users need flexible setups that support this kind of movement during the process, making the animations work smoothly.Confusing Overlaps: Multiple distortions in one scene can overlap, distracting viewers from the main action or making it hard to read. Therefore, less shaping can be better, since too many distortions on multiple characters overshadow vital plot details.ConclusionIn summary, squash and stretch animation is a key technique that adds life, motion, and emotion to 2D and 3D animated scenes. As discussed in this article, it takes practice to master shape changes, but it helps animators create smooth, lively movements that connect better with viewers. Hence, speed up rendering and handle complex animations using an online service like Fox Renderfarm, which can make the process faster, easier, and more reliable.

The world of 3D animation is growing fast, and lifelike character movement has become more critical than ever. When it's for video games or animated films, smooth motion helps bring digital characters closer to real life. Here, the most powerful method that designers or artists use is called skeletal animation. This technique works like the human body, where a hidden skeleton controls the movement of the outer body.Apart from drawing every frame, artists build a digital bone structure that drives how the character moves. This makes it easier to adjust poses and reuse animations without starting from scratch. Thus, this article explores what skeletal animation is and how it works. When local devices cannot keep up, we will introduce a trusted tool called Fox Renderfarm that helps speed up the process by using powerful cloud servers.Part 1. What is the Skeletal Animation Technique?It is a method used in 3D graphics to make characters move in a smooth and natural way. Instead of moving the whole character, one piece at a time, artists build an invisible structure inside the model. Thus, this process or structure is called a skeleton, made of joints and bones. Plus, each bone helps control a part of the character’s body, like an arm or head.Once the skeleton is added to the character, the artist can move the bones to create motion. This makes it much easier to animate walking or waving. The surface or skin of the character follows the movement of the bones, which is known as bone animation. This technique is very common in video games and animated films, helping you bring characters to life without a lot of extra work.Part 2. How Skeletal Animation Works?This process uses a two-system approach to control how a 3D character moves. Its first part is the skeleton, a hidden set of bones and joints placed inside the character. These bones are not visible, but they are essential as they control the shape and movement of the model. The second part is the mesh, which is the outer skin or surface of the character that people see.When a bone moves or rotates, the mesh moves with it. As an example, if you move the arm bone, the whole arm of the character will follow. Artists can create movements like walking or jumping by moving and rotating these bones. This process is called skeletal animation, and it helps artists save time. Apart from redrawing every moment frame by frame, they just move the bones, and the animation updates automatically.Part 3. Main Process of Creating Skeletal AnimationMoving forward, creating skeletal animation takes a few straightforward steps that help turn a still 3D model into a moving character. Each step builds on the last to make sure the result is smooth and ready for animation. Thus, let's dive below to explore its primary process in detail to help you learn the creation task:Modeling: The process begins with designing the 3D characters as artists create the shape and details of the model using simple tools. This stage only focuses on the outside design without adding any bones or movement.Rigging: At this stage, a skeleton is added inside the 3D model with bones and joints that act like the real body. This structure is placed with extreme precision to let the character move according to the requirements.Skinning: In this stage, the mesh moves when the bones move, as it is linked to the bones. In addition, it is the core of smooth bone animation and helps parts like arms or legs bend naturally.Animating: Artists create motion by setting bone animation positions frame by frame, which are connected to form actions like running or jumping. Plus, this timeline helps control the speed and flow of each move.Refining: Once the basic motion is ready, artists smooth out rough movements and fix minor issues. This step adds fine touches to make the animation look clean and professional.Exporting/Integration: The final animation is saved and prepared for use. Artists can export the file and add it to games, movies, or apps.Pro Tip for 3D Artists: Improve 3D Rendering EfficiencyAfter learning the whole process of creating skeletal animation, it needs to be rendered into images or videos. Yet, rendering can take a long time and uses up a lot of computer power. That's why many artists look for faster and smarter ways to handle this part of the project. A great solution is to use an online render farm service like Fox Renderfarm.It allows you to render your projects using powerful online servers instead of your own device. This render farm also supports many tools and plugins, including Blender, Maya and Unreal Engine. When working on a simple scene or a whole film project, opting for this service can save you hours or even days. For any sort of issues you come across at any time, contacting the support team through live chat, WhatsApp, or email is an effortless task.Key FeaturesRendering Support: It even lets you opt for CPU or GPU rendering based on your project’s needs. This flexibility is significant because some software works better with a GPU, while others may require CPU power.Safe & Secure: It is ISO27001 certified and is a TPN-accredited vendor, which means it follows strong safety rules. You can also request an NDA for added peace of mind during projects.Render Nodes: Fox Renderfarm gives you access to thousands of powerful machines called render nodes. This means your job can be divided and processed in parts, all at once.API Support: When you’re part of a big studio, you can use the API to connect Fox Renderfarm with your internal tools and workflows. It makes adding rendering to your production process easier without changing how your team works.SSD Storage: All data is saved on fast SSD drives that help prevent slowdowns or file access issues. This keeps your uploads and downloads running at full speed, even with large or complex files.Part 4. Advantages of Skeletal AnimationUpon understanding how it works, it's time to explore the key benefits. From saving time to making lifelike motion easier, bone animation offers several strong advantages in 3D production. Here are some of the key advantages of this type of animation:Reusable Skeletons: Opting for it lets you use the same skeleton on different 3D models. That capability saves hours of work because you don’t need to build a new rig for every character.Natural Movement: Bone animation allows characters to move in a realistic and flexible way. By controlling each bone, you can bend arms, legs, or the neck smoothly.Character Control: Skeletal systems make it simple to move body parts by adjusting just a few bones. You don’t need to edit the full 3D shape as it moves the skeleton faster and more precisely.Lightweight Files: Instead of saving many detailed frames, skeletal animation saves only the bone movement data. This keeps the file size small. Moreover, it’s helpful in games or mobile apps where speed and memory are important.Cheap: Since skeletal animation is flexible and faster to create, it reduces overall production time and costs. Therefore, studios can focus more on creativity rather than technical limits.ConclusionTo conclude, skeletal animation makes 3D character movement smoother and easier to manage. It helps artists save time and bring lifelike motion to games and films without redrawing every frame. To render your work quickly and with excellent quality, use Fox Renderfarm. It supports skeletal animation projects and offers strong, fast, and secure cloud rendering services for all creators.

It is evident that attempts to create graphics in design have led to advances in the rendering process. Although visual quality has become more important in industries like gaming and animation, creators are constantly weighing the balance between quality and performance. This is where the debate of ray tracing vs. no ray tracing becomes essential.Many individuals want to understand the real difference between these two approaches. Knowing when and how to use each rendering method is crucial for an artist aiming for cinematic visuals or a seasoned artist. Therefore, this article explores what ray tracing and rasterization are and compares their performance and visual impact. You will also discover an advanced tool that helps you achieve quality renders efficiently.Part 1. What is Ray Tracing?It is a technique replicating how light travels and interacts with objects in a scene. Apart from just displaying flat images, ray tracing follows the path of light rays as they bounce off surfaces to create realistic reflections and lighting effects. This method helps produce visuals close to what we see in the real world, making it popular in VFX and modern video games.Moreover, the process traces each light ray from the viewer’s eye to the light source, calculating how it reflects or passes through materials. As a result, scenes rendered with ray tracing look more natural and appealing. Upon comparing ray tracing vs. normal rendering methods like rasterization, ray tracing is slower but delivers higher visual quality.Part 2. What is Rasterization? Non-ray Tracing Rendering TechniquesThis is the most common rendering method, especially in applications like video games. Unlike the above, it converts 3D models into 2D images by projecting shapes onto the screen. It then shades these shapes based on light sources but without tracing the actual paths of light rays. Furthermore, this method is much faster and less demanding on hardware, so it's used in spaces where speed matters more.Although it still produces appealing results with tricks like shadow mapping, it doesn't capture light behavior as accurately as ray tracing. In this article, where we discuss ray tracing vs no ray tracing, rasterization represents the "no ray tracing" side. Plus, it’s ideal for instant rendering, offering a good balance between performance and visual quality. Non-ray Tracing Rendering TechniquesRasterization: It converts 3D models into 2D images by projecting vertices and filling in pixels. Here, lighting is approximated without calculating light paths, making it fast and suitable for interactive applications like video games.Shadow Mapping: This creates shadows by rendering the scene from the light's perspective into a depth map. It then determines if a pixel is in shadow, offering instant shading without heavy computations like ray tracing.Screen Space Reflections: SSR fakes reflections by using existing pixel data from the screen buffer. After that, it estimates how surfaces reflect their surroundings without true light simulation.Ambient Occlusion: This technique adds depth by simulating how the light gets blocked in tight spaces. The effect darkens creases and contact points to enhance realism without actually tracing light.Light Baking: At this point, lighting and shadows are precomputed before being stored in textures like light maps. These are applied during real-time rendering, giving the illusion of complex lighting while keeping the process lightweight.Phong Shading: Here, you will calculate lighting per pixel using the surface normal and light direction. It adds smooth highlights and shadows to models, balancing realism and performance without simulating complex light interactions.Part 3. Main Differences Between Ray Tracing vs. No Ray TracingUpon knowing the definitions, many users still find it confusing to choose between ray tracing and no ray tracing. As explored above, each offers its own strengths and limitations, depending on your project's goals and hardware capacity. Below, we will explore some key differences between these two terms and approaches: FeatureRay TracingNormal (Rasterization / No Ray Tracing)Lighting AccuracySimulates real-world light paths for lifelike shadows, reflections, and refractionsUse light approximations; it is less realistic but fasterPerformanceSlower and more hardware-intensiveMuch faster; optimized for real-time renderingVisual QualityHigh realism with soft shadows and true reflectionsGood quality with tricks, but less naturalUse CasesFilm production, cinematic cutscenes, high-end renderingReal-time gaming, interactive apps, and mobile graphicsHardware RequirementsRequires a powerful GPU (e.g., NVIDIA RTX series)Runs on most modern GPUsDevelopment ComplexityMore complex setup and longer render timesEasier to implement and faster workflowShadows and ReflectionsPhysically accurate and dynamicFake or pre-baked effectsSupport in SoftwareGrowing support in software like Blender, Unreal Engine, etc.Widely supported and an industry standardPro Tip for 3D Artists: Improve the Rendering Efficiency of Complex ScenesAfter learning the key points of ray tracing vs no ray tracing, efficiency becomes a priority. As we all know, rendering detailed 3D scenes can push local machines to their limits and cause serious delays. Plus, slow performance or system crashes can disrupt your creative workflow significantly. This is where a powerful cloud rendering solution like Fox Renderfarm becomes important.It comes equipped with on-demand rendering of both CPU and GPU to meet projects’ demands quickly and efficiently. Alongside that, you can start rendering right away without waiting, thanks to thousands of available nodes. What’s more, this render farm service works efficiently with all devices, including Windows, Linux and Mac, with 99.99% uptime for stable access. In case your local setup slows down ray-traced scenes, this cloud rendering service solves the bottleneck.Key FeaturesSecurity Certification: Fox Renderfarm is ISO27001 certified, a globally recognized standard for information security management. This means your assets, personal data, and project files are protected by strict security controls.Accredited Vendor: The platform is a Trusted Partner Network (TPN) vendor, an industry-standard security program managed by the Motion Picture Association. It ensures the platform meets all security standards, which is particularly important for clients working with sensitive content or under NDA agreements.Vast Storage: It also uses high-performance SSDs that eliminate input/output bottlenecks. Fast storage ensures your rendering pipeline doesn't slow down, even when working on large or complex projects.File Transmission: With its Raysync technology, it supports ultra-fast file uploads and downloads. This speedy transmission lets you move large project files in minutes rather than hours, keeping production timelines on track.Rendering Availability: Fox Renderfarm provides instant rendering access. With thousands of idle nodes ready to go, you can start rendering right away.Part 4. Applications of Ray Tracing and No Ray Tracing As explored, both play vital roles in various industries because the choice of ray tracing vs. normal rendering impacts both quality and performance. Hence, here's how each is used across key fields that help you discover its applications:Ray TracingVisual Effects: Opting for it lets you simulate actual lighting and shadows, which are crucial for immersive storytelling. Films with CGI rely on ray tracing to blend digital elements effortlessly with live-action footage.Game Cinematics: While instant gameplay may use rasterization, high-end cinematic cutscenes in AAA games use ray tracing for lifelike detail. Such pre-rendered scenes benefit a lot from ray tracing's superior lighting and reflection capabilities, which deliver a much more dramatic presentation.Product Design: Ray tracing is ideal for rendering realistic images of products before they are manufactured. Whether for cars or fashion accessories, companies use it to produce quality visuals.Lighting Studies: Interior designers rely on ray tracing to evaluate how lighting setups affect a room’s atmosphere. It offers realistic simulations of both natural and artificial light sources to get clients to see the aesthetic impact.Visualization: Architects and 3D designers use ray tracing to create accurate lighting simulations within architectural renders. It helps clients visualize how light interacts with surfaces and windows in real-life spaces.No Ray TracingVideo Games: A go-to approach in most games, this technique is favored due to its speed. It lets developers achieve responsive performance and smooth gameplay, even on mid-range hardware, making it ideal for competitive and fast-paced gaming experiences.Mobile Graphics: Most mobile devices can't handle the hardware demands of ray tracing. Therefore, mobile games and AR apps rely on rasterization to produce visually appealing content while maintaining power efficiency and battery life.Virtual Reality: VR environments demand high frame rates of 90fps or higher to prevent motion sickness. Rasterization here is used to get the necessary speed to meet this requirement, rendering immersive scenes fast enough to keep the user comfortable.User Interfaces: Software with complex 3D UIs, such as CAD tools or engineering apps, uses rasterization to ensure quick responsiveness. These tools require constant interaction, like rotating models or editing, so rasterization keeps everything fluid.Educational Tools: 3D models in educational software and virtual classrooms often use rasterization for lightweight rendering. This ensures students and educators can access interactive learning materials on standard computers.ConclusionIn summary, this ray tracing vs. no ray tracing comparison is a core consideration for those aiming to balance realism and performance in 3D design. Here, ray tracing is needed to produce unmatched visual quality, while rasterization offers a lot more speed and efficiency. For artists handling complex projects, Fox Renderfarm is the way to go for a perfect rendering without any loss in quality.