December 14th, 2017

Motion graphic is one of the most popular techniques to create videos: it can work in 2D, 3D and 2,5D spaces.

What are them and what’s the difference?
The fundamental difference between 2D and 3D animations is in the complexity of realization: 3D animations are developed on one additional dimension so they require more efforts in the model and material phase, in the lights and shadows evaluation, in the rendering part.
The 3D usage requires a team of experts in the graphic department, people with more skills than those who only works on 2D graphics.

2,5D graphic
We speak about 2,5D graphics when two-dimensional elements (cards) are used inside a 3D space.

When is best to use 2D or 3D graphics?
2D graphic aims to convey an information through an iconographic appeal, focusing the attention on the topics more than on the photorealistic context.
3D graphic gives an idea of spaces and depth; it helps us to better understand the physicality of an object or of the setting in which it is inserted.
3D graphics start from the realisation of a model which, through the application of lights, materials and virtual cameras, gets “rendered” (made into images) and lastly “composed” with other elements.
Times and costs of realisation are in most cases higher than those for a two-dimensional graphic.

Both techniques, if studied ad hoc, can co-exist in the same work, also with live filmed elements.