Dinosaur Animations

Digitized, rigged, and animated models.

The models and animations you see on this page were all produced as assets for touch screen museum kiosks. The digital models were created by digitizing small scale physical models with photogrammetry. Rigging and animation was applied, creating biomechanically accurate motion. Video of living coelacanths was used to reconstruct this unique lobe-finned fish's gait while the ankylosaur movements were approximated by studying the motions of numerous extant quadrupeds.

Animation is a time-consuming process in many cases. It does not always have to be, though. The point of animating something is to convey a more complex and/or compelling story than can be conveyed by still images alone. Striving to achieve this goal as efficiently as necessary helps avoid potentially unnecessary and costly over-investment. You may, however, be shocked to discover that adding animated digital assets to your media can actually fit in your budget. For example, depicting how far a tyrannosaur can open its mouth and how paleontologists think ceratopsian dinosaurs may have defended themselves as a herd could be a five-figure project for many production studios. If that is in your budget, that is going to be some incredible footage. But let's say you only have three-figures in your budget. There's actually a lot that could be accomplished with that at 3D With a Vengeance.