Filmmakers stepping into animation

Hello, all this is my first post on any forum ever. I have a pretty specific question I am working cinematographer who has always been very interested in 3D animation being able to create beautiful scenes and stories totally from scratch sounds excellent. The big problem is I have no animation skill at all but I know how to light and block actors etc. With Unity can we as filmmakers work just with existing assets and create short films music videos etc. Lastly, I am looking at doing some music to visual syncing using the new Teenage Engineering OP-Z. Any input is greatly appreciated guys and I hope to become a more involved member of this community. Thanks again.

 

The answer to your first question is yes. You can totally use pre-created Assets (possibly from the Asset Store) and use them to create short films and music videos. In fact, this approach is easier now than it has ever been, thanks to some of the new cinemachine and sequencing tools that were added in an earlier version. I would recommend sticking to one of the newer versions of Unity, as the versions that feature Cinemachine will give you a big leg up. (better and more cinematic-style control over cameras and animated sequences)

Music-to-visual syncing is a bit more of a grey area. On a capable rig, this would not be a problem, but on a mobile device it could become dicey. Of course, if you are looking to create captured, pre-rendered videos, it won't be an issue. For interactive or mobile music-to-animation syncing, you would definitely need to dig into some coding.