3D Product Animation: Costs, Examples, and Tips

You might have seen cool 3D product animations for beverages or cosmetics on Instagram featuring lots of splashes, lights, and camera movements, and wondered, “How do they do that? How does that work? Where can I get that done for my product?”

First of all, let’s understand the basics: 3D product animation is your product’s digital twin taking center stage, showing off its best features in a virtual, three-dimensional space.––too basic for you?

Ok, let’s break down the process, common uses, and key techniques so you can see roughly how it works and how it benefits your brand.

What is 3D Product Animation?

3D product animation, first and foremost, involves creating a 3D model of a product—like a digital twin—whether it’s a sneaker, a cosmetic bottle, a smartphone, or a piece of industrial machinery. This model can move, interact, and be displayed from any angle for animation purposes within specialized 3D software.

With the 3D model in our hands, we set up our virtual studio where we can rotate, zoom, and light up the product to highlight its features, and then give it movement. Think of it as placing your product in a photo booth, except this time it’s virtual, and instead of just taking static shots, we add motion and life.

Common Uses of 3D Product Animation

• Lottie Animations for the Web: Subtle yet engaging animations that can play as you scroll through a website—you may have seen these on Apple’s site.
• TV Commercials & Social Media Ads: Dynamic product reveals, close-ups, and explainer sequences that captivate audiences and showcase your brand.
• Explainer Videos: Demonstrate how your product works internally or how to assemble it in a clear, visually appealing way.
• Virtual Projection Mapping: Bring your product visuals to life on buildings, stages, or large physical structures in videos through compositing techniques. It’s a virtual blend of real video and 3D animation but looks amazingly realistic!

Beyond Traditional Video (True 3D Experiences)

• AR/VR Applications: Wear AR glasses or VR headsets to experience products in a fully three-dimensional environment, viewing them from any angle as if they were right in front of you.
• Video Games & Virtual Conference Rooms: Place products in interactive virtual worlds where users can pick them up, test features, or compare them side by side.
• Mobile AR (e.g., Pokémon Go): Overlay 3D products in your real-world environment through your phone’s camera, blending the digital and physical seamlessly.
• Interactive Product Demos: Allow customers to virtually “handle” the product, see inside it, or test its features in real-time. This is commonly used in architectural settings for buildings, but with fast-evolving technology, it’s becoming more and more accessible for products too.
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Is it 3D or 2D—Which One Is It?

It’s important to understand that while we work within a 3D environment, the moment we export the animation; whether for a commercial, a social media video, or a Lottie file, the final output is actually 2D. At that point, it’s just like any other video file or animation asset you can play on screens and devices. 

You lose the interactivity and depth that made it 3D in the software, but the visual fidelity and realism remain intact in the exported video––now you can even add cool video effects–– it just no longer remains 3D.

How 3D Animation Works

1. Model the Product: We start by creating a 3D model of your product. If you already have a 3D file, we’ll import it; if not, we’ll build it from scratch and ensure every detail is accurate.
   
   
2. Rig the Product (If Necessary): Rigging is the process of adding a “skeleton” or mechanical structure inside the 3D model, making it move realistically in 3D space (e.g., for a hinge to open or a robot arm to move).
   
   
3. Animate the Product: There are many ways to approach this, but two of the most common techniques are Keyframing and Procedural Animation. We’ll discuss each in depth below.
   
   
4. Render and Export the Animation: Once we’re happy with how everything looks, we render and export the animation as image sequences. We turn this image sequence into a video and at this stage, it becomes a “2D asset” ready for distribution across multiple platforms. Be careful! Once it’s exported, we can’t make drastic changes to the video—like we said, it’s 2D now! (You can make changes in 3D, but render the whole thing again––a massive time and resource consumer right there)
   
   

Key Techniques: Keyframing vs. Procedural Animation

Keyframing

• What It Is: A traditional animation technique where you mark specific properties of an object with “keys,” which then form the basis of the animation when played back. For example, if we want a product to move from left to right, we set a keyframe at the start and another at the end. The software fills in the frames in between.
• How It Works:
  
  1. Set Keyframes: Define the start and end points of a movement.
  2. Tweening: Let the software automatically calculate the in-between frames.
  3. Playback: Once played in sequence, you get a seamless animation.
• Best For: Simple, controlled animations where you know exactly how the product should move.

Procedural Animation

• What It Is: Procedural animation is driven by rules, complex algorithms, and physics simulations. Instead of manually setting each keyframe, you rely on math and code to define the motion.
• How It Works:
  
  1. Create Rules: Use formulas and constraints (like gravity, mass, velocity) to govern movement.
  2. Adjust & Set Parameters: Change variables (e.g., material density, force, air resistance) to see how the product behaves.
  3. Cache It: The computer calculates the animation once and stores it, so it doesn’t have to recalculate every time.
  4. Bake It: Convert the final motion into a file or keyframe for easier sharing or to save disk space (optional).
• Best For: Complex, realistic movements that would be time-consuming or difficult to achieve with keyframes alone. It’s also useful as a supplement to keyframing, adding layers of complexity or realism.

Example Comparison

• Keyframing a Bouncing Ball: You’d manually set 3–4 keyframes—one at the top, one at impact with the floor, and so forth. The software fills in the rest.
• Procedural Animation for a Bouncing Ball: You’d specify the ball’s material mass (e.g., rubber or metal) and drop velocity, then adjust parameters like stretchiness, friction, thickness, and so on. You also have to define the collision objects. The software applies physics to show exactly how the ball bounces. While it might be slower for simple motions, it saves a lot of time for more complex ones and tends to look more realistic.

Exporting a 3D Animation (and Why It’s Then 2D)

Once we’ve finalized the animation in a 3D environment, we “render” it. Rendering is like photographing every frame of the animation and compiling those frames into a video. Although the work was done in 3D software, the exported file is essentially 2D—a video or image sequence you can watch on any screen. That’s what gets posted to social media, embedded on a website, or broadcast on TV.

If you want to retain true 3D interactivity, that’s where AR, VR, or other interactive apps come in. But for most marketing and advertising needs, a polished 2D final render is what you’ll share.

Benefits of 3D Product Animation

• Control: You’re not limited by real-world physics. Want your product floating in mid-air? No problem. Need to show an internal mechanism without physically cutting the product in half? Easy.
• Flexibility: Change angles, lighting, materials, and colors on the fly. With 3D, you can quickly iterate and experiment with different looks before finalizing.
• Scalability: Once modeled, your product can be animated and repurposed countless times. The same 3D model can be used for TV spots, social media clips, interactive AR demos, and more—maximizing your investment.

In a Nutshell

3D product animation allows you to bring your products to life virtually, offering unparalleled control, flexibility, and scalability. Whether you opt for simple keyframing or advanced procedural techniques, you end up with a dynamic, eye-catching asset that enhances your brand’s storytelling, engages audiences, and provides a versatile foundation for all your visual marketing needs.

We at Outlier Creative take pride in guiding you through this process, ensuring your 3D product animation not only looks amazing but also connects with your audience in meaningful ways.

Want to learn about how much it cost for your product?

‍Contact us and get a quote!