Methods, systems and tools for 3D animation

A method for creating stereoscopic effect in 3D animation in a shot, comprising:

• placing a stereo system screen (zps) into a scene for a desired effect;
• automatically calculating an inter-axial separation between cameras so that background parallax matches a constant predetermined value;
• identification of and compensation for at least one first foreground object according to one or more of:
• adjusting the zps to accommodate for smaller parallax in objects near a virtual camera followed by a return to automatically calculating an inter-axial separation between cameras so that background parallax matches a constant predetermined value;
• multi-rigging the shot so that foreground objects are isolated on their own camera rig, with compression of volume;
• and
• isolating foreground objects and treating them separately in post-production to reduce their volume;
• and
• further comprising determining maximum parallax in 3D animation, comprising:
• identifying a second object in a first frame at a threshold distance indicative of a parallax change;
• and
• setting an object parallax change value for said second object as a corresponding value for plural or all objects at and further than such distance;
• and
• publishing stereo camera rig settings into a pipeline, with scene elements placed in shot to maximize stereo effect.