Vertex Animation vs Procedural Animation

Developers should learn vertex animation when working on real-time graphics applications like games or simulations that require high-performance, GPU-friendly animations with complex deformations meets developers should learn procedural animation when creating interactive applications like video games, simulations, or virtual reality, where animations need to respond dynamically to user input or environmental variables. Here's our take.

Vertex Animation

Nice Pick

Developers should learn vertex animation when working on real-time graphics applications like games or simulations that require high-performance, GPU-friendly animations with complex deformations

Pros

• It's particularly useful for effects that don't fit well with skeletal animation, such as morphing objects, fluid simulations, or detailed facial animations in VR/AR
• Related to: 3d-graphics, shader-programming

Cons

• Specific tradeoffs depend on your use case

Procedural Animation

Developers should learn procedural animation when creating interactive applications like video games, simulations, or virtual reality, where animations need to respond dynamically to user input or environmental variables

Pros

• It is particularly useful for reducing manual animation work, enabling scalable content generation, and achieving realistic physics-based behaviors, such as in crowd simulations, procedural terrain, or character rigging with inverse kinematics
• Related to: inverse-kinematics, physics-simulation

Cons

• Specific tradeoffs depend on your use case

The Verdict

Use Vertex Animation if: You want it's particularly useful for effects that don't fit well with skeletal animation, such as morphing objects, fluid simulations, or detailed facial animations in vr/ar and can live with specific tradeoffs depend on your use case.

Use Procedural Animation if: You prioritize it is particularly useful for reducing manual animation work, enabling scalable content generation, and achieving realistic physics-based behaviors, such as in crowd simulations, procedural terrain, or character rigging with inverse kinematics over what Vertex Animation offers.

The Bottom Line

Vertex Animation wins

Developers should learn vertex animation when working on real-time graphics applications like games or simulations that require high-performance, GPU-friendly animations with complex deformations