When the subject of 3D animation is brought up most people think of their son’s or daughter’s latest video game, but 3D animation is being used more and more in Fortune 500 companies and is quickly replacing standard video as a training tool. This article will discuss why 3D animation is making a big splash in the security training industry, and will also cover 3D’s practical application. These applications are already in place in other industries such architecture, interior design, naval architecture, medical training and military training.
If you are in the corporate world you may just remember Human Resources plunking you down in a seat during orientation and discussing various do’s and don’ts topics such as Sexual Harassment, How to Put out a Fire, How to Take a Bomb Threat phone call and other various basic security situations. You may have also had the pleasure of watching a re-enactment of these aforementioned issues on a video. Well, what did you think of those videos? My guess is you felt watching a soap opera would be more entertaining and better acting.
In the security industry, personal protection and specifically security driving, Scenario Based Training (SBT) has proven to be one of the best methods of instruction. By using SBT those involved in the protection function can examine an incident, discuss what went right and what went wrong and from that develop lessons learned. In the past there are usually two ways to do this training: real or simulated.
Using the Human Resources videos listed above as an example. A corporation would hire a video/audio company or use in house resources to produce a video; the corporation would use its employees, taking time away doing the things that make the corporation money or hire actors to depict the scenario. Taping would take maybe one or two days; editing another a few days. Estimated costs for a 5 minute video is approximately $50,000 and multiply that by the number of videos and you can see it is a lot of money spent.
It would be expensive and close to impossible to apply the above to personal protection. Most executive security groups are usually operating with a limited budget. To recreate a recent attempted ambush would be mind boggling expensive. A surveillance detection video program specific to their environment discussing, choke points, danger zones can be done with a hand held camera pointed out the window. But how about this, as you are watching the presentation of you driving in your environment and you come to a choke point, the presentation is showing an image of your rear view mirror, and in your mirror a car pulls up behind you. The car pulls around you and cuts you off; it’s time to earn you paycheck. The scenarios you could come up with are endless. If you try to do this with your hand held camera or even if you had videographer directing it would be near impossible, and cost the national debt– enter 3D animation
3D animation is a process where characters or objects, any character any object you would like, are created as moving images. Rather than traditional flat or 2d characters, these 3D animation images give the impression of being able to move around characters and observe them from all angles. One of the advantages is that you can create the eye view of the character. As an example we recreated the Herrhaussen incident, from the eye view of the drivers of all three vehicles, what the terrorist was looking at, overhead, side, and front view and the end result of that. From all that developed a lessons learned, and there are many of them, what could have been done to prevent the incident. All this can be done with one person; at a quarter of the cost and have it completed in as little as a few hours depending on how detailed the animation.
Imagine trying to do that with video. First you would need to talk to the city to shut down that intersection for about two days while you hired actors, vehicles, and film crew do their thing.
Whether you are a security director training employees, in the military, or are security officers, or on an EP team, if you want to save time and money try 3D animation as a useful training tool. I think you’ll like what you see.
Any questions email Larry Snow at lawrence.snow@sjcwebesign.com.
