Art of rendering

Art of rendering is a channel of 3D animations that show mechanisms in motion. Its main series is called Mechanical principles, which has now reached more than 15 parts.

Each video is a short sequence of computer renders with very little narration. Moving parts are shown clearly from different angles, so the viewer can work out how motion is passed from one part to another. The style is clean and quiet, which makes the videos easy to pause and study.

Some highlights include:

The first part of the Mechanical principles series, a set of animated mechanisms that shows how simple parts create useful motion.

The second part of the series, with more mechanisms rendered from several angles.

A later instalment of the series that has become one of the channel’s most watched videos.

Art of rendering has over 360,000 subscribers.

Mechanisms like these are the building blocks of everything from car engines to robots. Being able to picture how parts move is a key skill in mechanical engineering and design, and these renders train exactly that. They are also a good example of the 3D modelling and animation work that engineers do in computer aided design software. Pausing a video and sketching how a mechanism works is a simple exercise that builds the same skill.