Week 1

This week was a hectic week for me. Nonetheless, I was looking forward to attend the Animation class. Today formed the basis of the entire course. I learned about the basic concept of animation, types of animation and the hardwares and softwares that can be used for animation.

The word "animation" has been originated from the Latin word which means ‘bring to life’. Animation is a process to create illusion of movement in film/movie from a combination of images. We can add motion to a static image to enable more dynamic and live-like motions.

Keyframe 

In media production, a key frame or keyframe is a location on a timeline which marks the beginning or end of a transition. It holds special information that defines where a transition should start or stop. The intermediate frames are interpolated over time between those definitions to create the illusion of motion.

Tweening 

"Tween" is actually short for "in-between", and refers to the creation of successive frames of animation between key frames. The process of generating intermediate frames between two images to give the appearance that the first image evolves smoothly into the second image.

Onion Skinning 

Onion skinning is a term for a technique used in creating animated cartoons and editing movies to see several frames at once. By doing so, the animator can take decisions on how to create or change an image based on the previous image in the sequence.

Frame by frame

Frame by frame animation is an animation technique to make a physically manipulated object appear to move on its own. 

Frame rate

Frame rate is the measurement of the frequency (rate) at which an imaging device produces unique consecutive images called frames. Frame rate is most often expressed in frames per second (fps). In Flash, the most common frame rate is 24 frames per second. For television and media production, 24-30 frames per second can be used.   

Types of animation

1. Traditional animationTraditional animation, sometimes referred to as cel animation, is one of the older forms of animation, in it the animator draws every frame to create the animation sequence. Just like they used to do in the old days of Disney. If you’ve ever had one of those flip-books when you were a kid, you’ll know what I mean. Sequential drawings screened quickly one after another create the illusion of movement. In traditional animation, animators draw images on a transparent piece of paper fitted on a peg using a coloured pencil, one frame at the time. Animators usually test animations with very rough drawings to see how many frames they would need for the action to work. The animation process of traditional animation can be lengthy and costly. Once the clean-up and the in-between drawings are complete, the production would move on to photographing each individual frame. Today, though, traditional animation can be done on a computer using a tablet, and does not requite actual photography of individual frames. 

2. 2D Vector-based animationThis style has become very popular in the last decade due to the accessibility of the technology and the growth of online video. Flash is cheap and easy to use, as are other vector-based animation programs.2D animation is the term often used when referring to traditional hand-drawn animation, but it can also refer to computer vector animations that adopts the techniques of traditional animation.Vector-based animations, meaning computer generated 2D animations, uses the exact same techniques as traditional animation, but benefits from the lack of physical objects needed to make traditional 2D animations, as well as the ability to use computer interpolation to same time.

3. 3D computer animation3D animation works in a completely different way than traditional animation. They both require an understanding of the same principles of movement and composition, but the technical skill set is very different for each task. while traditional animation requires you to be an amazing draftsman, computer animation doesn’t. 3D animation is more similar to playing with puppets rather than drawing.3D animation, also referred to as CGI, or just CG, is made by generating images using computers. That series of images are the frames of an animated shot. The animation techniques of 3D animation has a lot of similarities with stop-motion animation, as they both deal with animating and posing models, and still conforms to the frame-by-frame approach of 2D animation, but it is a lot more controllable since it’s in a digital work-space. Instead of drawn or constructed with clay, characters in 3D animation are digitally modelled in the program, and then fitted with a ‘skeleton’ that allows animators to move the models. Animation is done by posing the models on certain key frames, after which the computer will calculate and perform an interpolation between those frames to create movement. When the modelling and/or animation is complete, the computer will render each frame individually, which can be very time-consuming, depending on the quality of the images and the quantity of polygons in the scene. A 3D animator will spend most of their time looking at curves that represent the movement of different body parts over time. Another big difference with 3D animation is that unlike traditional animation, the character’s body parts are always present and should be taken to consideration.

4. Motion graphics

While still considered a form of animation, motion graphics is quite different from the other types of animation. Unlike the other types on our list it is not character or story driven. It’s the art of creatively moving graphic elements or texts, usually for commercial or promotional purposes. Think animated logos, explainer videos, app commercials, television promos or even film opening titles. The skills for motion graphics don’t necessarily translate to the other types of animation, since they don’t require knowledge of body mechanics or acting, but they do have some attributes in common such as understanding good composition and the all the important camera motion. The process of creating Motion Graphics depends on the programs used, since video editing softwares often have different UI or settings, but the idea is the same. Motion Graphics usually involves animating images, texts or video clips using key framing that are tweened to make a smooth motion between frames.

5. Stop motion (Claymation, cut-outs)

Stop motion is done by taking a photo of an object, and then moving it just a little bit and taking another photo. The process is repeated and when the photos are played back one after another they give the illusion of movement. This is similar to traditional animation but it uses real life materials instead of drawings.

Stop-Motion animation can be referred to any animation that uses objects that are photographed in a sequence to create the illusion of movement. The process of stop-motion animation is very long, as each object has to be carefully moved inch by inch, while it’s being photographed every frame, to create a fluid sequence of animation.

Here are the different types of stop-motion animation:

Claymation

One of the most popular stop-motion form is Claymation. Working with clay or play-doh characters that can easily be manipulated for animation. Advanced claymation (such as The Neverhood or Armikrog) uses metal skeletons on which the clay is then molded for more sturdy rigs.

Puppets

Some animators use regular Puppets instead of clay ones, usually also built with some sort of skeleton rig. The faces of the characters can be replaced based on the expression, or controlled within the rig.

Cut-Out

Another popular form of stop-motion is cut-out. Using construction paper or cardboard characters and placing them on paper while shooting the animation from above (that’s how South Park was made before they switched to computers). The cardboard is then moved a little each frame to create the illusion of movement.

Silhouette

Similar to cutout animation, silhouette animation uses cardboard or some kind of flat material, but the objects are all black and the shot is depicted with silhouettes only. This is one of the oldest forms of stop motion and is rarely used today.

Action Figures / Lego

Some use action figures or lego characters for animation. This genre is very popular on YouTube with many channels dedicated to creating funny skits with Lego characters. Robot Chicken is a great example of that. They use famous action figures to make fun of pop culture.

Pixelation

Pixelation is a form of stop motion that uses real people and real environments to create unreal videos. It uses the stop motion method of taking a still photo, moving things around, and then taking another photo, but the subject matter is usually real people instead of puppets.