Forum: Animation


Subject: Types of Animation

cgeduversity opened this issue on Jan 07, 2022 · 2 posts


cgeduversity posted Fri, 07 January 2022 at 3:04 AM

Animation, Animation, and Animation

We see the impact of animation almost in every sphere of Entertainment, Industry,Sports, Arts and Education. 

Hardly there remains a field in these sectors where animation has not made a powerful impact.

Welcome friends, we will start the article with a famous quote

Computers don’t create computer animation any more than a pencil creates pencil animation. What creates computer animation is the artist.

John Lasseter

Welcome friends, in this blog we will bring various types of animation.

The goal of this article is to introduce you to the various types of animation styles and techniques. Also covered are the steps to take (and what they entail) in order to become an animator for each type.

In this article we will discuss the five different types (or genres) of animation, and what you’ll need to get started. 

You might have come across the words 2D animation or 3D animation. But there are many more types of animation.

Types Of Animations 

Let us try to find out what are the other basic types of various animation styles. Basically there are 5 different types of animation. We will try to give you a preliminary and brief description of these animation styles.

  1. 3 D Computer Animation
  2. Traditional Animation
  3. 2D Vector based animation
  4. Stop Motion   
  5. Motion Graphics

1. 3D Animation

Also known as CGI (computer generated imagery), In the world of animation this is the most popular style. Mostly used for feature films presently. It is also common in TV and short films as well.

Digital Characters , Live action films and animation for video games are made using this type of animation.gital characters for live-action films and animation for video games.

In this style of animation an animator uses a digital puppet (called a character rig) to position the character, and then uses a system of motion paths to show the movement of the character between those poses.

The computer interpolates the frames of the animation in between the key frames. The animator then refines these frames until they are satisfied with the animation.

Requiring many specialists to model the characters, animate and rig it with bones and controls, this process of 3D animation 3D a technically intensive process.

2. Traditional Animation

The 2D animation or the traditional animation style also known as cel animation. Since the style uses the most important aspect of hand drawing, we would like to refer to it as hand drawn animation.

In the world of animation this is the classic process of animation. It is the most familiar style of animation that most of us know. In this style characters are drawn frame by frame by frame, after which those drawings are transferred onto clear acetate sheets called cells for painting. This is why the term cell animation.

From the 1990s most of the animation studios stopped using cells and started scanning drawings into the computer for digital colouring. Nowadays many hand-drawn animators avoid paper altogether and draw directly into the computer using a tablet or Wacom Cintiq monitors.

Thus 2D animation could be done entirely analog or entirely digitally, or a hybrid of the two. What is important even now in this style of animation is that hand drawn animators still create their animation frame by frame and use the same techniques and principles as in those old days of paper and cels.

3. 2D Vector Based Animation

In modern days there are new ways to create 2D animation using 2D digital puppets. For creation of these 2D characters a system of bones and controls is used that can be manipulated in a way similar to a 3D character rig.

There is a thin difference between 2D rigged characters and hand-drawn characters. However programs like Toon Boom Harmony and Adobe Animate CC let the animators seamlessly mix and match hand-drawn animation with 2D puppet techniques. 

A character could have bones that let the animator pose it, but also have other parts that are animated by hand.

4. Stop Motion Animation ( Claymation, Cut-Outs )

There are several variants of stop motion, but what is common in all these variants is that they all involve manipulating real world objects. In this style objects are moved bit by bit, and photographed one frame at a time. A sequential projection of  , these frames create the illusion of movement.

In higher-end stop motion, like the ones created by Laika (Coraline, Kubu and the Two Strings), a specially rigged puppet is shot on a miniature stage.

Before the start of  CGI animation, Stop-motion animation was  often used as special effects and therefore has a very long history in both the animation and film industry, starting from The Humpty Dumpty Circus (1887, Blackton). 

 

In the 80’s yet another technique came into the world of animation , this was the Go-Motion. Computer based programming was used to move the models for the animators even before each frame was photographed. This technique was used when creating visual effects for RoboCop (1987, Verhoven) and The Empire Strikes Back (1980, Kershner). Though the technique was a lot more complicated as compared to doing it by hand, the results were a lot more realistic-looking animation.

Stop-motion style of animation raised the standard bar for visual effects when Ray Harryhausen, created animations for Jason and the Argonauts (1963, Chaffey) and Clash of the Titans (1981, Davis), or Nick Park who created the Wallace and Gromit franchise. However, stop-motion wasn’t always made for shorts and visual effects. Many famous full length feature films like The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993, Selick) and Wallace and Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit (2005, Park.) were made using this animation style.

5. Motion Graphics

One of the last big categories of animation is Motion Graphics. Motion graphics mainly focuses on making dynamic and interesting presentations of moving text logos and basic illustrations.

This style is used for both 2D and 3D, and is most common for commercials, explainer videos, sporting events, the news and other TV productions.

However a proper character animation is usually out of the scope of motion graphics, but many of the basic animation principles do apply to motion graphics also.

As the video editing softwares use different UI or settings, the process of creating Motion Graphics depends on the programs used, but the idea used is common. Motion Graphics is mostly used for animating images, texts or video clips by using key framing that is tweaked to make a smooth motion between frames.

The computer based video editing coined the term Motio Graphics , as programs like Adobe After Effects and Apple Motion made editing images a lot easier and faster.

Prior to computer video editing, it was a very time-consuming process, and was limited to high-budget productions. But we see that it is highly popular in commercials, news shows, sporting events and online videos.

Friends, in this article we gave you a brief idea and description of various types of Animation. In our previous articles we also presented the scope of the animation world. The animation industry has a big potential for growth and career prospects for young aspirants. If you are also looking to make your career in the animation industry, we recommend you to join the best Animation Training Institute in your city. We are providing a brief information of one such animation training institute in Pune. Please read carefully to get the most of the world of animation and make a bright future for yourself.

Here we introduce you to one such Best Animation College in Pune Maharashtra.

cgeduversity The college is located in the most happening area of Pune, Camp Area.

So, if you are looking for the Best Animation Training Institute, come straight and visit the website cgeduversity. Here you will find a variety of courses to suit every aspirant whether a Degree in Animation, Diploma or short-term certificate courses. These courses have been designed in such a way that anyone who completes the course has great chances of getting a good placement very shortly. We would suggest you to please visit the website or contact the customer’s service executive to know further details of the college. It is one of the Best Animation Training Institutes in Pune which provides you the option of easy fee payments. The college also helps you to get financial assistance in case you require it. Most of the students here are from Pune and around it. 

The best Animation Training Institute also must have the most efficient and well-equipped lab for the students. Last but not least, it must have the best-talented faculties which forms the most and integral part of any Best Animation Training Institute.

 

Thanks for reading, Happy learning.

Stay Tuned!!!