Unlocking the World of Motion

Animation is an exciting field that brings images to life through the illusion of motion. Whether it's
the captivating characters in your favorite films or the dynamic visuals in video games, animation
plays a crucial role in multimedia. Let's delve into the basics of animation and explore key
vocabulary to enhance your understanding.

Key Concepts:

Frames: Animation is a sequence of images or frames displayed in rapid succession, creating the
illusion of movement.

Keyframes: These are specific frames in an animation where significant changes occur. Animators
strategically place keyframes to guide the motion of the characters or objects.

Tweening: Short for "in-betweening," tweening is the process of generating intermediate frames
between two keyframes to achieve smooth animation.

Storyboard: A visual script that outlines the sequence of scenes in an animation, helping artists plan
the narrative and flow.

Rendering: The process of producing the final images or frames from the raw animation data.

Vocabulary Exercises:

Exercise 1 - Matching: Match the terms with their definitions.

A B - definitions
1. ______Frames a. The process of producing final images from animation data.
2. ______Keyframes b. One of the many still images in a film sequence
3. ______Tweening c. A visual script outlining the sequence of scenes.
4. ______Storyboard d. Specific frames where significant changes occur.
5. ______Rendering e. Generating intermediate frames for smooth animation.

Exercise 2 - Fill in the Blanks: Use the correct term from the list to complete the sentences.

In animation, a _______________________________ is a single image in a sequence.

Animators use ________________________________ to guide the motion of characters or objects.

______________________ is the process of creating intermediate frames for smoother animation.

Before creating an animation, artists often sketch a_______________________ to plan the scenes.

The final step in animation is ___________________________, producing the polished images for
the audience.

By mastering these fundamental concepts and vocabulary, you're on your way to appreciating the
art and science behind animation.
 ANIMATION

Animation is a method of photographing successive drawings, models, or even puppets, to create an

illusion of movement in a sequence. Because our eyes can only retain an image for approx. 1/10 of a
second, when multiple images appear in fast succession, the brain blends them into a single moving
image. In traditional animation, pictures are drawn or painted on transparent celluloid sheets to be
photographed. Early cartoons are examples of this, but today, most animated movies are made with
computer-generated imagery or CGI.

To create the appearance of smooth motion from these drawn, painted, or computer-generated
images, frame rate, or the number of consecutive images that are displayed each second, is
considered. Moving characters are usually shot “on twos” which just means one image is shown for
two frames, totaling in at 12 drawings per second. 12 frames per second allows for motion but may
look choppy. In the film, a frame rate of 24 frames per second is often used for smooth motion.

No matter what the method of animation is used, each step of an animated film is worked out
beforehand on storyboards, a representation of a film in outline form, using sketches, small drawings,
and captions. Since every second of a typical animated film involves 12 to 24 changes (which means
more than 50,000 visuals for a 70-minute film), it is too expensive and time-consuming to complete
an entire animation sequence and then scrap it.

Traditional animation

Traditional animation, also known as cel animation, is one of the oldest forms of animation in film.
The animator draws images on transparent celluloid ar acetate sheets called “cels”. In order to create
the animated sequence, the animator must draw every frame by hand. After all the drawings are
completed and coloured, they can be photographed or scanned into a computer and then combined
with sound on film. The process is extremely time-consuming, since it requires the creation of around
24 drawings per second of film. It’s also labour-intensive, which is why most traditionally animated
films are produced by large companies.

Working with cels has freed the animator from repeatedly drawing the same image, since separate
elements could be placed on individual cels and then assembled in layers of two or three for the
camera. Cels also enabled the animator to include more detail in the characters and background, as
one drawing could be used multiple times without recopying. Today, similar functions can be
performed using a computer.

Traditional is most often 2D animation. Aladdin, The Lion King, and other earlier cartoons are the best
examples of this. Though, not all 2D is traditional.

2D Animation

2D animation can fall under traditional animation like most early Disney movies — Pinocchio, Beauty
and the Beast, etc., or vector-based, where the motion can be controlled by vectors rather than pixels.
Vector-based animation uses mathematical values to resize images, so motion is smooth. They can re-
use these creations so the animator doesn’t need to keep drawing the same characters over and over
again. You can move around these vectors and animate that way.
 3D Animation

Today, 3D or computer animation is the most common type. But just because computers have stepped
in instead of actual drawings, it’s not necessarily easier. The computer is just another tool, and 3D
animation is still a long, intense process.

In 3D animated movies, the animator builds three-dimensional “models” that can be viewed from
different angles. They do this for each frame, and the computer calculates the motion from each
frame. Animators adjust and tweak the curvatures and movements their characters make throughout.
From Toy Story in 1995 to today’s Coco, 3D animation has become the dominant style in animated
films. CGI can imitate camera moves and angles that would be difficult or impossible to achieve with
traditional cel animation and because of its ability to mimic reality, CGI is also used to produce special
effects in live-action films.

Stop Motion

Stop motion encompasses claymation, pixilation, object-motion, cutout animation, and more. But the
basic mechanics are similar to the traditional style like a flipbook. However, instead of drawings, stop
motion adjusts physical objects, made of clay, wood or other similar materials, in each frame.

The basic process of animation involves taking a photograph of your objects or characters, moving
them in small increments, and taking another photograph. When you play back the images
consecutively, the objects or characters appear to move on their own. Wallace and Gromit, Chicken
Run, and The Nightmare Before Christmas are all great examples of stop motion films.

Early stop motion was captured with film cameras. Animators could not see how their work looked
until they got their film processed. They used surface gauges to keep track of where their characters
were, and how far to move them. If the animation was not fluid, if the set had been bumped, or if the
lighting was bad, the work was lost and the animator had to start all over again. Later, special video
machines allowed the animator to view the last one or two frames, and compare those to the live
video from the camera. This allowed them to get a sense of how their animation was progressing.

Motion Graphics

Motion Graphics are pieces are digital graphics that create the illusion of motion usually for ads, title
sequences in films, but ultimately exist to communicate something to the viewer. They’re often
combined with sound for multimedia projects. They’re a type of animation used mostly in business,
usually with text as a main player.

EXERCISES

Answer the questions.

1. What is animation?
2. What does CGI mean?
3. Explain the process of ‘cel’ animation.
4. What is vector 2D animation?
5. How does 3D animation work?
6. What is the basic process of stop motion?
7. Give examples of different kinds of Motion Graphics in everyday life?
 Match the following words with their definitions.

sequence flipbook pixilation vector-based transparent caption

claymation cutout frame rate sketch cel storyboard

_____________ A series of scenes that form a distinct narrative unit, which is usually connected
either by a unity of location or a unity of time.
_____________ It is an adjective that describes a material or substance that allows light to pass
through it without scattering the light in different directions .
_____________ Commonly expressed in frames per second or FPS, it is typically the frequency (rate)
at which consecutive images (frames) are captured or displayed.
_____________ It is a graphic organizer that consists of illustrations or images displayed in sequence
for the purpose of pre-visualizing a motion picture, animation, motion
graphic or interactive media sequence.
_____________ A rapidly executed freehand drawing that is not usually intended as a finished work.
_____________ A short text that accompanies an illustration, cartoon, poster, or a piece of text
appearing on a cinema or television screen as part of a film or broadcast.
_____________ Short for celluloid, is a transparent sheet on which objects are drawn or painted for
traditional, hand-drawn animation.
_____________ It is a technique that uses computer-generated vector graphics to create 2D
animations.
_____________ It is one of many forms of stop-motion animation. Each animated piece, either
character or background, is "deformable"—made of a malleable substance,
usually plasticine clay.
_____________ It is a stop motion technique in which live actors are used as a frame-by-frame
subject in an animated film, by repeatedly posing while one or more frame is taken
and changing pose slightly before the next frame or frames. The actor becomes a
kind of living stop-motion puppet.
_____________ It is a form of stop-motion animation using flat characters, props and backgrounds
cut from materials such as paper, card, stiff fabric or photographs. The props would
be cut out and used as puppets for stop motion.
_____________ It is a booklet with a series of images that very gradually change from one page to
the next, so that when the pages are viewed in quick succession, the images appear
to animate by simulating motion or some other change.

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