3D CGI Animation

3D CGI Animation

Computer animation is the process used for generating animated images, The term people use when talking about Animation is CGI which has bot static and dynamic images, Computer animation is ultimately just the successor to stop motion which was used in traditional animation.

The way that 3D CGI Animation works is models  are built on the computer monitor (modeled) and 3D figures are rigged with a virtual skeleton, it will begin transparent but will start to shape up the more time the animator is spending and should then become a realistic looking animation.

3D CGI was invented in 1960 by graphic designer William Fetter, the work that Fetter did was development of ergonomic descriptions of the human body that are both accurate and adaptable to different environments, and so this resulted in the first 3D animated wire-frame figures.

Here are two examples of 3D CGI Animation:

2D Computer Graphic Animation

2D Computer Graphic Animation

2D computer graphics are most commenly used in applications that were originally developed at traditional printing and drawing technologies, such as typography, cartography, technical drawing, advertising .2D graphics models may combine vector graphics, digital images, text to be typeset (defined by content, font style and size, color, position, and orientation), mathematical functions and equations, and more. 




2D Graphics started in the 1950s with vector graphics these were largely supplanted by raster-based devices in the following decades. 

A advantage of 2D Computer Graphic Animation is that it has the freedom of the scene.it is the fact that the animator or director can do whatever they want with the scene.They can change the syle of the line for a certain effect and also they can change the colours.

A disadvantage of 2D Computer Graphic Animation  it can be time consuming, if done by hand. the cartoon look is starting to go out of fashion. you can get more realism and atmosphere with 3D 

Cell Animation

Cel Animation

In 1910 Earl Hurd at John Bray studios invented the Cel animation process. A cel is a transparent sheet on which objects are drawn or painted for traditional, hand-drawn animation. This type was used during the first half of the 20th century, but since it was flammable and dimensionally unstable it was largely replaced by cellulose acetate.

Generally, the characters are drawn on cels and laid over a static background drawing.

An advantage of cel animation is that the creator does not have to keep drawing the same image as the animation is set up in layers.

the only disadvantage to cell animation is that it takes a long time to produce a cartoon or film due to the huge amount of frames needed to make movement and is very time consuming as well, and because of this it is more expensive to produce 2D/traditionally animation films. 

Here are two examples of Cel animation:

Flipbook

Flipbook

Flipbook is perhaps one of the hardest animations to create because if you are wanting to make a detailed flipbook then everything should be precise and highly detailed. If you are creating a flipbook you will need a small book with blank pages and with pen and pencils you can also use continues pictures to create a more life like effect.

The first flipbook that was created appeared in September 1898, the creator is John Barnes Linnet. This type of animation was the first to use a linear sequence of images rather than circular.

Here are two examples of flipbook animations the first being a photograph flipbook the next being a drawn flipbook.

A advantage of a Flipbook is that it is can be anything from a comic strip to a company booklet, another advantage thanks to interactive design flipbooks can even be more colourful and appealing.

A disadvantage of Flipbook is that you have to be a talented artist to be able to create a realistic flipbook, the same drawing has to be made over and over again with minor changes. 

Stop Motion

Stop Motion

stop motion is series of still images with objects moved around each picture to make a number of images into a stop motion video to make it look as though it is moving it self. The most well known company is Aardman Animations who have created the likes of Chicken Run, Wallace and Gromit and Shaun the sheep.

Stop motion can be used by using anything such as a person, clay, Lego or any utensils lying around The first instance of any stop motion was by Albert E.Smith and J.Stuart Blackton for vitagraphs The Humpty Dumpty Circus in 1898.

Stop motion is still around and has made some of the most remembered films or tv programmes of all time some examples are.

• Wallace and Gromit: The curse of the ware rabbit (2005)
• Chicken Run (2000)
• The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993)
• Robocop (1987)
• Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back (1980)
• The Lego movie (2014)

Although The Lego is more advanced than passed stop motion and has some other added effects to help create the movie it still comes from the stop motion roots.

A more well known version and perhaps the famous version of stop motion is Wallace and Gromit which is made by clay and the moved around to give the effect that the characters are moving around by themselves. Here is an example of how it is created.

An advantage of stop motion is that you can animate inanimate object,  you can also create cool effects when creating your stop motion video.

A disadvantage of stop motion is that it is difficult to get a consistent image quality and can also be difficult to get a good fluid animation. 

Zoetrope

Zoetrope

A Zoetrope is a cut open cylinder which has a series of pictures around the inside of the cylinder. To see the pictures there are several slits in the to look through and see the image progress. 

A Zoetrope is not that dissimilar to a Thaumatrope in the way that they both do not have a lot aa pictures most Zoetrope's have around 8+ pictures inside them, The speed that the drum is turned at will determine how fast the animation will go, it is unclear however if the inventor of the zoetrope intended it to be an animation.

The Zoetrope is thought as the predecessor to the 5000 year old earthenware bowl which originated from Iran, It is hard to put an exact date that the Zoetrope was actually invented as there are so many people claiming they know who created it.

One very known version of a zoetrope is the one including the horse which shows a man/woman riding a horse which shows the horse galloping around the zoetrope.

Another Zoetrope that is well know is the one that broke the Guinness world book of records for being the biggest Zoetrope ever made it was made for Sony to promote their motion interpolation technology. This Zoetrope features 64 photos of the footballer Kaka

An advantage of zoetrope is that the animation is consistent when the user starts the zoetrope, A zoetrope can be viewed by any angle and still have the same animation.

A disadvantage of zoetrope is that it is hard to make and also that the animation that is produced by the zoetrope is repetitive as it plays the same animation over and over again.

Thaumatrope

Thaumatrope

A Thaumatrope is a circular piece of paper with either two pieces of string or a stick through the paper that  when twisted creates an illusion that the two pictures are on either side of the paper are joined together.

An advantage of a Thaumatrope is that it is easy to create because the materials used which makes it a simple Animation.

A disadvantage of a Thaumatrope is the drawing on each piece of paper has to have enough detail to make the animation look convincing to the person using it. The animation is also limited because there only is two drawings which means it will keep repeating its self.

The inventor of the Thaumatrope is rather undecided as the invention is usually credited to John Ayrton Paris, but someone else has claimed that William Henry Fitton invented it by saying he told John Herchel had seen do the same type of animation but with a coin instead.

The Thaumatrope is thought to be invented from 1785 to 1856 from the time period from which John Paris lived from if he did invent it.

One very well know example of a Thaumatrope is the bird in a cage, in this thaumatrope there is a bird on one side of paper and the cage on the other  which gives the illusion that when turned that the bird is the cage.

Another well known example of a thaumatrope is the Fish in the bowl which has a fish on one side and a bowl on the other which gives the illusion of the fish being in the bowl.