Animation

Prepared by: Haval Akrawi

 Topics Covered
1. Animation Definition
2. Animation History
3. Types Techniques of Animations
4. Animation Terms

Haval Akrawi
 1.Animation Definition
Animation is the rapid display of a sequence of images of 2-D or 3-D artwork
or model positions in order to create an illusion of movement. It is an optical
illusion of motion due to the phenomenon of persistence of vision, and can be
created and demonstrated in a number of ways. The most common method of
presenting animation is as a motion picture or video program, although several
other forms of presenting animation also exist.

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 2. Animation History
Ancient Animation 1837-1901
? AD 0 BC
Around the
Victorian Era,
games such as the
Zoetrope,
Thaumatrope and
Flip Book became
The earliest popular. These
examples of were simple
“animation” come devices that, when
from Palaeolithic moved in their
cave paintings and individual way,
pottery/wall would produce a
decorations from basic animation.
as far back as 5,200
Haval Akrawi years ago.
 1889
Emile Reynaud patents the
praxinoscope. This is a
device that used mirrors to
project a sequence of
images onto a screen. The
infinite tape length
changed the medium of
animation from a curiosity
into entertainment.
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1906
J. Stuart Blackton makes the
first animated film which he
called "Humorous phases of
funny faces." His method was
to draw comical faces on a
blackboard and film them. This
allowed the facial expressions
to change before the viewer’s
eyes.
 1914 1923

Earl Hurd applies for a patent for the process

of cel animation. This is the technique of
drawing the animated portion of an
animation on a clear celluloid sheet and later
photographing it with its matching
background.

Walt and Roy Disney create Disney

Brothers Cartoon Studio.
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 1928 1930

The motion picture The King Of Jazz features

an animated prologue by Walter Lantz. It is
the first animation to be done in two strip
Technicolor. Technicolor is a process of
colouring that revolutionised both film and
animation.

Walt Disney releases "Steamboat Willie”. This was one of

the earliest cartoons to have sound. Disney
revolutionised cartoons and turned them into a
mainstream form of entertainment. The company’s
innovations over the following decades include the
storyboard, pencil tests, and the multi-plane camera
stand.
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 1930’s 1934

Several notable
cartoon characters are
created including:
Betty Boop, Popeye,
Porky Pig, Daffy Duck,
and Bugs Bunny.

Urb Irwek and Disney

create the multi-plane
camera. This camera
captures animation in 3D
by photographing several
layers of overlapping cells.
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 1964 1976

The feature film Futureworld,

sequel to the 1973 Westworld,
is the first film to feature CGI
by making use of a computer-
generated hand and face
created by then University of
Ken Knowlton,
Utah graduate students Edwin
working at Bell
Catmull and Fred Parke.
Laboratories,
Catmull would eventually end
started
up as one of the three
developing
founders of Pixar and is the
computer
current president of Walt
techniques for
Disney Animation Studios and
producing
Pixar.
animated movies.
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 1986 1995

The computer graphics division of George

Lucas’s company Lucasfilm, Ltd. is purchased
by Steve Jobs for $10million and established
along with Catmull and ex-Disney animator
John Lasseter as Pixar Animation Films, a
company that is famous for their CGI feature
films and shorts to this day.

Disney/Pixar’s first film Toy Story becomes the

first feature length film to be made entirely of
Haval Akrawi CGI.
 3. Types Techniques of Animations
a. Cell Animation
DEFINITION: The process of first drawing each frame of animation onto paper, then
transferring these to transparent acetate sheets (cells, short for celluloid). Colour is then
added on the reverse of the cell. Layers are built up to create dimension.

The cells are individually photographed

onto film by a rostrum camera.

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 Cell Animation cont.…
Notable examples include the motion
The traditional
pictures: Pinocchio, The Lion King, Beauty and
method of cell
the Beast, Iron Giant, Cats Don’t Dance, and
animation (hand
TV programs: SpongeBob Squarepants, The
drawn and coloured)
Fairly OddParents...
is now obsolete due
to new technologies.
“Tradigital” can be
used to describe
traditional
animation that uses
technology, for
instance, in the
colouring process.

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 Cell Animation Variations
Live Action/Animation: combining live
action footage with cell animations e.g.
Space Jam, Who Framed Roger Rabbit...

Rotoscoping: the process of tracing live action

footage and turning it into cell animation. This is a
technique to achieve realistic animation and used
greatly by Disney

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 b. Stop Motion Animation
Definition: the process of animating physical
objects as opposed to images.

The object is photographed, moved slightly,

then photographed again and so on...

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 Stop Motion Animation cont...
Stop motion animation can take
the form of:
• Puppets
• Clay/Plasticine models
• Inanimate objects
• Cut-outs (2D objects),
photographs etc...
• Silhouettes
• Humans (Pixilation)

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 Stop Motion Animation cont...
Notable examples include: Wallace and Gromit, Pingu and
Bagpuss as well as many recent advertisements and music
videos...

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 c. Computer Generated Animation
Definition: any animation (2D, 3D) that has been created with the aid of computer software.

3D:
2D: • Objects are made by first
• Created using creating a “rigging mesh”
bitmap or vector •As well as this the animator
graphics uses gravity, particle and
• Used for flash texture simulations to create
animation and realistic animations
PowerPoint • Actors can also wear suits
animation as well with sensors on which
as some 2D copies their movements to
cartoons computer

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 Computer Animation cont...
Notable examples of computer animation include: Avatar, The Polar Express and, of course, any film
by Pixar...

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 4. Animation Terms
Still remember these animation terms ???

Keyframe
Tweening
Onion Skinning
Frame by Frame
Frame Rate

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 MPT1383: VIDEO & ANIMATION TECHNOLOGY PRODUCTION

animation terms: KEYFRAME

A set of parameters defining a point in a animation.
For example a key frame may define a picture size, position and rotation.
Any digital effect must have a minimum of two key frames, start and finish, although more complex moves
will use more.

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 animation terms: 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.

Keyframe 1 Keyframe 2

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 animation terms: TWEENING

Haval Akrawi
 animation terms: TWEENING
Tweening in Adobe Flash ?

In computer animation, the term is most commonly used for Flash's "shape tweening" and "motion
tweening" processes where the user can define two key frames and Flash will automatically create
the in-between frames, either morphing one shape into another over a set period of time or else
moving a shape or shapes from point A to point B over a set period of time.

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 animation terms: TWEENING
Tweening in Adobe Flash Example:

1ST cell Final cell

Inbetween or tweening

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 animation terms: ONION SKINNING
Onion skinning is a term for a technique used in creating animated cartoons and editing movies to see
several frames at once.
This way, the animator can take decisions on how to create or change an image based on the previous
image in the sequence.

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 animation terms: FRAME BY FRAME
In animation, a "frame" is a single complete image out of the sequence of images comprising an
animation.
Taken alone, the frame is just a drawing - a piece of art. When sequenced with other drawings, it
becomes an animation frame.

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 animation terms: FRAME BY FRAME
Frame by frame animation is an animation technique to make a physically manipulated object
appear to move on its own.
The object is moved by small amounts between individually photographed frames, creating the
illusion of movement when the series of frames are played as a continuous sequence.

Traditional frame by frame animation…

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 animation terms: FRAME BY FRAME

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 animation terms: 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).

Frame rate for movie or video ?

◦ 24 – 30 fps (WHY...?)

Frame rate for animation; view on television or as video presentation) ?

◦ 24 – 30 fps

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 animation terms: FRAME RATE
Frame rate for digital animation ?
◦ Computer or digital animation will funtion smoothly when using frame rate between 12 to 15 frames per
second (12 –15 fps).
◦ If we used less from that value, animation that produced will be stucks/slow and human eyes can see
differences when frames changing between one image to another image.

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