Introduction to Animation

Kinds of Animation
Animation is one of the hardest disciplines of multi-media and visual arts.
Because of the nature of the work, a large team of organized, dedicated and
talented artists are needed to complete an animated film. There is a need to
have an organized and collective creative approach where each individual
can clearly communicate with each other for an effective collaboration.
There are 3 categories of animation.
2D animation- is a term and an animation technique used when a
hand drawn animation is created via cel or frame by frame animation.
This is the process used by most traditional animators and later on
been digitalized by modern artists. During the early years of
animation, the individual frames of a 2D animated films are
photographs of drawings. They first draw the animation on paper and
later shot individually to film to create an illusion of movements
3D Animation-is a modern animation technique used when the
animation is made fully by computer software’s and is digitally
modeled and manipulated by an animator. 3D animation is usually
created by polygon mesh to manipulate its structure and from.
Stop motion animation- also known as experimental animation, stop
motion animation is a technique and category of animation that is
used to describe an animation created by physically manipulating the
real world objects and photographing them one by one or frame by
frame to create an illusion of movements. This includes puppet
 animation, clay animation, cutout animation, model animation, object
animation and pixilation

The first animated film was created in 1906, which makes

animation exist for only a century. The traditional process
was tedious and involved having to draw each frame by
hand on paper. Today’s technology makes modern
animation more convenient through the use of computers.
Nowadays, animation can be seen in film, television,
commercials, presentations, and videogames

The Process of Animation

There is a certain structured procedure that every member of the animation
team to know. Any overlooked steps and guidelines will negatively affect the
quality of the final output. When this happens, an animation project could
become more costly and time consuming then what was originally intended.
In a standard animation production pipeline, the process of animation is
divided into 3 stages: Pre-production, Production and Post-production.
Per stage and step has a specific set of artist that handles only a certain task
in order to create fluid pipeline production.

Pre-Production
1. Storyline and Script – The first stage in creating an animation is creating
the storyline and the script. An animation script is very different from a
live action script for television. A live action script focuses on the dialogue
for the actors. But when it comes to animation script, the concept is more
of “show, don't tell”. The scenes and actions of the characters are given
more importance than what they say. The best animation is achieved
through a form of mimed action where dialogue is non-existent, yet the
visuals manage to convey the message. As they say, actions speak louder
than words
2. Storyboard – From the script, the artist or director produces a series of
drawn images that visually portray the action and scenes described in the
 script. Storyboards are made for the team or producer to see the step by
step shots, outcome, actions and content/elements of animated project
based on the story.
3. Soundtrack – Once the script and storyboard are completed, the dialogue
and/or background music is recorded. The background music and sound
effects make up 50% of the whole animation experience. Since animation
relies on perfect organization and synchronization of the pictures to the
soundtrack, it is essential for the animator to have the final recordedtrack
before they even begin to draw. Without the soundtrack, the animator
will not be able to time the animation accurately.
4. Design – In this step, the artist will produce concept designs and visual
interpretation of all the characters, background, color, and elements
featured in the film. When the design is approved, each character,
background, color and element concept is drawn from a multitude of
angles and placed in a model sheet for all the animators to use as
reference.
5. Animatic/track breakdown – The Animatic or track breakdown is
where the editor or the director assembles the storyboard to create
timing and camera movements on every shot and scene. This is where the
editor or the director notes the timing of actions, film cuts and transition
to the X sheet or time line. For example, if a character begins to cry after
one second of film time, (24 frames per second) the editor or director
marks the start of the tear drop from position A on the 25th frame and
indicates the subsequent frames through which the tear drop falls to
position B. The animatic is also used to time the whole duration of the
film
Production
6. Animation – The animators come in once everything in the pre-
production stage is set. In the animation stage, the artist creates the pose
to pose action or key drawings that are limited to the timing of the
animatic and track breakdown
7. In-between – The in-between artist adds drawings to create a fluid
animation based on the animator’s pose to pose key drawings.

8. Clean-up – The clean-up stage of production is where a set of artists

clean up the drawings to give them a consistent visual style. This is very
important because there is an inevitable variation in the appearance
the characters. After the entire clean-up, it is best to line test the drawings to see if there are still obvious
inconsistencies
9. Background – In modern animation production, another team of artist is in charge
of producing the background while the animation is in the process of in-between.
Since each background must have a continuity of style, background artists are
expected to produce work identical to the film design.
10.Digital ink and paint – When the clean-up for animation and background is
approved, the animation and background is transferred to the digital ink and paint
department. This is where they color the animation and background using the
color script given during the design process.
Post-Production
11.Compositing and rendering – This is the final part of the animation procedure. In
the compositing and rendering process, the final animation and background are
stitched to each other, creating fluidity and
continuity of the film. Effects such as blur, rain, and glow of fire are added. After
everything is stitched together, the rendering process will take
effect. This will take time, and the duration of the rendering depends on
the technical specifications of the computer.

Animatic- The Animatic is where the editor or the director assembles the story board to create timing and
camera movements on every shot and scenes.
Animation- The process of creating an illusion of movements.
Background- The scenery behind the main focus of a subject.
Clean up- The clean-up stage of production is where a set of artist just cleans up the drawing to give them a
consistent visual style
Compositing- Combining multiple images into a single picture. Effects- Lighting or sound or
enhancement used in a visual media. In-between – The middle of two key drawing
Key Drawings- A drawing or a point t6hat defines the starting and ending point of any animation in the
timeline
Layout- the arrangement of elements and subjects in a scene. Multimedia- Using of more than
one medium of communication. Post-Production- The stage after the Production process

Pre-Production- The stage before the production process

Production- The actual working stage of a film
Track Breakdown – The timing of an animatiio