Animation

My personal enjoyment with animation has inspired me to write

this essay,
pertaining to animation. Since I was a child I have been fascinated with
cartoons; from when they started out to be black and white, and until
now with
full colour and computer effects. To better perceive what my personal
feelings
about animation are, I must first discuss in full detail, a general
overview of
how animators bring traditional animation alive with motion.

Animation seems like a smooth movement of drawn sequences of

artwork,
pasted together to form a single sequence of animation. This is the
basis of
animation, but animation is far simpler than it may seem. "The true
meaning of
animation is that it is a series of drawings strung together to create
the
illusion of smooth fluent movement."1 But the process of creating this
so-
called illusion, is a pain staking process during which artists must
spend
tremendous hours of agony to produce only seconds of animated film.

Before an animator goes about creating an animation he or she

must have
the knowledge of several rules of animation, which animators around the
world
follow. The first rule of animation is that an animator must hold the
understanding of the techniques used to produce single cells of
animation.
Second rule, and one of the most important ones is that, the animator
must have
great patience, so that his or her piece of artwork is not rushed, to
prevent
the animation from looking choppy and not as smooth as it should look.
Finally
what is required from an animator is "it takes commitment and effort to
make the
basis of animation come alive with fresh ideas."2 The following is not
a rule of
animation, but is often taught to animators around the world.
"Animators were
often taught that animation is only limited by the imagination and
skills of its
creators."3 Using these rules animation companies hire artists who are
familiar
with the rules previously discussed, but to create a feature full-length
animation you need more than just these rules. Below the process of
creating a
feature full-length animation will be discussed in further detail.
 To create a traditional animation requires a team of cooperative
artists
and editors. It also demands a collective, creative approach, within
which the
individual artists and editors of the team must harmonize and
communicate well
with the other members of the team, for the final product to be
successful.
Because so many personnel are involved in producing a single piece of
animated
film, creation of this is very costly. Companies must create a team of
animators
that are willing to work together to get the finished product perfect
the first
time around. No matter how modest or ambitious the project, the team of
animators follow a strict number of structured procedures, and must
possess the
understanding of the concepts and terminology in traditional animation.

When the team has been assembled. The team begins a long process
of set
procedures, which all animators worldwide use. Below the many set
procedures are
described in full detail.

1.Script
The script is the first stage in all film production. In an
animation
script, the visual action in the plot and performance is far more
important than
the dialogue.

2.Storyboard
The storyboard is a series of roughly drawn images that convey
the
action described in the script. This scene-by-scene portrayal helps the
writer,
director and animation team to access the content of the project and to
correct
any deficiencies in the scripted story.

3.Soundtrack
After the script and storyboard are completed, the recording of
any
dialogue or key music is undertaken. Since traditional animation relies
on
perfect synchronization of the picture to the soundtrack, the animator
must
receive the recorded track before beginning to draw.

4.Design
Designers create visual interpretations of all the actors in the
script.
When these interpretations are approved, the actors are drawn from many
angles
on a model sheet which the animators will use as a reference.
5.Leica Reel
A Leica reel is a filmed storyboard which can be projected in
synchronization with the soundtrack. It helps the director see how the
film is
shaping up and make any changes to its visual aspects before animation
is begun.

6.Line Tests
Line tests are animation drawings, produced in pencil on paper,
filmed
to the precise timings of each scene. As line tests are approved they
are cut
into Leica reel, replacing the original drawings and giving the
director an even
better idea of how the final film will look.

7.Cleanup
Cleanup artists take the animation drawings now and clean them
up, to
give them a consistent visual style.

8.Trace and Paint

When a cleaned-up line test is approved, each drawing is
transferred to
a sheet of celluloid or acetate (a cell) and painted in the colours of
the
original design.

9.Backgrounds
Background artists produce the animation's backgrounds, the
background
is everything behind or, sometimes, in front of the actors that does
not move.

10.Checking
The finished animation cells are passed to the checker, who
makes sure
that everything is correctly drawn, traced, painted and prepared for the
cameraman who is to finally film it.

11.Final Shoot
When the checker is satisfied that all the artwork for each
scene is
correct, the artwork is passed to the camera operator who shoots the
final scene.

12.Dubbing
When the whole film exists in final form, and the director is
satisfied
with it, the editor, with the director, chooses sound effects to go
with the
action in the film. These sound effects are then laid in
synchronization with
the action, and mixed with the voice track and music on one complete
soundtrack.
13.Answer Print
Creating an answer print involves merging the sound and picture
on one
piece of 24 frames per second film, the film is now ready for
projection!

The above described how traditional animation is created. But

now with
the computer becoming more useful and more tangible in its usefulness in
everyday society, animation is going through a dramatic change, with
newer and
easier alternatives in creating and editing animations, on work
stations and
home computers. Highly known animation studios like Disney and Silicon
Graphics
are stepping up to a higher and more advanced level of animation, by
using
computers to create animation effects that traditional animation
techniques
would never be able to create. Special computer effects that were
created on
computers were observed in the movies "Abyss", "Terminator 2", and
"Jurassic
Park". All these movies had some computerized animation added to the
film
producing special effects never seen previously on movies until now.
This is
because computer-generated animations are more flexible than traditional
animations, because it can be altered, viewed, and manipulated in any
way the
computer animator wishes by a click of the mouse. Furthermore computer-
generated
animations appear to be more realistic, to the audience, because
realistic
objects can be scanned into the animation by a computer scanner easily,
and be
used as part of the animation. But the most attractive feature computer
animation holds is that "animations done on computer are cheaper and
take less
time to produce."4

There are two major ways to go about producing a computer-

generated
animation. The first and most used process is called "Stop-Frame
Cinematography", where an artist draws each cell of the animation or
cuts out
pictures, then puts all the frames of still animation in an special
scanner
which scans all the separate cells into the computer. Then the computer
animator
arranges all the frames in the order, that it will be viewed in. Then
the artist
colours and edits each frame of animation with a computer paint
program. After
the animation on computer is completed the soundtrack and background
voices are
digitized into the computer, and mixed synchronously together. The
final process
of creation is where the foreground animation is merged with the
background, and
the mixed sounds are synchronized with animation. After the animation is
completed it is printed to film by a computer film printer, and is
ready for
viewing. The second process, which with the production of powerful high
speed
computers is becoming more familiar in films with computer generated
animation
and special effects, an example of this process is in the films
"Jurassic Park"
and "Terminator 2". The process I am describing is referred in the
industry as
"Computer Object Renderization". This is where a computer-generated
actor is
created by a process called "Wire Framing". This process is like
bending and
shaping metal wire to create a solid human figure or sculpture; at this
point no
colour or texture has been created. After the wire framed actor is
created, it
goes through a process referred as "Texture Mapping", where texture is
added to
the wire framed actor, producing depth and dimension to the computer
actor. This
process could be thought of as paper mashing a wire sculpture. Now the
actor
appears to be three-dimensional with shadows and shades added to the
actors
darker areas of the skeletal form. The computer actor is now ready for
details
like toes, fingers, nose, eyes, etc... to be added, to make the
appearance of
the actor more realistic. Now that the computer-rendered actor is
completed
with all its human or animal like details. Its movement can be
controlled by a
electronic suit which has several movement sensory devices located on
key areas
of the suit. That means a human actor can put on the suit, and his or
her
movement will be transferred to the computer and processed as digital
information. This causes the rendered actor to move on the computer
monitor.
After the actor's movements have been acted out like the script needed,
voices
are sequently merged together creating a single sequence of animation.
Now the
actor can be printed to the film's background, creating full feature
animation.
This is how animation studios produce computer rendered animations.

Due to the tremendous pace at which computers are becoming more

widely
available in our everyday society today, almost anyone with some general
computer knowledge can now produce simple computer-generated
animations, with a
home computer and some computer hardware, like a computer image
digitizer,
computer drawing tablet with sensory drawing pen, colour film printer,
sound
card with microphone receiver, and finally a video camera, these
devices will
enhance the computer's graphics capabilities for doing computer
generated
animations or movies. Secondly what is needed to create computer
animation is
computer animation software which can execute fairly complicated
graphics
applications. Finally, the most important piece of equipment which is
needed, to
create sophisticated graphical animations is an abundance of external
computer
memory or RAM. This is, because it takes enormous amounts of memory to
animate
computer images which contain colour. This equipment has its
limitations whereas
it can only produce simple computer animations, nothing like "T2" or
"Jurassic
Park". "Long stringed sequences of animation like full-feature
cartoons, contain
vast amounts of information that must be stored and manipulated."5 "This
enormous kind of digital computer information requires the kind of
power and
storage capabilities that only industrial size supercomputers can
provide."6
These sorts of computers, cost a significant amount of money, making it
nearly
impossible for the general public to get at this technology.

Ever since the "first animated cartoons were produced in 1910,"7

involving such animals as "Felix the Cat" and "Mickey Mouse", and on to
feature-
full length classics "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs", "Fantasia", and
many
more, the history of animation has been characterized by the almost
constant
introduction of ever more complex forms of animation. "Beginning in the
1960's,
films showing abstract colour designs in motion were programmed by
means of
computers that calculate intricate movements with amazing precision."8
Today
computer animation has achieved the ability to create moving images and
backgrounds of great complexity. This advanced innovation in animation,
has
prompted the multimedia world to manipulate this technology to adapt to
their
needs. Such as using computerized animation widely in their television
commercials, titles, and in producing more convincing music videos for
the
consumers. Computer animation has just become popular in our society,
it has not
even began to show its full capabilities. For in the near future we
will be
graced with the presences of it in every technological medium; such as
in
multimedia advertisement, video entertainment, and in the education
system. We
must either accept this technology and learn to use it, or be left in
the dark,
falling behind in the technological world.

Even though many companies are using computerized animations to

promote
their product or film, old-style cell animation continues to be the sole
technique which quality animators, such as Disney Productions use, but
with
computer-generated objects still often mixed with the traditional
animation,
adding a new outlook to the animation. As we near the year 2000, and
enter the
high-tech age of computer generated graphics and animation, I believe
that the
true admirers of the art of animation will always have a nostalgia for
the
techniques first used by the pioneers of animation.

Reference

1.Compton's Encyclopedia, 1991 edition, Vol.3, "Cartoons."

2.Randy McCallum, Cinemation (British Columbia: Motion Works Inc.,

1992), p. 19.

3.ibid., p. 23.

4.Edward Desmond, "Beyond Mickey Mouse," Time (Nov.1.1993), p. 32.

5.Toolworks Encyclopedia, 1992 edition, CD ROM, "Animation."

6.ibid., CD ROM.

7.Compton's Encyclopedia, 1991 edition, Vol.3, "Cartoons"

8.Toolworks Encyclopedia, 1992 edition, CD ROM, "Animation."

Bibliography

1.Brown, Robert. "Cartoons." Compton's Encyclopedia, (1991), Vol.3, pp.

163-165.

2.Desmond, Edward W. "Beyond Mickey Mouse." Time, Sept.27,1993, pp. 42-

47.

3.Elmer, Philip. "Video Game Boom." Time, Nov.1,1993, pp. 16-20.

4.McCallum, Randy. Cinemation. British Columbia: Motion Works Inc.,
1992, pp. 1-
-193.

5.Redmond, John R. "Animation." Toolworks Encyclopedia, (1992), CD ROM.

6.Young, Harvill. "3D Imaging Technology." MacWorld, Sept.1,1992, pp.

276-285.