P1 Explain The Different Types Of Animation Essay
P1- Explain the different types of animation
Throughout this task, the origins of animation will be defined, traditional techniques and types of animation will also be discussed.
First of all I would like to discuss the origins of animation. Discuss different public figures involved in the origins and the beginning of animation.
The people I would like to discuss are: William Horner and Thomas Alva Edison.
William Horner
William Horner was a British mathematician and the inventor of the zeotrope (also known as the “Wheel of the Devil”). The zeotrope relies on the persistence of vision to create the illusion that the image is in fact moving. Slots were cut around the outside of a cylindrical drum at equal distances with picture strips placed …show more content…
between them. When the drum was spun at a fast pace the user would look into the drum through the slots to see a small animation taking place. The faster the drum was spinning the smoother the image transitions would look. In these days, this was one of the most popular forms of entertainment although it didn’t become popular until thirty years later. This invention was soon to be responsible of revolutionising and shaping the future of animation. Below is an image of the zoetrope.
Thomas Alva Edison
Thomas Alva Edison made inventions that dramatically changed the world. He is mostly known and admired for the invention of the first electrical light bulb. He is also famous for the invention of the telegraph and the telephone. Then came along the phonograph which was the result of the two. This special machine was capable of transcribing telegraphic images via small indentations on tape. Edison, along with his lab assistant Laurie Dickinson also developed a camera that was capable of recording moving images. This was known as the kinetoscope, the world’s first motion camera. This device became the center and foundation of all cinematic projection. This machine also used persistence of the eye to create an illusion using strips of perforated film that would hold a series of images and put over a light source with a high-speed shutter. Only a single person at one time could view a film through the kinetoscope. Below is an image of the worlds first.
Emile was a French cartoonist and animator. Famous for creating the worlds first fully animated film ‘Fantasmagorie’. He would build an animation by placing each drawing over an illuminated glass plate so he could trace the next drawing. He would continue this process until approximately 700 drawing were produced. Black lines were drawn on paper and printed negative to create the illusion that the drawings were in fact chalk drawings.
George Melies was identified as the first cinemagician due to his use of special effects in early cinema. Directing 531 films ranging from one to forty minutes in length. Melies even starred in his own film in 1902 “The prolific Egg” which used a variety of special effects including scale, multiplication and transitions. This truly completed his identity as a “cinemagician” and the legend of special effects in film.
Winsor Mccay
Although superceded by the likes of Walt Disney and Max Fleischer, artist and cartoonist Winsor Mccay also managed to become a fathers of “true” animation. He gained most of his fame and recognition from his masterpiece “Gertie the dinosaur”. He single-handedly produced ten thousand drawings each unique from each other. This film was about an animated dinosaur that followed commands and performed tricks.
Classic Tweening
Tweening causes an image to move fluently across a stage without inserting too many keyframes, making the process simplified. By using tweening within an animation helps the image flow smoothly. Motion tweening works best with single objects however, classic and shape tweening both produce different outcomes as they are used for various purposes.
Masking
Masking is a tool used within animation programs such as flash to allow the user to hide specific layers at various points of the timeline. A tunnel effect can be made using a circular shape layer above an object layer which is hidden with the circular layer being the mask. When the circle moves across the object layer, parts of the hidden layer being to appear within the shape which creates the illusion that it is being viewed through a tunnel.
Morphing
The image above is an example of morphing and how an object is transformed into another object as the animation is played. In this example, the clip starts with a circle that gradually morphs into a square as the timeline moves.
In the modern era, animation is used in all types of film without us even knowing and is not really identifiable, animation has evolved from old obvious lighting effects and characters, to now where you cant even tell animation apart from the real acting. In this blog I will be discussing the different types of animation and what they do, I will then include the different uses of this specific type of animation and give examples of when they are used in the animation world, the different types of animation techniques are;
• Flip Book
• Cell Animation
• Stop Motion
• Cut out
• Rotoscoping
• Skeletal Animation
• Flash Animation
• CGI
Flip book animation is conducted of stages of where you get a book and on every page you draw a picture and as you flick through the book all the little pictures show an animation, they take a while because you have to draw the same picture every time but with a little movement to create the animation, this is was one of the first developed techniques of animation. Below is an example of flip book technique. Cell animation is where you originally have a background on a piece of paper and put a transparent sheet over the top with different pictures on or different characters, this is traditionally used for hand animation.
Cell animation has slowly disintegrated over recent years due to the advancements in technology. Below is a diagram of cell animation. Stop motion animation is where you use “stop frames” to make it look like the object is moving or performing a motion when it actually isn't, all you do is take a photo of the object and then slightly move it, take a picture, and repeat this until you have your object where you want it, it takes 24 frames to make 1 second of film, this type of animation does take a while but it one of the most effective, this is still used today but is rare. Below is a diagram of stop motion animation (used in the film chicken run).
Cut out animation is where you cut out pictures of props, for example animals, people and houses, and take a photo from above them move the prop where you want it, you can use all types of materials for this; paper, card, fabric. This type on animation was the earlier stages of its type because it was so simple and easy to use, but it was very time consuming, and you could probably guess. Below is a diagram of the cut out animation (from modern day series …show more content…
south-park).
Rotoscoping animation is where you trace over actual footage that you have filmed frame by frame. Decades ago they just used to put an image over the footage they had just created then paused and then an animator drew over it, like 'tracing paper', this effect has slowly deterred over recent years. Below is a diagram of rotoscoping animation.
Skeletal Animation is where you get a three-dimensional set of interconnected bones, which freely move giving the object movement. This type of animation is normally related to recreate human movements; also this type of animation gives the 'hand' a better look and to makes it more realistic to the real thing. Below is a diagram of skeletal animation. Flash Animation is best known for its cartoons animations where, the main use is for people to draw and create pieces of art, but on a computer rather than on paper. it is mainly focused for the audience of younger children to mess around with; as a range of colours can be created around photos. Below is a diagram of flash animation. CGI stands for (computer generated imagery) this is the most common use of animation as it is the most advanced and is the best technology wise. it is used in art, printed media, video games and mainly films. CGI can be used in 2D images or even 3D graphics used for creating scenes or special effects. CGI is used in nearly every film or TV programme in the modern day, it is rare for it not to be used as it is that effective, the greatest part about CGI, is that it is barely recognizable, making a film that little more realistic. Below is a diagram of CGI in the modern hit, Pirates of the Caribbean.
P2 - Explain different uses of animation
Within this section of the report I will be defining the different uses of animation. The best way to explain the uses of animation is to break it down into four sub-categories; these being:
Advertising
Creative arts
Entertainment
Education simulations
Advertising
The first subject that will be discussed is advertising, a major contribution to modern day television. The changes in adverts in recent decades, are more of what the consumers want to see, is due to the advancements in advertising.
Many businesses employ a multimedia approach in their advertising. A well-planned marketing strategy may combine elements of print advertising, television, video, and social media marketing. Computer animation cannot only be extremely versatile, but it provides unique communication capabilities that make it a useful tool for businesses. Custom animation can be created for very little money in comparison to other types of advertising, and it can be finely tailored for each unique brand. The following are a few benefits of using this medium in an advertising campaign.
When you need to provide a quick overview of a new product or concept, there is really no better way to do this than by using a visual to tell your story. Computer animation allows a brand to offer a brief visual summary of its most important messages, packing as much information as possible into a short advertising spot. Animation can be more visually compelling than a static 2-dimensional image, and allows you to add a soundtrack and other flashy details to grab to companies consumer target’s attention.
Animated advertisements often cost less than videos. Rather than paying actors or models and arranging for a costly film set, animation design professionals can create characters according to very specific requirements. Creating animated videos as part of an advertising strategy boasts numerous benefits to businesses. To support this evidence; numerous images situated below are examples of Animation used within advertisement.
Creative Arts
Animation is also used in creative arts to show and produce the skills needed to achieve a grade for example an IT course is creative arts, which is a specified skill in creativity. They would use animation in their work and much of it for presenting to the class they would use various diagrams and animations to get a topic across the class in presentations.
Entertainment
Animation for entertainment purposes has been used for a long time and recently become introduced on to the TV. This started with a series called 'the jetsons' which was first broadcast in America on the channel ABC on March 16th 1963.
Shows like the Simpsons and South Park, are animated and more recent series like Futurama and family guy all produced by programs and are all animated, the way we animate has changed dramatically, since 1963 animated films/clips have developed, by using more specialist programs to create these animations like Maya, Flash add-on's and many others.
Education
Education uses curtain types of animations to present to pupils in subjects like RE, Catering and CDT. The main reason teachers and lecturers do this is to help the pupil understand simple ways in how to complete a task or show the pupils how something works. When I was at school our geography teacher always used animated diagrams to show different topics like shore line drift, and for the image to be animated to brings the audience to see how the object works in a safe environment.
Simulations
For every simulation we have an animated source, like for a flying simulation they would have a plane cockpit and LCD screens with an animation of the plane taking off in a real-life world. The reason why learners aren't allowed to just jump in a plan and take off and learn on the way is because of cost and safety. This is the most efficient way of doing leaning, improving skills; simulating before actually proceeding.
The persistence of vision
“The persistence of vision is when an image that is viewed by the Human eye is retained on the retina for a 25-fifth of a second more, once the image disappears as the brain is still processing what has just been seen. In animation, a series of images blend into a continuous moving picture, although it is obvious that the image is actually a sequence of frames the Human eyes still see the previous image for a very short amount of time. This gives the illusion that the image is actually moving smoothly. The amount of frames an animation uses determines the speed in which each frame moves onto the next for example, if an animation was to be played at 5fps, five frames would be played per second which causes the images to flicker between transitions as the intervals of darkness will be noticeable, if the animation happened to be played at 24fps or more like most animations are, then the images or frames would work seamlessly together creating the perfect persistence of vision.”
Princeton university believes that the persistence of vision is in fact a myth that does not involve a scientific theory: -
“The myth of persistence of vision is the mistaken belief that human perception of motion (brain centered) is the result of persistence of vision (eye centred).
The myth was debunked in 1912 by Wertheimer but persists in many citations in many classic and modern film-theory texts. A more plausible theory to explain motion perception (at least on a descriptive level) are two distinct perceptual illusions: phi phenomenon and beta movement.” https://www.princeton.edu/~achaney/tmve/wiki100k/docs/Persistence_of_vision.html In my own opinion I believe that the persistence of vision is based on a scientific theory and not a myth as the human eye can only keep an image on the retina for an extremely short time and still processes the image once it disappears meaning an animation which displays multiple images in a short time will create the illusion that the image is moving.
Thaumatrope
A popular childrens toy in the 19th century which was an early form of animation that used the Persistence of vision to create a motion between two images. A small disk like object containing an image on either side both relating in some way. At a fast speed, the circular material would be spun with the use of string that is attached to either side of the material. This string would be twisted by the user to cause a spinning motion, the faster the spin the smoother the images would blend together.
Here is my own example of the thaumatrope. It fully defines the above definition. This motion is performed when both images are spinned at a high speed.
Throughout this task, the origins of animation will be defined, traditional techniques and types of animation will also be discussed.
First of all I would like to discuss the origins of animation. Discuss different public figures involved in the origins and the beginning of animation.
The people I would like to discuss are: William Horner and Thomas Alva Edison.
William Horner
William Horner was a British mathematician and the inventor of the zeotrope (also known as the “Wheel of the Devil”). The zeotrope relies on the persistence of vision to create the illusion that the image is in fact moving. Slots were cut around the outside of a cylindrical drum at equal distances with picture strips placed …show more content…
between them. When the drum was spun at a fast pace the user would look into the drum through the slots to see a small animation taking place. The faster the drum was spinning the smoother the image transitions would look. In these days, this was one of the most popular forms of entertainment although it didn’t become popular until thirty years later. This invention was soon to be responsible of revolutionising and shaping the future of animation. Below is an image of the zoetrope.
Thomas Alva Edison
Thomas Alva Edison made inventions that dramatically changed the world. He is mostly known and admired for the invention of the first electrical light bulb. He is also famous for the invention of the telegraph and the telephone. Then came along the phonograph which was the result of the two. This special machine was capable of transcribing telegraphic images via small indentations on tape. Edison, along with his lab assistant Laurie Dickinson also developed a camera that was capable of recording moving images. This was known as the kinetoscope, the world’s first motion camera. This device became the center and foundation of all cinematic projection. This machine also used persistence of the eye to create an illusion using strips of perforated film that would hold a series of images and put over a light source with a high-speed shutter. Only a single person at one time could view a film through the kinetoscope. Below is an image of the worlds first.
Emile was a French cartoonist and animator. Famous for creating the worlds first fully animated film ‘Fantasmagorie’. He would build an animation by placing each drawing over an illuminated glass plate so he could trace the next drawing. He would continue this process until approximately 700 drawing were produced. Black lines were drawn on paper and printed negative to create the illusion that the drawings were in fact chalk drawings.
George Melies was identified as the first cinemagician due to his use of special effects in early cinema. Directing 531 films ranging from one to forty minutes in length. Melies even starred in his own film in 1902 “The prolific Egg” which used a variety of special effects including scale, multiplication and transitions. This truly completed his identity as a “cinemagician” and the legend of special effects in film.
Winsor Mccay
Although superceded by the likes of Walt Disney and Max Fleischer, artist and cartoonist Winsor Mccay also managed to become a fathers of “true” animation. He gained most of his fame and recognition from his masterpiece “Gertie the dinosaur”. He single-handedly produced ten thousand drawings each unique from each other. This film was about an animated dinosaur that followed commands and performed tricks.
Classic Tweening
Tweening causes an image to move fluently across a stage without inserting too many keyframes, making the process simplified. By using tweening within an animation helps the image flow smoothly. Motion tweening works best with single objects however, classic and shape tweening both produce different outcomes as they are used for various purposes.
Masking
Masking is a tool used within animation programs such as flash to allow the user to hide specific layers at various points of the timeline. A tunnel effect can be made using a circular shape layer above an object layer which is hidden with the circular layer being the mask. When the circle moves across the object layer, parts of the hidden layer being to appear within the shape which creates the illusion that it is being viewed through a tunnel.
Morphing
The image above is an example of morphing and how an object is transformed into another object as the animation is played. In this example, the clip starts with a circle that gradually morphs into a square as the timeline moves.
In the modern era, animation is used in all types of film without us even knowing and is not really identifiable, animation has evolved from old obvious lighting effects and characters, to now where you cant even tell animation apart from the real acting. In this blog I will be discussing the different types of animation and what they do, I will then include the different uses of this specific type of animation and give examples of when they are used in the animation world, the different types of animation techniques are;
• Flip Book
• Cell Animation
• Stop Motion
• Cut out
• Rotoscoping
• Skeletal Animation
• Flash Animation
• CGI
Flip book animation is conducted of stages of where you get a book and on every page you draw a picture and as you flick through the book all the little pictures show an animation, they take a while because you have to draw the same picture every time but with a little movement to create the animation, this is was one of the first developed techniques of animation. Below is an example of flip book technique. Cell animation is where you originally have a background on a piece of paper and put a transparent sheet over the top with different pictures on or different characters, this is traditionally used for hand animation.
Cell animation has slowly disintegrated over recent years due to the advancements in technology. Below is a diagram of cell animation. Stop motion animation is where you use “stop frames” to make it look like the object is moving or performing a motion when it actually isn't, all you do is take a photo of the object and then slightly move it, take a picture, and repeat this until you have your object where you want it, it takes 24 frames to make 1 second of film, this type of animation does take a while but it one of the most effective, this is still used today but is rare. Below is a diagram of stop motion animation (used in the film chicken run).
Cut out animation is where you cut out pictures of props, for example animals, people and houses, and take a photo from above them move the prop where you want it, you can use all types of materials for this; paper, card, fabric. This type on animation was the earlier stages of its type because it was so simple and easy to use, but it was very time consuming, and you could probably guess. Below is a diagram of the cut out animation (from modern day series …show more content…
south-park).
Rotoscoping animation is where you trace over actual footage that you have filmed frame by frame. Decades ago they just used to put an image over the footage they had just created then paused and then an animator drew over it, like 'tracing paper', this effect has slowly deterred over recent years. Below is a diagram of rotoscoping animation.
Skeletal Animation is where you get a three-dimensional set of interconnected bones, which freely move giving the object movement. This type of animation is normally related to recreate human movements; also this type of animation gives the 'hand' a better look and to makes it more realistic to the real thing. Below is a diagram of skeletal animation. Flash Animation is best known for its cartoons animations where, the main use is for people to draw and create pieces of art, but on a computer rather than on paper. it is mainly focused for the audience of younger children to mess around with; as a range of colours can be created around photos. Below is a diagram of flash animation. CGI stands for (computer generated imagery) this is the most common use of animation as it is the most advanced and is the best technology wise. it is used in art, printed media, video games and mainly films. CGI can be used in 2D images or even 3D graphics used for creating scenes or special effects. CGI is used in nearly every film or TV programme in the modern day, it is rare for it not to be used as it is that effective, the greatest part about CGI, is that it is barely recognizable, making a film that little more realistic. Below is a diagram of CGI in the modern hit, Pirates of the Caribbean.
P2 - Explain different uses of animation
Within this section of the report I will be defining the different uses of animation. The best way to explain the uses of animation is to break it down into four sub-categories; these being:
Advertising
Creative arts
Entertainment
Education simulations
Advertising
The first subject that will be discussed is advertising, a major contribution to modern day television. The changes in adverts in recent decades, are more of what the consumers want to see, is due to the advancements in advertising.
Many businesses employ a multimedia approach in their advertising. A well-planned marketing strategy may combine elements of print advertising, television, video, and social media marketing. Computer animation cannot only be extremely versatile, but it provides unique communication capabilities that make it a useful tool for businesses. Custom animation can be created for very little money in comparison to other types of advertising, and it can be finely tailored for each unique brand. The following are a few benefits of using this medium in an advertising campaign.
When you need to provide a quick overview of a new product or concept, there is really no better way to do this than by using a visual to tell your story. Computer animation allows a brand to offer a brief visual summary of its most important messages, packing as much information as possible into a short advertising spot. Animation can be more visually compelling than a static 2-dimensional image, and allows you to add a soundtrack and other flashy details to grab to companies consumer target’s attention.
Animated advertisements often cost less than videos. Rather than paying actors or models and arranging for a costly film set, animation design professionals can create characters according to very specific requirements. Creating animated videos as part of an advertising strategy boasts numerous benefits to businesses. To support this evidence; numerous images situated below are examples of Animation used within advertisement.
Creative Arts
Animation is also used in creative arts to show and produce the skills needed to achieve a grade for example an IT course is creative arts, which is a specified skill in creativity. They would use animation in their work and much of it for presenting to the class they would use various diagrams and animations to get a topic across the class in presentations.
Entertainment
Animation for entertainment purposes has been used for a long time and recently become introduced on to the TV. This started with a series called 'the jetsons' which was first broadcast in America on the channel ABC on March 16th 1963.
Shows like the Simpsons and South Park, are animated and more recent series like Futurama and family guy all produced by programs and are all animated, the way we animate has changed dramatically, since 1963 animated films/clips have developed, by using more specialist programs to create these animations like Maya, Flash add-on's and many others.
Education
Education uses curtain types of animations to present to pupils in subjects like RE, Catering and CDT. The main reason teachers and lecturers do this is to help the pupil understand simple ways in how to complete a task or show the pupils how something works. When I was at school our geography teacher always used animated diagrams to show different topics like shore line drift, and for the image to be animated to brings the audience to see how the object works in a safe environment.
Simulations
For every simulation we have an animated source, like for a flying simulation they would have a plane cockpit and LCD screens with an animation of the plane taking off in a real-life world. The reason why learners aren't allowed to just jump in a plan and take off and learn on the way is because of cost and safety. This is the most efficient way of doing leaning, improving skills; simulating before actually proceeding.
The persistence of vision
“The persistence of vision is when an image that is viewed by the Human eye is retained on the retina for a 25-fifth of a second more, once the image disappears as the brain is still processing what has just been seen. In animation, a series of images blend into a continuous moving picture, although it is obvious that the image is actually a sequence of frames the Human eyes still see the previous image for a very short amount of time. This gives the illusion that the image is actually moving smoothly. The amount of frames an animation uses determines the speed in which each frame moves onto the next for example, if an animation was to be played at 5fps, five frames would be played per second which causes the images to flicker between transitions as the intervals of darkness will be noticeable, if the animation happened to be played at 24fps or more like most animations are, then the images or frames would work seamlessly together creating the perfect persistence of vision.”
Princeton university believes that the persistence of vision is in fact a myth that does not involve a scientific theory: -
“The myth of persistence of vision is the mistaken belief that human perception of motion (brain centered) is the result of persistence of vision (eye centred).
The myth was debunked in 1912 by Wertheimer but persists in many citations in many classic and modern film-theory texts. A more plausible theory to explain motion perception (at least on a descriptive level) are two distinct perceptual illusions: phi phenomenon and beta movement.” https://www.princeton.edu/~achaney/tmve/wiki100k/docs/Persistence_of_vision.html In my own opinion I believe that the persistence of vision is based on a scientific theory and not a myth as the human eye can only keep an image on the retina for an extremely short time and still processes the image once it disappears meaning an animation which displays multiple images in a short time will create the illusion that the image is moving.
Thaumatrope
A popular childrens toy in the 19th century which was an early form of animation that used the Persistence of vision to create a motion between two images. A small disk like object containing an image on either side both relating in some way. At a fast speed, the circular material would be spun with the use of string that is attached to either side of the material. This string would be twisted by the user to cause a spinning motion, the faster the spin the smoother the images would blend together.
Here is my own example of the thaumatrope. It fully defines the above definition. This motion is performed when both images are spinned at a high speed.