Animation!The Horse in Motion (1878)

by Eadweard Muybridge

Animation!• Rapid display of images of 2D or 3D artwork or

model positions in order to create an illusion of movement.

• Traditional: aka “cel animation” or “hand drawn animation,” involves first drawing on paper, with each drawing slightly different from the one before to give the impression of movement. Drawings are transferred to acetate sheets (cels) which are filled with color or tones. Each cel is then photographed.

• TODAY: traditional animation is the same except that drawings and background are scanned directly into a computer system and colored through software

Animation: Traditional Techniques• Full Animation: high quality, very detailed drawings,

plausible movements, realistic (the Disney films are generally full animation)

• Limited Animation: more stylized drawings and methods of movement (ie. Anime, Spongebob, other tv cartoons)

• Rotoscoping: animators trace live-action movement, frame by frame; source film is copied over with drawings (animated Lord of the Rings 1978, Waking Life 2001)

• Live Action/Animation: combining hand-drawn characters WITH live shots (Who Framed Roger Rabbit? Mary Poppins, Space Jam)

Animation: Modern Techniques• Stop-Motion: Created by physically manipulating real-

world objects and photographing them one frame of film at a time.Puppet animationClay animationCutout animationGraphic animation

• CGI: computer generated images • Motion-Capture: using newer technology, directors

are able to capture actor movement on the computer (Avatar, Lord of the Rings)

Full Animation: high quality, very detailed drawings,

plausible movements, realistic

Limited Animation: more stylized drawings and methods of movement; unrealistic body proportions

and/or anatomy

Rotoscoping: animators trace over live-action movement,

frame by frame; source film is copied over with drawings

Live Action/Animation: combining hand-drawn characters WITH live shots

Stop Motion: created by physically manipulating real-world objects and photographing them one frame of

film at a time

Computer Generated Images (CGI)

• Digital successor to stop-motion• Rendering = generating a computer image from a

model; data for geometry, viewpoint, texture, lighting, shading, color, etc.

• Emerged in 1970’s and expanded in the 1980’s originally seen mostly in science fiction/fantasy movies.

• 1990’s: Jurassic Park, Forrest Gump (Lt. Dan’s legs, napalm strike, ping-pong balls, putting Tom Hanks in historic footage), TOY STORY, etc.

CGI

• Similar to stop-motion in that skeletal models correspond to actual bones/features and can be manipulated separately or together

• “Avars” = animation variables = different positions/expressions/etc. achieved by manipulating skeletal frame on the computer

• Woody, from Toy Story, uses 700 avars, 100 of which are just in the face

• Models are still constructed, just through a 3D coordinate system

Pixar CGI images

Motion Capture• Evolution of Rotoscoping; similar process but

reversed• Records movement of object and/or people (live)

and then using that data to animate digitally (2D and 3D CGI)

• Only captures movement and shape, not appearance; that’s where the animation comes in

• Used in many different realms: military, sports, entertainment

• Seen in Lord of the Rings, Avatar, Beowulf, The Polar Express

Motion Capture