Wk1: Different Types of Animations
We are going to discuss 6 different types of animations which are the most prominent ones that we
see today on the internet, TV, commercials, documentaries, music videos etc.
Even though all these different types of animations can be mixed together to create a new style hence endless possibilities, exist when creating through digital art or computer art. Let’s dive into this infinite world. Do look at all the links presented in this lecture. This will help your mind to start thinking creatively. In order to learn animation in after effects, remember that been creative is as important as been good at the software as well. So, while the video tutorials help you operate After Effects, the lectures here will help you understand the creative process. The purpose of this class is to give you a taste of both so that with the knowledge of the basic foundations you can learn to express art in a digital form and of course also create your own creative and professional animations.
ANIMATION is nothing more than an optical illusion – a way of tricking our eyes into thinking that lots of static pictures are one moving image. Since the success of sites such as YouTube, simple shorts can be attempted by anyone, and stop-motion animations with everyday objects are some of the most popular and artistic videos. The basic processes and techniques are the same for all animation, and because of the wide range of applications, animation graduates are in high demand.
Simple animations Before film was invented, there were early forms of animated pictures. The zoetrope, for example, is a wheel with several static pictures around the inside so that they appear to move when the wheel spins. Flipbook animation is very similar, and places pictures on every page of a book so that it creates an optical illusion when the pages are flipped quickly. Whilst both of these don’t need a camera, object animation and chuckimation involve filming regular inanimate objects, such as Lego or action figures, and animating them using stop-motion or off-camera hand-movement. Pixilation uses people as stop motion characters in a similar way.
Traditional animation
Traditional animation is sometimes called hand-drawn animation or cel animation and, for most of the 20th Century, many popular animated films were created this way. It was a lengthy process. Thousands of pictures were drawn entirely by hand on acetate sheets, or cels, with each cel being slightly different from the one before it. Each cel was photographed onto a separate frame of film so that when the film reel was played, the animation moved. This form of animation could also be combined with live-action video by placing the cells on top of the film. This technique was popular in the late 80s and early 90s and was used in films such as Space Jam and Who Framed Roger Rabbit. Traditional animation takes a lot of artistic skill and has many different artistic styles: Disney’s films are very recognizable and considered quite realistic, whilst Studio Ghibli characters have a distinctive anime look. More stylistic drawings were used for many cartoon programs, such as The Flintstones, and the Beatles’ Yellow Submarine used a pop-art style that was popular at the time it was made. The music video for the song “Take on Me” by A-ha is a good example of another style of traditional animation called rotoscoping, which used a live-action recording as a template for animation. In this video, a very simple pencil-sketch style was used.
In fact, any style of art can be turned into animation. Although this traditional animation became unnecessary when digital techniques were invented, some modern animators, such as those who worked on the 2010 film The Illusionist, still choose to use this form.
Computer Animation
Computer technology revolutionized the animation world. Computer animation includes a very wide range of techniques, but in essence is any animation that is created digitally using a computer. Whilst forms of computer animation have been around since the 1960s, it came into general use in the 1990s when animators began using it alongside traditional animation. It is more controllable and faster than traditional animation and computer animation can be broken down into two main types: Digital 2D/Motion Graphics can be created using computer programs such as Flash, After Effects, Cell Action and TV Paint. These programs have varying levels of intricacy – from simple stick-person animation figures, to entire worlds. Just as in traditional animation, 2D animation can use different layers to build up pictures. It can show anything from backgrounds and landscapes, to multiple characters and crowds. Digital 2D is also known as Motion Graphics Animation or Motion Media Design.
This is the type of animation that we will be focusing on mostly throughout the course. Think back to some of your favorite videos. What did you like about them? If you’re anything like us, it’s not just one thing. Every individual part of the video, from the story to the graphics, just fit together perfectly. They complement each other, working in tandem to create something special. Motion graphics is animation, essentially, it’s animated graphic design. Ever since motion graphics first entered the scene, there’s been a debate about the line between them and full animation. The opening credits of Hitchcock’s Psycho is an early example of motion graphics, where the marriage of sound, motion, and graphic design come together exceptionally well.
Motion graphics are a way to communicate with the viewer and add depth to the story. Together with music and effective copy, they can give us a message. We use them to create ads, title sequences for movies, [explainer](Put simply, motion graphics are animation, with text as a major component.) videos and to share information. Broadcast channel La Effe were looking to refresh their brand, something that would set them apart from other SKY channels. The new design, by Nerdo Creative Studio, is a meld of high-end art magazine like styles cherry-picked from the history of graphic design, with a strong emphasis on typography. We think it’s fair to say you don’t see something like this on television every day.
The main title sequence for HBO’s True Detective is a great example of well thought out visuals mixed with restrained typography. The bleak landscapes reflect the inner lives of the characters and illustrates the story - a toxic swamp of damaged people. In an interview in The Art of the Title, Creative Director, Patrick Clair, described how important the story was to the design process, saying that “story is always the most fundamental part of our design process.”
Another definition of motion graphics, therefore, could be that they’re moving illustrations for narratives The example below combines motion graphics with a background track and a voiceover to share a powerful message. It’s all about the story. There’s no need for color or fancy designs in order to share something that matters. Sometimes, the simplest designs can illustrate a story in a more direct way, while keeping the integrity of the story intact.
You can use simple motion graphics in your own awareness, motivational and explainer videos. Craft a powerful story and use animation to support it. Motion Graphics are great for creating a powerful explainer videos ITFT uses motion graphics to illustrate their points and show the blockchain in action. It’s an effective way to support a concept because it can help the viewer visualize it in a way a presentation can’t. Next time you create an explainer video, you can use motion graphics to support a point or to help the viewer see the information you share in a different way.
The video above proves that you can use motion graphics to create an entire music video! The graphics itself tell a separate story that complements the song, the same way other music videos do. It’s an interesting concept that highlights the different contexts motion graphics can be used in. You can use them to create an ad or even make a short film.
Product videos can be a great way to get your product in front of customers and increase sales. Motion graphics can help you create fun, entertaining and engaging product videos that are cheaper to produce than full animation, and bring something a little different to the table, like this video from Lavit.
Digital 3D uses programs such as Maya to create animation with more depth. An animator will often create a very simple version (or skeleton) for a digital character (or Avar) and build up from this with digital muscles, skin, hair, pores etc. The animator will use keyframing to set the Avar’s position, just as they would in traditional animation. However, they don’t need to do it on every frame, but just key ones – the computer programs then fill in the movement between the key frames to create a full animation. Digital animation can be very realistic, and animators can be very artistically skilled to create a character.
Some animators will specialize – for example, facial animators just work on the facial movements and speech of a character, rather than the whole thing. Motion capture is method used to make 3D digital animation as life-like as possible. An actor will be filmed doing actions, speaking, or even acting full scenes, whilst special sensors on their body and face are ‘captured’ by a film camera. This is then translated into a digital character, which can be controlled by the animator. This type of digital animation is often used in blockbusters, including Dawn of the Planet of the Apes and the new The Legend of Tarzan film.
Stop motion
Stop-motion is a simple, but time-consuming, form of animation where objects are physically manipulated and filmed frame-by-frame. Stop motion comes in many forms: Object animation and pixilation can use the stop-motion technique without specialist equipment, but special stop-motion models have often been used for special effects in live-action films. The 1933 King Kong film was famous for the stop-motion ape, and the original Star Wars films and The Terminator used stop-motion models for many of the aliens and machines. Other forms of stop-motion use artistic materials to create the physical objects. The earliest known animated feature-film used cut-out animation, where flat pictures are physically cut out of paper or fabric and animated.
The children’s show Charlie and Lolause a cut-out animation style. Another form of stop motion uses puppets, such as Tim Burton’s animated films. These puppets often have hundreds of interchangeable heads to create lip-movement and facial expressions. Claymation is the name given to stop-motion that is made with clay or plasticine figures. Plasticine is easily moved and shaped, so the figures can be moved very carefully and precisely. It takes a long time to create a Claymation, as a figure is usually moved about twelve times for every second of film. Aardman Animation’s Chicken Run is a Claymation film, and currently the highest-grossing stop-motion film ever made.
Whilst it is very similar to traditional animation in technique, stop-motion continues to be a popular form of animation, with at least twelve feature-length stop-motions currently in production. Many animators work with stop-motion for artistic reasons, as it is still difficult to recreate stop-motion models digitally.
Working with animation Animation is such a wide and versatile subject, there are endless routes you can go into. Artistic variations on the three main styles above are endless: hydrotechnic is a form of light animation projected on water and can be seen in popular events such as the Lumiere festival, whilst sand animation, paint-on-glass and pinscreen animation use the same principals as stop-motion, but with different materials. If you want to specialize in a particular animation technique, be it digital or physical this class will guide you through. Animation is always changing and developing, and as a course or career there is a lot to keep you interested.