Animati

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Theory

What is Animation?• Animation is the creation of simulated

movement by using a series of still images.

• Animation is used to produce special effects in commercials, live-action movies, video games and web sites

Zoetrope• Pronounced (ZO-uh-trope)• A toy created in the 1800’s that

used a cylinder and long strip of paper with a series of images

• When the cylinder was rotated, the images could be viewed through slits in the cylinder and the images appear to move

• The Zoetrope led to the development of motion pictures

ZOETROPE EXAMPLEShttp://youtu.be/5khDGKGv088

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5khDGKGv088

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=endscreen&NR=1&v=ClIZ_QjNX60

Flip Book• A flip book is a simple animation

device• It consists of a sequence of drawings

placed on top of each other fastened together along one edge

• Each drawing is slightly different from the drawing before

• The image appears to move because the eye sends signals to the brain faster than the brain can process them. This is called Persistence of Vision

FLIP BOOK EXAMPLEhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FH97UerMW6I

Types of Animation

• Hand-drawn Animation• Stop-motion Animation• Computer animation• Motion-capture animation

• In this type of animation, a series of drawings is photographed

• Each drawing makes up one frame of the film• The position of the character or object

changes very slightly from frame to frame• This technique is known as cell animation

because the first animations were drawn on thin plastic sheets called celluloid

• In 1937, Walt Disney released Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, the first full-length animated film using cell animation

Hand-drawn Animation

Stop-Motion Animation• In Stop-Motion Animation,

models are photographed on a set one frame at a time.

• The frames are played in sequence to create movement

• Early stop-motion models were made of modeling clay (ex. Gumby)

Computer Animation• Computer Animation

software can be used to create an animation scene, cartoon, a video game, or even a full-length movie

• Computer Animation reduces the time needed to produce an animated film

• Software can be two-dimensional (2D) or three-dimensional (3D)

Motion Capture Animation• Motion Capture

Animation is a 3D representation of a live performance

• It can be done using 3 different technologies:MagneticOpticalElectro-Mechanical

Magnetic Motion Capture• Magnetic motion capturing uses

sensors placed on an actor’s body that measure magnetic fields created by a transmitter

• The files are then represented in 3D by a computer

Optical Motion Capture• Optical motion capturing uses

video cameras to track the motion of light-emitting diodes or reflective markers placed on the joints of the actor’s body

Electro-mechanical Capture

• Electro-mechanical devices resemble an exoskeleton that is worn by the actor being recorded. The exoskeleton’s movements are recorded without any additional sensors

Storyboards• A storyboard is a series of

sketches that can be used as a guide for making a show.

• A typical full-length animated feature requires more than 4,000 storyboard drawings to describe the action and dialogue of the film

Modeling

• Once a storyboard is created, the modeling process begins

• Modeling refers to using computer software to create 3D computer models of characters, props, and sets

Animation• Once models are created, animation may begin• A key frame show a beginning or ending point in

an action sequence• Imagine a scene showing tow characters playing

catch with a ball. The key frames might show each character either throwing or catching the ball. The frames in between determine how fast the ball is thrown, how many times the ball goes back and forth, and how long the game continues

Shading, Lighting, and Rendering• Shading adds colors and textures to

objects. Examples include: simulated glass, wood, and metal

• Lighting is used to add illumination and shadows to scenes

• Rendering combines computer information from the modeling, animation, shading, and lighting steps to create the final images

STOP

Web Sites• Animation can be added to any website to add

interest• GIF animation was the first successful kind of

animation used on the web• GIF stands for Graphics Interchange Format• GIF files are still images that can be animated using

software• This is a popular way to store and distribute

animations• GIF files work well with web browsers

Other Web Sites Enhancements• When Dynamic HTML is used, one still

image is moved across the screen instead of using individual frames

• Several Web animations require plug-ins• Plug-ins are small programs designed to

play particular media files• QuickTime and Windows Media Player are

common video plug-ins

Other Web Sites Enhancements• Streaming Animation allows the

movie to begin playing before the entire file has downloaded

• Flash is the most popular Web animation program

• Flash can be used to produce high-quality animations and videos

Video Games• Video game development is the most complex

form of animation• A key difference between video games and movie

animation is video games need to be interactive; they need to respond to commands given by players

• Video games start with a storyboard• Artists, programmers, and marketing experts plan

for how the game will look and create different levels of difficulty