Animation is the rapid display of a sequence of images to create the illusion of movement.
There are 4 methods or animation:
- Cell animation – Each frame is individually drawn (A good example is old Disney films)
- Stop motion – Models are changed and each frame is photographed (eg. Wallace and Gromit)
- 3D Animation – 3D models are created and rendered out in the format of frames. (Pixar or Dreamworks prouctions are good examples)
- Keyframe animation – This is when things are given a start and an end, and the computer (or animators known as “tweeners”) draws/calculates the frames inbetween (hence the name “tweeners”). Keyframe animation is the basis for almost all computer based animation. This form of animation uses 4 basic operations over time – Move, Rotate, Scal and Transparency/Opacity.