2D Drawn
This type
of animation is a traditional form of animation that was used
in many early cartoons. Using the technique of creating keyframes
and tweening the individual frames between the key frames to
produce the movement. The process is very time consuming as every
frame has to be calculated and drawn. This was normally done
on cels (transparant sheets) and placed over a background. Sequences
and scenes would be reused wherever possible to minamise the
workload. This type of animation still exsists but has been transfered
to computers which do alot of the tweening and other functions
speeding up the process but giving similar results.
3D Model
This type
of animation is still a traditional method but employs a different
approach. The characters move about a 3 Dimentional stage and
there exsistance is within a physical space, their movements
however are similar to 2D animation with a starting position
and end position. However the tweening has to be considered in
a 3D space. This type of animation is more like puppetry except
the models move between the frames as opposed to puppetry which
happens in real time.
For a longer analysis
on this subject and for useful books to read please check
here.
Computer
This is the
most recent development of animation and looks to be the future
of the industry on a mass scale. While traditional techniques
may still exsist the majority of animations from both 2D and
3D backgrounds are made within the computers virtual reality.
This has made the animation process much quicker to execuite.
However it has also blurred the barriers between animation and
general film production and special effects play a larger role
in many modern films.
Computers can
also be used to advantage in the other two types. You can use
animation caputre programs (a list of which is available in the
links section of this site) to help you make your stop motion
animation. Although the results will not be of the same standard
as film it still gives a good substitute and can be good for
learning with because you can erase frames add frames etc. Please
check the capturing the animation section for more details on
this subject.
For more disscussion
on this subject and for useful books to read please check
here.
