H O P P E R P E D I A ©
-Brian Hammons
June 14, 2010: 16,220 hits
"Profitable" Animation Techniques
With so many "types" of animation techniques to choose from, it gets confusing for companies when a decision is made to advertise, or market a product or concept with animation.
LEGEND
Technique: Cost to produce
1= inexpensive -to- 5= expensive
Technique: Popularity
1= popular -to- 5 = unpopular
2D Adobe Flash Animation
Popularity=2 Cost to Produce=2
While the creation of animation using Flash can be easier and less expensive than traditional animation techniques, the amount of time, money, and skill required to produce a project using the software depends on the chosen content and style. Internet distribution is considerably easier and less expensive than television broadcasting.
Flash Animation in professional studios
Flash animation production is enjoying considerable popularity in major animation studios around the world, as animators take advantage of the software's ability to organize a large number of assets (such as characters, scenes, movements, and props) for later re-use. Because Flash files are in vector file format, they can be used to transfer animation to 35 mm film without any compromise in image quality.
Motion Capture w/ Autodesk Motionbuilder
Popularity=1 Cost to Produce=5
Motion captureis the process of recording movement and translating that movement onto a digital model. The Animator can record actions of human actors, and use that information to animate digital character models in 2D or 3D computer animation.
Camera movements can also be motion captured so that a virtual camera in the scene will pan, tilt, or dolly around the stage driven by a camera operator, while the actor is performing and the motion capture system can capture the camera and props as well as the actor's performance.
Advantages
1. More rapid, even real time results can be obtained. In entertainment applications this can reduce the costs of keyframe-based animation.
2. The amount of work does not vary with the complexity or length of the performance to the same degree as when using traditional techniques. This allows many tests to be done with different styles or deliveries.
3. Complex movement and realistic physical interactions such as secondary motions, weight and exchange of forces can be easily recreated in a physically accurate manner.
Disadvantages
1. Specific hardware and special programs are required to obtain and process the data.
The cost of the software, equipment and personnel required can potentially be prohibitive for small productions.
2. When problems occur it is easier to reshoot the scene rather than trying to manipulate the data. Only a few systems allow real time viewing of the data to decide if the take needs to be redone.
3. Movement that does not follow the laws of physics generally cannot be captured.
3D Animation & Special Effects w/ Autodesk 3ds Max
Popularity=1 Cost to Produce=5
Autodesk 3ds Max, formerly 3D Studio MAX, is a modeling, animation and rendering package that is used exclusively on the Microsoft Windows platform. It can be used by animation film studios, video game developers, TV commercial studios and architectural visualization studios. Films: It is also used for movie effects and movie pre-visualization.
Powerful Features
MAXScript, Character Studio, Scene Explorer, DWG Import, Texture Assignment/Editing, General Keyframing, Constrained Animation, Skinning, Skeletons and Inverse K, Integration with Autodesk Vault
Sample List of films made with Autodesk 3ds Max:
Alice in Wonderland, Black Hawk Down, Iron Man & Ironman II, Lara Croft: Tomb Raider, Minority Report, Star Wars: Episode III Revenge of the Sith, The Day After Tomorrow, The Mummy.
Rotoscoping
Popularity=4 Cost to Produce=4
Rotoscoping is an animation technique in which animators trace over live-action film movement, frame by frame. Rotoscoping has often been used as a tool for visual effects in live-action movies. By tracing an object, a silhouette (called a matte) is created that can be used to extract that object from a scene for use on a different background. While blue and green screen techniques have made the process of layering subjects in scenes easier, rotoscoping still plays a large role in the production of visual effects imagery. Rotoscoping in the digital domain is often aided by motion tracking and onion-skinning software. Rotoscoping has also been used to allow a special visual effect (such as a glow, for example) to be guided by the matte or rotoscoped line. One classic use of traditional rotoscoping was in the original three Star Wars films, where it was used to create the glowing lightsaber effect, by creating a matte based on sticks held by the actors. To achieve this, editors traced a line over each frame with the prop, then enlarged each line and added the glow. Rotoscoping has recently made its way on television commercials, and digital billboards.
Live-action/Animated Film & Animated Television
Popularity=1 Cost to Produce=5
A live-action/animation features a combination of real actors or elements: live-action and animated elements, typically interacting. With the rise of digital special effects, combining live-action and animation has become more common. The Star Wars prequels and the Lord of the Rings trilogy, for example, include substantial amounts of animation, though it may not be recognized as such because of the animation's realistic, non-cartoony appearance.
Sample List of films made with live-action/animation:
2009 - Avatar (2009 film) (James Cameron)
2011 - The Smurfs (John Lithgow)
2012 - Roger Rabbit 2
2013 - Tom and Jerry (DreamWorks Animation version)
Traditional Animation
Popularity=2 Cost to Produce=5
Traditional animation, also referred to as classical animation, cel animation, or hand-drawn animation, is the oldest and historically the most popular form of animation. In a traditionally-animated cartoon, each frame is drawn by hand. The term "traditional animation" is often used in contrast with the now more commonly used computer animation.
Simple Animation Process:
1. Storyboards
2. Animatics
3. Voice Recording
4. Animatic
5. Design & Timing
6. Layout
7. Animation
8. Backgrounds
9. -Traditional ink-and-paint & camera
9. -Digital Ink & Paint
9. -Computers and Digital Video Cameras
Stop Motion Animation
Popularity=3 Cost to Produce=3
Stop motion (also known as stop action or frame-by-frame) is technique to make a stationary object appear to move on its own. The object is moved in small increments between individually photographed frames, creating the illusion of movement when the series of frames is played as a continuous sequence.
Variations of Stop Motion:
1. Stereoscopic
2. Motion
3.(CGI) Computer Generated Imagery
Popular Film List:
1. Wallace & Gromit
2. Coraline
3. Fantastic Mr. Fox
