Animation techniques are constantly evolving, and game developers and film studios are constantly looking for talented and creative individuals who can apply these techniques.
Here are the main types of animation that can be used to create digital characters for television shows, commercial applications, company logos, movies, videos or games.
- Traditional animation.
- 2D vector animation.
- 3D computer animation.
- Motion graphics.
- Stop motion.
Traditional animation
Have you ever seen images that appear as frames in quick succession, drawn on transparent sheets of paper with colored markers? This view computer animation called traditional. It is used for preliminary character sketches.
This process can be quite expensive and time-consuming, as animators have to create a series of different frames based on the 24 frames per second frame rate. This method used mainly on PCs, as well as tablets using special computer programs, allowing you to create animation in the style of old Disney cartoons.
2D vector animation
The most commonly used animation style. Its frames are created at a relatively flat surface. In addition, vector animation has adopted some traditional animation techniques. In reality, it is the same as traditional animation, except that a process known as shading and shading is applied to the frames.
During this process, animators place thin, transparent sheets of celluloid onto paper on which animated characters are drawn, and then transfer them onto film. At the end, shots of different characters are superimposed on each other, and due to the high transparency of the film, this allows you to create a composition of different elements and characters.
3D computer animation
3D animation is completely different from other types of animation in computer graphics. Although they use the same principles of composition and movement, technical methods, used to solve various problems, vary significantly. In 3D animation, the animator does not need to be a graphic artist. It's more like playing with dolls than drawing.
These are also called computer-generated images ( CGI). They occur when computer animators create a stream of images that are brought together to form an animation. Combining dynamic and static images is done using computer graphics. Characters created in 3D, in digital format displayed on screen and then combined with the wireframe, allowing each model to be animated differently.
Animation is created by creating models in individual key frames, and then the computer multiplies them, interpreting the animation by adding intermediate frames between key frames.
In addition, a lot of time is spent working with curves representing different parts of the object at different periods of time. In 3D animation, all characters must be taken into account, even those that are certain moment time are blocked by something and are not visible.
The main difference between these types of animation is that in traditional and 2D animation the artist works with individual frames, while in 3D animation there is always a continuous flow. If it stops, it is perceived as an error. Even when the character remains in place, there is always a continuous flow of frames that creates the illusion of reality.
Motion graphics
Have you ever wondered how promotional videos, animated logos, movie opening credits, and app advertisements are created? This is done using moving graphic texts and elements, or as I call it, motion graphics.
This is a process that uses "multiplication" of animated frames to create smooth movement between frames. Frame multiplication programs support scripts that automatically change the animation to create numerous effects.
3D compositions are created from flat elements moving relative to each other, which creates the illusion of volume. They may also be accompanied sound effects or music. Such objects are often used in multimedia projects.
Stop motion
Stop motion is a type of computer animation that is more similar to traditional animation. All you have to do is take a photo of the object, and when you move the object relatively short distance, you take another photo. This procedure is repeated repeatedly, and when the images are played one after another, the impression of movement is created.
These changes may concern the positions of objects, the shape of objects determined by the action of various modifiers, the properties of object materials (color, gloss, transparency), the state of the external environment, and many other components of the scene that allow animation. In 3ds Max you can animate any characteristics of all objects - primitives, light sources, cameras, auxiliary objects. By setting object parameter values in keyframes, you can make objects move in the scene, change texture, or increase or decrease in size. By playing back a rendered sequence of frames at a speed fast enough to create the illusion of smooth motion, the scene comes to life. The number of frames per unit of animation time required to ensure smooth scene changes is set during the process of setting time intervals. Typically in 3ds Max it is 30 frames per second, although in film it is 24, and in television it is 25 frames per second. Each individual frame of the animation is no different from the rendered images of the 3D scene discussed in the previous exercises. Thus, creating animation consists of repeatedly automatically repeating the cycle of visualizing the scene image in the selected projection window with automatically making the necessary changes to this scene, i.e. in multiple renderings. Therefore, the computing power of the animation machine is most in demand. To master animation techniques, you first need to understand three basic concepts: keyframes, animation keys, and animation controllers. Key frames are called frames in which the values of the animated parameters change. To create animation in 3ds Max, just specify the parameter values in key frames, and the program will automatically calculate the change in parameters from one key frame to another. Animation keys The values of the animated parameters in key frames are called. Animation controllers name ways to control changes in animated parameters, as well as the nature of these changes (evenly in the interval between key frames, with acceleration, etc.). Controlling changes in animated parameters is performed by adjusting the shape of the change graph or setting the trajectory of changes. At the bottom of the 3ds Max screen there is a line of animation tracks (scale) on which icons are located key frames animation of selected objects (Fig. 1). Rice. 1 The track line can be turned into a simplified editor of functional curves, which are graphs of changes in animated parameters over time. To do this, click on the button Open Mini Curve Editor(Open mini curve editor) located on the left side of the track row. The program implements two animation modes using the key method: automatic animation mode (with automatic creation keys) and forced animation mode (with forced creation of keys). Keyframe creation mode is activated using the button Auto Key(Automatic installation of animation keys), located under the animation scale (Fig. 2). Rice. 2 Any change in scene parameters in the current frame is remembered, and a key frame marker appears on the animation scale. Use the button to move between animation keyframes KeyModeToggle(Animation frame switching mode). By default, the duration of the created animation is 101 frames. With this setup, you can create an animation lasting about three seconds. To set animation display options in the viewport, use the dialog box Time Configuration(Configuration is temporary s x parameters) (Fig. 3), which opens using the button of the same name Source:
- Gorelik Alexander. Basics of modeling and visualization in 3ds Max (in exercises).
Site editor
Here's the story.
In today's lesson, let's try to create such a three-dimensional animation in Photoshop.
A dark forest, huge mushrooms, two treasure hunters and a green gnome with a pot of gold peeking out from behind the flowers.
Here's the story.
I found the drawings for the animation on the Internet, at the end of the lesson there will be a link to download the sources, if you suddenly decide to use them.
So, open Photoshop and create new document. Its width should be slightly smaller than the background image. Something like this - part of the picture on the right and above extends beyond the work area and is not visible:
Insert the second image. This is a big mushroom and flowers. This picture png format with transparency. Therefore, the bottom picture is also visible.
I immediately rename the layers. That’s what I call them - background and mushroom.
I make duplicates of these layers. To do this, I select them and click right click mouse over the selected one. The context menu opens and in it I select the “Duplicate layers” item. To avoid confusion, I then rename the layers, adding the number 2 instead of the word copy.
I move the copy a little background to the left, and a copy of the mushroom to the right. I copy these two layers and again move the background to the left and the mushroom to the right. And so on. The smaller the shift, the more copies will need to be made. But the animation will also be of higher quality. So far I have 5 copies along with the original pictures. On the fifth copy we introduce the first character - the green gnome. Insert the image and place it between the background layer and the mushroom layer.
Now we are duplicating the top three layers. We continue to move the layer with the background image to the left, and with the mushroom to the right. And we enlarge the gnome a little and also move it slightly to the left. Is the principle clear? Again, copy three layers and repeat the steps. And again. Look at the picture below. The green gnome is already clearly visible behind the mushroom.
The next step is to glue the layers together. First, the very first background image and the very first mushroom. Select the layers and press Ctrl+E. Or using context menu, as you wish. Then the first copies and so on. When you get to the copies with the gnome, you need to glue three layers. In the end I ended up with 8 layers.
Let's move directly to the animation. Open the panel. (Window - Animation) and in the upper right corner of the panel, call up the menu and select “Create frames from layers” in it.
By the way, did you notice that we moved the pictures in only one direction to return them to initial state, just copy the frames and paste them after the existing ones. Is it clear how to do it? Select all 8 frames, call up the menu, select the “Copy frames” item, then the “Paste frames” item. A window will appear in which you need to indicate that they need to be inserted after existing frames.
HAND ANIMATION
TYPES AND TECHNOLOGIES OF ANIMATION.
In modern animated films, two types can be distinguished - manual and computer animation.
The filmmaking technologies available in modern animation are very diverse. Their number is constantly growing with development technical base and the use of ever new materials when creating an animated image. All existing technologies can be divided into two-dimensional (flat, such as graphic drawings, paintings or cut-out parts from paper) and three-dimensional (having volume, such as plasticine, dolls, objects, and even people and animals). It follows that there are two main types of animation: two-dimensional And 3D animation.
2D animation.
The oldest and most common method of creating an animated film is hand-drawn or graphic animation technology. The basis for creating films using this method is drawing, which can be made using various techniques from linear graphic to tonal pictorial.
One of the ways to create two-dimensional animation is technology, where instead of paper or celluloid, various materials are used as the basis for creating an image, these are the so-called hand-drawn technologies with "modified basis". Very often, when using such technologies, there may not be a separation of the character layer and the background; they form one whole. In this case, each phase of the character’s movement is created on the basis of an existing one through making the necessary changes and requires correction not only from the character, but also from the background.
Three-dimensional types of animation include technologies that use the width, height and depth of the space of the filmed field. All types of volumetric animation are based on the principle of frame-by-frame photography, but unlike two-dimensional types, a screen image is created by moving objects or their parts in space. Types of 3D animation include animation objects or objects.
One of the most common forms of 3D animation is puppet animation. The emergence of this technology is associated with the creative activity of the famous director of Russian pre-revolutionary cinema, Vladislav Starevich, who first began filming animated films, or as they were then called stunt films, using insect dummies.
In films based on plasticine animation technologies, three-dimensional characters made from various plastic materials are used. Most often, materials that have a wax, petroleum or synthetic base are used to work in this technology, i.e. a base that prevents the form from hardening. Like regular dolls, plasticine figures usually have an internal frame that holds their shape. It can be either complex, based on a hinged connection, or simple, representing a wire structure and giving rubber to the movement of elements.
Volume animation technology totalization was invented in 1952 by A. Alekseev. Its essence lies not in the animation of stationary objects frame by frame changing their position in space in phases, but in the time-lapse recording of moving objects connected using a system of complex pendulums.
Another not so common three-dimensional technology for creating an animated film is pixilation. The basis of this technology is a photographic image of reality, transformed graphically processing of nature or the rotoscope principle of shooting.
3D animation technology is similar to puppet animation: you create frames of objects, put materials on them, compose it all into a single scene, set up lighting and a camera, and then set the number of frames in the film and the movement of objects. You can see what is happening using a camera that can also move. The movement of objects in three-dimensional space is specified using trajectories, key frames, and using formulas connecting the movement of parts of complex structures. Once you have the right motion, lighting, and materials, you begin the rendering process. Over the course of some time, the computer calculates all the necessary frames and gives you the finished film. The disadvantage that follows from this technique of creating an image is the excessive smoothness of shapes and surfaces and a certain mechanicalness in the movement of objects.
3D Studio and 3D Studio MAX
One of the most famous 3D animation packages on IBM is Autodesk's 3D Studio. The program runs under DOS and provides the entire process of creating a 3D film: object modeling and scene formation, animation and visualization, and working with video. In addition, there is a wide range application programs(IPAS processes) written specifically for 3D Studio. A new program from the same company called 3D Studio MAX for Windows NT has been created over the past few years and claims to be a competitor to powerful packages for SGI workstations. Interface new program is the same for all modules and has a high degree of interactivity. 3D Studio MAX implements advanced animation control capabilities, stores the life history of each object and allows you to create a variety of lighting effects, supports 3D accelerators and has an open architecture, that is, it allows third parties to include additional applications in the system.
Electric Image, Soft Image
To create three-dimensional animation on IBM and Macintosh computers, it is convenient to use the Electric Image Animation System package, which includes a large complex of animation tools, special effects, tools for working with sound, and a font generator with customizable parameters. Although this program does not have modeling tools, it does have the ability to import over thirty different model formats. The package also supports working with hierarchical objects and inverse kinematics tools. In turn, Microsoft's Softimage 3D program runs on the SGI and Windows NT platforms. It supports polygon- and spline-based modeling, special effects, particle manipulation, and motion transfer technology from live actors to computer characters.
Infini-D for Macintosh
You can start mastering 3D computer animation on the Macintosh platform with Specular's Infini-D program. Infini-D supports three main processes: 3D creation, rendering and animation. The package allows six basic elements from which you can construct your 3D objects, as well as an additional editor that allows you to create your own "building blocks". Infini-D's own libraries contain a large selection of shading types and textures, and you can also create new ones color schemes and import materials (for example, using a scanner).
LightWave 3D, SoftImage 3D and Media Studio on SGI
Silicon Graphics computers have several major programs 3D animations. The relatively “old” LightWave 3D package created by NewTek works as in Windows environment, and on SGI, it has a user-friendly interface, strong modeling, animation and visualization tools, a good library of objects and textures, and also allows you to create VRML files, which allows you to work with it on the network.
Among other strong 3D animation programs on SGI, it is necessary to note the Media Studio package from the same company Alias|Wavefront, which combines several modern programs modeling, animation, special effects and visualization from Wavefront. One of the competitors of the PowerAnimator and Media Studio packages is the Softimage 3D program from Softimage and Microsoft running on the SGI and WindowsNT platforms. Softimage 3D supports polygon- and spline-based modeling, special effects, particle manipulation, and motion transfer technology from live actors to computer characters.
PowerAnimator on SGI
One of the flagships of modern 3D animation on SGI is the PowerAnimator package from Alias Wavefront. Its modeling tools, which support working with complex hierarchical objects and surfaces, represent one of the most powerful and convenient sets of tools for creating objects based on polygons and, most importantly, splines. The package allows you to create realistic images, in particular, thanks to excellent lighting capabilities - directional and diffuse, using glare and other effects. The package supports rich shading and surface realism techniques that bring to life the smooth and hard designs that inevitably betray their computer origins. Preliminary "fast" rendering is possible. PowerAnimator contains rich animation tools for objects, lights and cameras, excellent tools for working with particles and automating animation.
The animation in the package is created based on key frames, inverse kinematics and using the technology of transferring motion from live actors to computer characters, which allows you to get very natural movements of objects. In addition, the PowerAnimator package supports powerful tools animations of facial expressions and muscles, as well as tools for precise synchronization of sound and image. PowerAnimator is compatible with other hardware and software: it supports conversion huge amount file formats and convenient communication with peripherals. You can write own programs to work with models and animation, create proprietary technology for shading surfaces, creating textures and working with light sources. The package also includes a CD-ROM with a library of 3D models and backgrounds. There is also a “stripped down”, simpler and cheaper version of the package - the Animator program.
