Topic > A look at the different categories of animation and how they got started

Animation is a rapid sequence of images that give the illusion that something is moving. Each image is called a frame in animation terms. The person sees each image and each one is slightly different. For an animation to look natural, the animator must capture and study the way the subject moves, looks, and thinks, to accurately simulate it in their work. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay To make an animation, the animator can't just start drawing each frame (whether digital or traditional hand-drawn) without researching their subject and characters. They need to start by creating a storyboard. Storyboards are pieces of work that show each different scene in the animation that the animator wants to create. It displays a series of images of the plot or plot, the time frame and details about the scene to help the animator develop the actual animation. Depending on the length of the animation determines how long and detailed the storyboard will be. The finished animation could be for anything from a website advertisement to a television series. Animation connects with people more than they think and in many different ways. When people think of animation, they would probably think of traditional frame-by-frame hand-drawn animation. But animation has many other forms. My reasoning for researching animation is to gain more knowledge and skills for animation. For my potential career; commercial design, animation can be useful in television advertising or simple website advertising. While it's not necessary to know how to animate in my favorite industry, knowing how to animate can be an advantage when trying to make a job more interesting. History In 1831 one of the first acts towards today's progress in animation was that of Dr. Joseph Antoine Plateau and Dr. Simon Ritter. They created a machine consisting of a rotating disk with small windows. Inside the rotating disk was another disk containing images. When the viewer looked through the small windows of the first rotating disk, they could see the illusion of movement. Their creation was called the phenachitoscope; also known as a “spindle display”. (courses.ncssm.edu/gallery/collections/toys/html/exhibit07.htm) One study that was done was also a small advancement towards today's animation. Eadweard Muybridge began researching animals and their movements. He took photos of animals walking, running, or moving in any other way to study their movements and how those animals moved. (joshuamosley.com)In 1889, another device was created that led to animation. This device was called a kinetoscope. This device; in 13 seconds, it would project a 50-foot movie. This device was created by Thomas Edison. In 1896, a device was created that would project Thomas Edison's films and would have a major influence on later projectors. This device was called vitascope and was designed by Thomas Armat. (joshuamosley.com) The very first animated film was called "Humorous Phases of Funny Faces" by J. Stuart Blackton. He created it using the frame-by-frame method (drawing each individual image) using a blackboard and chalk. It would create a face, record it, erase what it just did, and create a new face that was slightly different from the previous one, to create the illusion of movement. The form of animation he used is called stop motion. (joshuamosley.com) The first filmwhich used a black background and white figures was called “Phantasmagorie” by Emile Cohl in 1908. He also created the first cutout animation, which instead of redrawing each figure simply moved the paper slightly for each frame. He found this method less boring than traditional animation. (animationhistory.blogspot.com)The first famous animation was called “Gertie, The TrainedDinosaur” by Winsor. McCay in 1914. The method he used to create this animation was traditional hand-drawn animation. He had to make 10,000 different drawings to complete his animation. It consisted of a simple drawn background and a simple font; which was a brachiosaurus. The way he animated, he would draw each position of his dinosaur character, then go back and draw the frames in between, which would make the movement look natural. (historyofgeology.blogspot.com) The most famous animation company was Disney. It was founded in 1923 by Roy and Walt Disney, originally called Disney Brothers Cartoon Studio. In the same year, the brothers created the famous film “Alice in Wonderland” using the combination of cartoon characters and live action; a Max Fleicher technique that they extended. They also created “Steam Boat Willy”. It was the first cartoon to use synchronized sound. (josuamosley.comTypes of AnimationThe first type of animation is probably the best known. Traditional animation is the first type of animation to be used, which has become more widely used in the 21st century. It is done by drawing each scene on paper frame by frame , then putting the images together to give the illusion of movement The eye cannot see more than 24 frames per second, so normally use 12 to 24 frames per second to be smoother and more precise and 12 frames for simpler movement results approximate.The second form of animation is called computer animation and is created similarly to traditional animation, except that it is created digitally using an animation program (e.g. Flash). Computer animation doesn't have to be frame by frame, and the programs used make it easier to create the effects the animator is trying to portray. Overall, computer animation comes from the work of military and industrial research teams who want more instruction and simulation using computer graphics. So, in 1946, they created the world's first programmable computer called Numeral Integrator and Computer (ENIAC). The development of computers leads to the fourth type of animation, which is CG animation. The first known company to use CG animation was Pixar. There were short animated films by John Lassiter; employee at Graphics Group, to help advertise his company. Disney discovered these animations and were so interested that in 1995 they teamed up to create an entire 3D animated film called "Toy Story". The combination of Disney and Graphics Group was renamed Pixar. The success of “Toy Story” promised a future of 3D animation and more advanced feature films. 3D animation has progressed a lot; animators were able to create more complex footage with animation. For example; Transformers the movie was both video and animation, as 3D animation has advanced so much that the movie just looks like it was recorded. Clay animation is another form of animation where the characters are completely made of clay. Like stop motion, clay animation; also known as claymation, the figure is slightly offset. Then a photo is taken. The figure is then moved slightly again and so on. All these images are put.