2.02A History of Animation 2.02 Develop Computer Animations

Animation The rapid display of a sequence of images of 2-D or 3-D artwork or model positions in order to create an illusion of movement. Relies on persistence of vision to create the illusion of movement.

Persistence of Vision In the early 1800’s, the phenomenon known as persistence of vision gave mankind the first glimpse into the modern world of animation. Persistence of vision refers to the way our eyes retain images for a split second longer than they actually appear, making a series of quick flashes appear as one continuous picture. Teacher Note: Supplemental Activity Just for Fun! The boy is looking at a zoetrope which is an example of early types of animation. Visit this link to read more information about zoetropes if interested: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zoetrope

Persistence of Vision Using a flipbook, you can see the persistence of vision effect in action. If you have a different sequential drawing on each page of the flipbook and you flip through the pages rapidly, the drawings appear to move. Examples of Early Animation Teacher Note: Click on flipbook to see an example. (The flipbook link opens this URL: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Daumenkino_kol.jpg) The examples link opens this URL: http://www.dickbalzer.com/Flash_Gallery.360.0.html Supplemental Activity Just for Fun! Click on the link for examples of early animation techniques. This site has interesting information that can be supplemental if desired. The link takes you here: http://www.dickbalzer.com/Optical_Toys.203.0.html To view examples of early animation, click on the Optical Toys link at the top or on the left side. This provides good examples of early animation techniques AND also of Flash animations since the examples are actually Flash movies.

Traditional Animation Also called cel animation or hand-drawn animation. Begins with a storyboard. A preliminary soundtrack is recorded. Penciled drawings are made by lead animators of keyframes. Pencil tests are prepared. Artists called in-betweeners draw the frames between the keyframes. The drawings are traced onto cels and painted. Finally, they are photographed. Teacher Notes: The cel animation link opens this URL: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cel_animation A preliminary soundtrack is recorded after storyboarding to make it easier for the animators to synchronize the motion to the sound. The lead (or key) animator draws only enough keyframes to get across the major point of action. They keyframes are then matched to the soundtrack to get them in the correct places (pencil testing). Improvements are made and details added by assistant animators until the director approves the scene. Once approved, the scene goes to the cleanup department. Cleanup animators trace the frames onto a new sheet of paper. Then artists called in-betweeners draw in any missing frames between the keyframes needed to create the illusion of movement. (This process is called tweening). These are then pencil tested and must be approved. Once finished, they are transferred to a thin piece of transparent plastic called a cel (because it used to be made out of cellulose nitrate). The cels are then painted and photographed. If you click on the link and scroll thru the Wikipedia page, you can see a picture of an artist painting on a cel. Snow White was the first full-length animated feature film. The DVD has an excellent documentary of the making of the film and illustrates the traditional animation process.

Computer Assisted Animation The computer is used to make the animation process quicker and easier. Usually involves 2-D images Can be hand-drawn and scanned into the computer. Can be drawn directly into the computer using graphics tablets. The images are positioned into keyframes containing the most important movements. Tweening is then performed by the computer to create images between keyframes. Teacher Note: Tweening is the process of creating the frames between the keyframes. Pencil testing can now be done on the computer.

Computer Assisted Animation Even though computers are now used extensively, many traditional steps are still used. Storyboarding Pencil Testing Keyframes Tweening The current process is still the same until after the animation drawings are completed.

Computer Generated Animation All images, objects and animation are created on the computer. Typically uses 3-D images. Adds two steps to the animation process. Modeling – process of creating a wireframe structure of the 3-D objects and scenes. Rendering – process of applying colors, textures, shadows, transparency, etc. to create the final image or animation. Teacher Note: Supplemental Information: The link below is to a paper written by early computer graphics pioneers and dealing with 3D modeling and texturing of images. This images from this paper can be used to illustrate how objects, or models, can be digitized into the computer. http://design.osu.edu/carlson/history/PDFs/ten-hidden-surface.pdf Just for fun! Students could research the story behind the University of Utah’s famous teapot.

3-D Graphics and Animation 3-D animations are more complex. Creating 3-D animations involves modeling, animation, and rendering. Modeling is creating broad contours and structure of 3-D objects and scenes. Animation is determining the motions of the objects. Rendering involves determining colors, surface textures, and amounts of transparency of objects.

Computer Generated Animation Motion capture can be used to create animation. Actors wear special suits that allow the computer to capture their movements. The movements can then be applied to computer-generated graphics. Examples: The Polar Express Avatar

Bridging the Traditional and Computer Eras Traditional animation is defined as the process of creating the illusion of motion by viewing a series of individual drawings successively. Computer animation is creating a digital scene by digitally recording cells, sorting them on an electronic storyboard, and displaying them electronically in succession.

Review History of Animation Animation Traditional Animation Computer Assisted Animation Computer Generated Animation