Types of Animation

Animation is a beautiful way to create films. Also, it is eye-catching and expressive. Animation is nothing but moving pictures. Now, the moving picture can be anything. It can be a leaf falling on the ground, or it can a full feature movie like Shrek. There are various objects (medium) that can be used to make an animation. Hence, any medium can make a type of animation. For example, some people make beautiful animated films using just sand. While some movies are made using complex software. An animated movie can be made in minutes or can take years, it all depends upon the project. There are many types of animation, as the medium can be anything. It can be pencil drawings, can be computer drawings, can be computer models or can be ordinary objects like clay, sand, coins, buttons, etc. However, all different types of animation fall basically under three main categories, and so these three categories can be called the basic animation types. They are stop-motion, 2D animation and 3D animation.

Disclaimer: All the information in this article is based on my knowledge and experience on making movies. So, some terms are described according to my understanding of the subject, and may not be the exact definition of the subject.

Basic Types of Animation

Stop-Motion
So, what is stop-motion? First let us have a mental picture about this animation, and then let us discuss it. Have you seen Pingu the Penguin animation? No? Then spend a minute watching a video of Pingu online. Okay, now that you have seen it, let us discuss stop-motion animation. Stop-motion is basically a type of animation in which inanimate objects are used. Inanimate objects are moved and captured (a photo is taken). Then they are moved a bit and a shot is taken, this goes on till a motion is complete. Then all the photos are played in a sequence and we see an animation, an illusion of life.

Now, the inanimate object can be anything. So, there is claymation, which is a popular type of stop-motion. There are animated stop-motion films made with many many inanimate things. There is sand-animation, button-animation, paper cut-out animation, pencil-animation, etc. Now, the difference between capturing a video and stop-motion is that the filmmaker can move the objects according to their will and convenience, as opposed to live-action videos.

Some examples of stop-motion movies are The Adventures of Prince Achmed, The Corpse Bride and Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer.

2D Animation
2D animation can be basically divided into two main categories. One is cell animation, which is classical animation. This is the way all old 2D movies were made, but due to the advent of computer technology the other category of 2D animation which is computer generated has become very popular. Cell animation is done by drawing frame-by-frame. This means on paper, drawings are created and then these drawings are captured by a camera. An animation clip is created using photos of these drawings.

The computer generated 2D animation is basically created by drawing and painting sketches on the computer using a software, without any actual paper sketches involved. One of the most popular animation software used to create computer 2D animation is Adobe Flash. However, there is a third category of 2D animation which synthesizes both the above types of 2D animation. In this animation type half animation is computer drawn, while half is done using a software. For example, pencil drawings scanned in computer and then colored using a software.

Some examples of classical cell animation are Disney's Steamboat Willie, Aladdin and Pinocchio. Some of the computer generated animation series are The Powerpuff Girls, Dexter's Laboratory and The Jetsons.

3D Animation
Today 3D animation is dominating when it comes to full-length feature films. 3D animation is basically created using a software which allows to create models and animate them in a 3D environment, on three axis X, Y, and Z, while for 2D animation there are only two axis. In 2D animation you cannot look at a character in various angles by rotating it, but in 3D animation this is possible.

3D animation is completely done using software. Maya and 3D Max are two of the most popular 3D animation software. There is also Blender which is easier to understand. Blender is simple software and easy to grasp, while to comprehend Maya and Max you will need a lot of practice. There is also another type of animation which is called motion capture. However, motion capture is actually not a type of animation but a mix medium of live action and 3D animation. In this medium basically a motion is captured and then rendered using a software, to give an effect of an animation clip.

Some examples of popular 3D animation are Shrek, Ice Age and Finding Nemo.

This was all about the types of animation. So, enough reading! Why don't you try making a short animation film of your own? To create a stop-motion film, simply use a coin. Now, set up a steady camera. Place the coin in the frame and capture the shot, now move the coin a centimeter and capture the shot, again move a centimeter and capture the shot. This way keep shooting till the coin is out of the frame. Now, play all the frames in a sequence. Voila! You will see animation. Simple, isn't it? Keep experimenting with various objects or group of objects and make small animation films.