Animation
There are many different types of animation. They all use frames. Frames are still images that appear as a moving image when they are shown one after another at high speed.
In stop-motion animation the camera is pointed at a real-life object, usually a posable model or figure
Types of animation include:
- Traditional animation – each frame is hand drawn then shown in quick succession.
- Stop motion – many photos are taken. Each photo is a frame and changes slightly. The photos are then shown in quick succession.
- Clay animation – similar to stop motion but uses clay models.
- 2D animation – animating images made in painting or drawing software.
- 3D animation - animating 3D models made in 3D software.
There are many programs available to produce the above types of animation, for example:
- MonkeyJam – stop motion and clay animation
- Claymation Studio – stop motion and clay animation
- I Can Animate – stop motion and clay animation
- Adobe Fireworks – 2D animation
- Ulead GIF Animator – 2D animation
- Toon Boom Studio – 2D animation
All of these programs work with An image made up of pixels. This type of image loses quality if its width and/or height are increased. images, with the exception of Fireworks, which works with An image stored as mathematical instructions for how to draw it. This means its width and height can be increased without the loss of quality. images, too. Features differ from program to program but some of these programs let you:
- create new images with inbuilt tools or import an existing image
- add existing sounds or choose from the program’s library
- increase the smoothness of animations by using a higher frame rate
- create layers to separate the different bits of an animation
- use a timeline to keep track of your animation
