INTRODUCTION TO 2D ANIMATION

Study material compiled by Prof. K. S. RAGAVA, M.Sc., NET

Unit I – INTRODUCTION

What is animation?

Animation is a method of photographing successive drawings, models, or even puppets, to create an

illusion of movement in a sequence. Because our eyes can only retain an image for approx. 1/10 of a
second, when multiple images appear in fast succession, the brain blends them into a single moving
image.
In traditional animation, pictures are drawn or painted on transparent celluloid sheets to be
photographed. Early cartoons are examples of this, but today, most animated movies are made with
computer-generated imagery or CGI.
To create the appearance of smooth motion from these drawn, painted, or computer-generated
images, frame rate, or the number of consecutive images that are displayed each second, is
considered.
Moving characters are usually shot “on twos” which just means one image is shown for two frames,
totaling in at 12 drawings per second. 12 frames per second allow for motion but may look choppy.
In the film, a frame rate of 24 frames per second is often used for smooth motion.

Types of Animation:

1. Traditional Animation
2. 2D Animation (Vector-based)
3. 3D Animation
4. Motion Graphics
5. Stop Motion

Traditional Animation
This is one of the oldest forms of animation in film. It’s sometimes called cel animation. In
traditional animation, objects are drawn on celluloid transparent paper. In order to create the
animated sequence, the animator must draw every frame. It’s the same mechanism as a flipbook, just
on a grander scale.
Traditional is most often 2D animation. Aladdin, The Lion King, and other earlier cartoons are the
best examples of this.
In the earlier years, the animator would draw on a table that had a light inside of it, so the creator
could see his or her previous animation. While the traditional style is not nearly as prevalent today,
drawings are generally done on tablets. And manual coloring hasn’t been used by Disney since The
Little Mermaid in 1989.
2D (Vector)
2D animation can fall under traditional animation like most early Disney movies —
Pinocchio, Beauty and the Beast, etc. But there is something called Vector-based animation that can
be 2D without being traditional.
With Vector-based, the motion here can be controlled by vectors rather than pixels.
Images with familiar formats like JPG, GIF, BMP, are pixel images. These images cannot be
enlarged or shrunk without affecting image quality. Vector graphics don’t need to worry about
resolution. Vectors are characterized by pathways with various start and end points, lines connecting
these points to build the graphic. Shapes can be created to form a character or other image. Below is
an example.
Vector-based animation uses mathematical values to resize images, so motion is smooth. They can
re-use these creations so the animator doesn’t need to keep drawing the same characters over and
over again. You can move around these vectors and animate that way.

3D
Today, 3D or computer animation is the most common type. In 3D animated movies, the animator
uses a program to move the character’s body parts around. They set their digital frames when all of
the parts of the character are in the right position. They do this for each frame, and the computer
calculates the motion from each frame.
Animators adjust and tweak the curvatures and movements their characters make throughout.
From Toy Story in 1995 to today’s Coco, 3D animation has become the dominant style in animated
films.
3D animation is also unique in that, unlike 2D or other traditional methods, the character’s entire
body is always visible. If a character turns to the side, the animator only needs to draw the side
profile in 2D animation, but in 3D, the entire body still needs to be visible. So again, even though
computers are being used, with new technology comes with way more considerations.
Whether you’re using drawing in 2D or computing in 3D, animators and film makers alike look to
storyboards to plan out each frame. Unlike live- action, animation movies can’t rely on camera tricks
in a shot. Storyboards are the lifeline for creating animation.

Motion Graphics
Motion Graphics are pieces are digital graphics that create the illusion of motion usually for ads, title
sequences in films, but ultimately exist to communicate something to the viewer. They’re often
combined with sound for multimedia projects.
They’re a type of animation used mostly in business, usually with text as a main player.

Stop Motion
Stop motion encompasses claymation, pixelation, object-motion, cutout animation, and more. But the
basic mechanics are similar to the traditional style like a flipbook. However, instead of drawings,
stop motion adjusts physical objects in each frame.
If moved in small increments, captured one frame at a time, the illusion of motion is produced.
Whether puppets, clay, or even real people, these manual adjustments can make it a long, arduous
process. Wallace and Gromit, Chicken Run, and The Nightmare Before Christmas are all great
examples of stop motion films.
Stop motion is definitely an older form of animated storytelling, especially compared to 3D
computer animation. But the process of animating pictures dates back way before Disney or Pixar.

Stages of 2D Animation
Pre-Production
The pre-production process is the first stage of creating animations. During this stage, the animation
team develops the story and writes the script of the animation, designs the characters, creates a
storyboard, chooses the color palettes, prepares the backgrounds, and records the voice-over. This is
a preparation stage for the main process, so it needs to be properly done.
A well-written script should imply all the visual actions and storyline. The storyboard is based on the
script, so it visually represents the sequence of actions and events by showing how they are
organized.
The next step is creating the characters, outlining the backgrounds, and preparing other visual
elements of the animation. It starts from simple sketches and develops into detailed designs and
images. Then, it’s time to decide the color palettes of the animation, including the colors of various
objects and lighting.
Another important part of any animation is backgrounds where different actions come to life and the
characters perform their activities.
During the pre-production process, the main background layouts are sketched based on the
storyboard. The prepared sketches will be painted during the production process.

Production
Production is the process of creating the animation by gathering all the created materials together and
producing the scenes. This includes painting the backgrounds, creating the individual scenes and
character activities, making the rough animation, cleaning up the animation (tracing), inbetweening,
coloring, and painting the drawings with the help of computer software, compositing, and export.
To pull everything together, animators create an exposure sheet that includes all the instructions on
how to make each scene. The exposure sheet is divided into 5 parts:
 Actions and timing
 Dialogues and music
 Animation layers
 Backgrounds
 View perspective
Once the rough 2D animation is created, it needs to be cleaned up and polished. This process is also
called tracing and can be done in two ways: in a new layer or directly over the same layer with
different colors.
Inbetweening is used to make a smooth animation by adding additional drawings between two
frames. For example, if you want to create a bouncing ball scene, you should draw transitional
frames between the first scene where the ball is on the top and the second frame where the ball is on
the ground.
After the frames are fully ready, they are scanned into a computer, if they are not drawn digitally.
Then, it’s time to combine all the visual elements based on the exposure sheet. During the
compositing process, the specialists add the backgrounds, frames, sounds, and any other effects that
are required.
This is mostly achieved through different animation software. When the compositing process is over,
the animated scenes are rendered as videos or movies.

Post-Production
Post-production is the final editing process of 2D animation. During this phase, the animation is
enhanced with additional sound effects or recordings which increase the emotional impact of the
animation. Once the final version is ready, it’s rendered and exported to different formats.

Principles of Animation

1. Squash and Stretch

Squash and stretch is debatably the most fundamental principle. What happens when a ball hits the
ground? The force of the motion squashes the ball flat, but because an object needs to maintain its
volume, it also widens on impact.
This effect gives animation an elastic life-like quality because although it may not seem like it,
squash and stretch is all around you. All shapes are distorted in some way or another when acted
upon by an outside force; it’s just harder to see in real-life. Squash and stretch imitates that and
exaggerates it to create some fun.
2. Anticipation
Imagine you’re about to kick a soccer ball. What’s the first thing you do? Do you swing your foot
back to wind up? Steady yourself with your arms? That’s anticipation.
Anticipation is the preparation for the main action. The player striking the soccer ball would be the
main action, and the follow-through of the leg is the follow through.
3. Staging
When filming a scene, where do you put the camera? Where do the actors go? What do you have
them do? The combination of all these choices is what we call staging.
Staging is one of the most overlooked principles. It directs the audience’s attention toward the most
important elements in a scene in a way that effectively advances the story.
4. Straight Ahead Action and Pose-to-Pose
These are two ways of drawing animation. Straight ahead action is where you draw each frame of an
action one after another as you go along. With pose-to-pose, you draw the extremes – that is, the
beginning and end drawings of action – then you go on to the middle frame, and start to fill in the
frames in-between.
Pose-to-pose gives you more control over the action. You can see early on where your character is
going to be at the beginning and end instead of hoping you’re getting the timing right. By doing the
main poses first, it allows you to catch any major mistakes early. The problem with it is that
sometimes it’s too neat and perfect
Straight ahead action is less planned, and therefore more fresh and surprising. The problem with it is
that you can’t figure out where you’re supposed to be at any one time.
Mastering both techniques and combining them is the best approach to being a successful animator
because you can get both structure and spontaneity. Incidentally, this distinction is just as important
in computer animation, where molding a pose at each keyframe is the equivalent of making a
drawing.
5. Follow-Through and Overlapping Action
When a moving object such as a person comes to a stop, parts might continue to move in the same
direction because of the force of forward momentum. These parts might be hair, clothing, jewels, or
jiggling flesh of an overweight person. This is where you can see follow-through and overlapping
action. The secondary elements (hair, clothing, fat) are following-through on the primary element,
and overlapping its action.
Follow-through can also describe the movement of the primary element though. If you land in a
crouch after a jump, before standing up straight, that’s follow-through.
6. Ease In, Ease Out
When you start your car, you don’t get up to 60 kmph right away. It takes a little while to accelerate
and reach a steady speed. We would call this an Ease Out. Likewise, if you brake, you’re not going
to come to a full stop right away. You step on the pedal and decelerate over a few seconds until you
are at a stand-still. Animators call this an Ease In.
Carefully controlling the changing speeds of objects creates an animation that has a superior
believability.
7. Arcs
Life doesn’t move in straight lines, and neither should animation. Most living beings – including
humans – move in circular paths called arcs.
Arcs operate along a curved trajectory that adds the illusion of life to an animated object in action.
Without arcs, your animation would be stiff and mechanical.The speed and timing of an arc are
crucial. Sometimes an arc is so fast that it blurs beyond recognition.
8. Secondary Action
Secondary actions are gestures that support the main action to add more dimensions to character
animation. They can give more personality and insight to what the character is doing or thinking.
9. Timing
Timing refers to the number of frames for a given action, basically dictating how long it takes for
something to get from one point to another. In animation, correct timing helps sell the idea that what
we’re seeing on-screen adheres to the laws of real-world physics.
For example, larger characters move slower, implying they have more mass and need to exert more
effort. Timing doesn’t just apply to mass, however. It can also dictate mood, emotion, or
communicate more about a character’s personality.
For example, an athletic character might have springiness to their actions, which would also consist
of fewer frames than a lazy character, which would move less often and more slowly.
Another great application of timing would be if the aforementioned athletic character was in a sad
mood. The timing would change to reflect that in their actions to communicate how they’re feeling
through body language.
10. Exaggeration
Sometimes more is more. Exaggeration presents a character’s features and actions in an extreme
form for comedic or dramatic effect. This can include distortions in facial features, body types, and
expressions, but also the character’s movement. Exaggeration is a great way for an animator to
increase the appeal of a character, and enhance the storytelling.
11. Solid Drawing
Solid drawing is all about making sure that animated forms feel like they’re in three-dimensional
space.
12. Appeal
People remember real, interesting, and engaging characters. Animated characters should be pleasing
to look at and have a charismatic aspect to them; this even applies to the antagonists of the story.
Appeal can be hard to quantify because everyone has a different standard. That said, you can give
your character a better chance of being appealing by making them attractive to look at.
Play around with different shapes and proportions of characters to keep things fresh. Enlarging the
most defining feature of a character can go a long way to giving the character personality. Strive for
a good balance between detail and simplicity.

Simple 2D shapes

2D stands for 2-dimensional. 2-dimensional shapes are flat and only have two dimensions: length
and width. They include squares, rectangles, circles, triangles, and more. If a shape has two
dimensions, it means there are 2 ways it can be measured in space.
All 2D shapes can be measured by their length and width or length and height. But shapes that are
2D are completely flat. Plane shapes are another way of referring to 2D shapes: a closed two-
dimensional or flat plane shape.
Most of the objects that we encounter in everyday life can be associated with basic shapes. Different
plane shapes have different attributes, such as the number of sides or corners (also called “vertices”).
 A side is a straight line that makes part of the shape, and a corner, or vertex, is where two
sides meet.
 A triangle is a plane shape with three sides and three corners.
 A rectangle is a shape with four sides and four corners.
  A square is a plane shape in which all four sides are of equal length.
 A circle is a round shape that has no sides or corners.

Volumetric Design

If an object has three dimensions, there are 3 ways it can be measured in space. You can measure
the length, breadth and height of 3D objects.

Form
Form is any positive element we place on a page as opposed to the negative elements we consider
space. Form is the point, line, plane, and volume. It’s the shapes and dots and text and textures and
images we use in our design. If it’s meant to be a positive element it’s form.
Everything in your design is form or space, positive or negative, figure or ground.
Form and space, figure and ground are mutually dependent on each other. You can’t change one
without changing the other. The relationship between form and space creates tension, determines the
amount of visual activity and movement, and gives a sense of 3-dimensionality in a design. A viewer
must first understand the relationship between form and space before understanding any of the
individual objects on the page.

Surfaces, Planes, Shapes

Much the same way a line can be thought of as a series of adjacent dots, a plane or surface can be
thought of as a series of adjacent lines. We’re simply adding another dimension. Surfaces and planes
are abstract objects. We’ll talk about them more as shapes or forms as we think of them as concrete
objects.
Planes or surfaces mostly act as dots. The difference is the size of the surface has grown large
enough to become an important characteristic as has the contour defining the plane. The larger the
size of the plane, the more the dot like characteristics become secondary. This size is relative to the
surrounding space and elements.
Large planes can still act as dots if the space around them is large enough and any other elements in
the space small enough. As the relative sizes change there is a point of change that occurs when the
plane becomes large enough so that its shape affects the space and other shapes around it.
The more active the contour of a plane, the more dynamic its shape will appear to be and the less dot
like it will appear to be.
While technically a 2-dimensional object doesn’t carry any mass or volume, our 2-dimensional
elements carry visual weight and mass. This visual mass and weight are determined by the size and
simplicity or complexity of the contour of the shape.
Large, simple forms carry a heavy visual weight and appear dot like. Surfaces with complex contours
and interaction with their internal and external space (both positive and negative) carry less weight
and become more line-like.

Shapes: Geometric and Organic

When we come to see a form’s outer contour, our brains try to establish some meaning with the
shape and the contour. We can group these shapes under two main types, geometric and organic. A
third type of shape, abstract, we’ll consider as a sub type of organic shapes, though more often it’s
considered one of the three classes of shape.
When a form or shape has regularized contours, when internal and external measurements
are mathematically similar in multiple directions, we think of the form or shape as geometric.
Angular and hard edged forms are generally seen as geometric.
The 3 main types of geometric shapes are the circle, the polygon (square and triangle being the
simplest), and the line. The square is the most stable and carries the most visual weight. The triangle
is the least stable and displays great movement. The circle is nearly as stable as the square and hints
at rotational movement.
Circles or dots can be interpreted as either geometric or organic.
Shapes or forms that have irregular, complex, and highly differentiated contours are considered
organic. Soft, textured forms also appear to be organic shapes as they are seen more like things we
see in nature. Variation is an inherent quality of organic forms.
Abstract shapes are simplified or stylized versions of organic shapes. Think icons.
Geometry does exist in nature, but it’s often obscured by perceptions of irregularity. Think of a leaf.
It’s generally symmetrical and often close to taking a triangular shape. However we perceive the
irregularities in its contours before we see this symmetry and near triangularity.
Geometric forms can be arranged organically and organic forms can be arranged geometrically.
Either creates tension between the forms and their structure. When we want to convey an organic
message, we should emphasize the organic qualities of form and use more irregularity and variety.

Volumes and Mass

Volumes are empty space defined by surfaces, lines, and points. When we fill in the space or give the
perception that the space within a volume has been filled to some degree the volume contains mass.
If you remember from physics class, density = mass / volume. In a 2-dimensional design we can only
offer the perception of mass, density, and volume. When we give a surface or plane the illusion of
being 3-dimensional we have a volume.
We can do this by adding pattern and texture to the surface or by changing the color or value across
the surface to mimic the effect of light and shadow. We can also use perspective within a form to
create the illusion that the form is a volume.
Since we live in a 3-dimensional world when we add volumetric qualities to our 2-dimensional
format we add a sense of realism to a design.
Volumes advance when compared to a plane and also carry greater mass and visual weight than
planes or surfaces. If we overlap a plane on top of a volume it creates tension between the
foreground and background as normal expectations are for the volume to advance and the plane to
recede.

Visual Mass and Weight

Mass and Weight are physical qualities that don’t really exist in a 2-dimensional format. In design
we talk about visual or optical mass and weight.
As with volume, mass is only something we can hint at or represent in the 2-dimensional format we
work with. We add visual mass and weight to an element, through size and color or value. We can
also play around with the form of the element.
Through our use of mass or weight we control balance and movement in a design.
We can add mass to a series of angular planes by rotating them and letting them overlap each other.
The overlapped area becomes darker and is seen as containing the mass from multiple planes. The
rotation also creates movement.
Adding a consistent pattern on a surface leads to the perception of there being less mass in that plane.
The plane also becomes flatter as compared to an adjacent solid plane. The solid plane appears to
advance into the foreground due to the perception of it carrying more weight.
While appearing flatter our textured plane also appears more active than the adjacent solid plane and
if we overlap the textured plane on top of the solid plane we again create tension between foreground
and background.
This changes if the pattern or texture emulates the effects of light and shade, in which case the
surface or plane becomes a volume with greater mass and weight and naturally appears less flat.
Volumes are 3-dimensional and the extra dimension brings with it the perception of mass and
weight. A sphere always weighs more than a circle.