Animation: Introduction To Multimedia Athina Stewart Garfield Smith 1600948
Animation: Introduction To Multimedia Athina Stewart Garfield Smith 1600948
Introduction to Multimedia
■ Archeological artifacts prove that we’ve been attempting to depict things in motion
as long as we’ve been able to draw. Some notable examples from ancient times, as
well as an example from the European Renaissance, include:
■ 3,000 B.C.
SHAHR-E SUKHTEH
A bronze-age pottery bowl depicts goats leaping
(Shahr-e Sukhteh, Iran).
Early Ways of Showing Animation
■ 1500 A.D.
VITRUVIAN MAN
Leonardo da Vinci’s Vitruvian Man drawing shows
multiple angles, implying movement.
Animation Before Film
■ 1603
MAGIC LANTERN
The Magic Lantern is an image projector using pictures on sheets of glass. Since some
sheets contain moving parts, it is considered the first example of projected animation.
The Silent Era (1900-1930)
■ 1914
GERTIE THE DINOSAUR which is considered the first cartoon to feature
an appealing character.
■ 1919
FELIX THE CAT :Musical Mews and Feline Follies introduced Felix the Cat—often
considered the first animated movie star.
The Silent Era (1900-1930)
■ 1928
STEAMBOAT WILLIE featuring Mickey Mouse—becomes the first cartoon with the sound
printed on the film, and is the first notable success for Walt Disney Studios, founded in
Los Angeles in 1923.
The Golden Age of American Animation
(1930-1950s)
■ During what many consider to be the “Golden Age” of animation,
theatrical cartoons became an integral part of popular culture. These
years are defined by the rise of Walt Disney (Mickey Mouse, Donald
Duck, and Silly Symphonies), Warner Brothers, MGM, and Fleischer
(Betty Boop, Popeye).
The Television Era (1960-1980s)
■ The animation industry began to adapt to the fact that television continued its rise
as the entertainment medium of choice for American families. Studios created many
cartoons for TV, using a “limited animation” style. By the mid ‘80s, with help from
cable channels such as The Disney Channel and Nickolodeon, cartoons were
ubiquitous on TV.
Modern Animation Era (1980-Present)
■ The CGI (computer generated imagery) revolutionized animation. A
principal difference of CGI animation compared to traditional
animation is that drawing is replaced by 3D modeling, almost like a
virtual version of stop-motion. A form of animation that combines the
two and uses 2D computer drawing can be considered computer
aided animation.
TYPES OF
ANIMATION
Types of Animation
■ Traditional animation
■ 2D vector-based animation
■ 3D animation (CGI)
■ Stop motion
Traditional animation
■ Each frame is created individually, and then run sequentially for
the illusion of movement. This is the historical root of animation,
but its cost and time-commitment are the reasons animators
developed more modern methods.
2D vector-based animation
■ More advanced software lends its support to traditional animation.
The principle is the same, but Flash and other vector-based animation
tools generate many of the individual frames based on the animators’
input.
3D animation (CGI)
■ A whole new way approach to animation, where computers
generate all the imagery and animators input the movement and
angles. CGI animation is said to be closer to puppetry and
traditional animation—the animators focus more on controlling the
movements and leave the visuals up to the computer.
Stop motion
■ Individual frames are captured by manipulating and
photographing real objects; most commonly known as claymation,
but it can be used with more than just clay, as you can see below.
Although its as costly and time consuming as traditional
animation, the final results often have a unique and priceless
look.
References