By the end of this topic, you should be able to:
1. Define animation;
2. Discuss the evolution of animation until 1900;
3. Describe the different types of animation; and
4. Explain the hardware and software technology related to animation.
► INTRODUCTION
Look at Figure 1.1. What makes children very attached to cartoons?
Figure: 1.1: The Flintstones
Source: http://www.ranker.com
Animations, also known as cartoons, are popular television shows ever since the creation of Disney's animation characters such as Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck. It does not matter if you are an adult or a child. Some of you probably grew up watching cartoon shows daily on television. If you are in your 20s or 30s, yourparents might have tried changing channels while you were engrossed in watching "Tom and Jerry" which they considered as unsuitable due to some animated violence in the show. Instead, they watched "Inspector Gadget" or "Smurfs" with you.
What makes animations very interesting? Why are they so popular especially with children? Why do television stations dedicate at least one channel to animation shows?
In this topic you will learn the meaning of the term "animation", evolution of animation, the different types of animation and the enabling technology for creating animation shows.
ACTIVITY 1.1
Let us take a walk down memory lane. Name two of your favourite cartoon characters and their animation shows. Describe why they are your favourite characters and shows.
1.1 WHAT IS ANIMATION?
Animate comes from the Latin word animare (Wright, 2005). Animare means to breathe or give life, for example, to still objects, drawings or images. Hence, animation which is the output produced from animating a series of still images, is actually an illusion of movements of the images. The still images or frames are displayed sequentially over a very short time. Optical illusion which is a physiological phenomenon known as persistence of vision, enables us to view this sequence of still images displayed over a short period of time as a single blended moving image (Kuperberg, Bowman, Manton & Peacock, 2002). What actually happens is that the retina in our eyes retains the image we see for a fraction longer after the image has been removed from our sight. Thus we perceive animation.
Historically, animation was created by hand-drawing each image but with the advancement of technology, computers are used instead. Some computer animation techniques are adapted from hand-drawn animation or cel animation, stop-motion and performance animation methods (Kerlow, 2004). The stages of animation film development include all the processes to get the project approved, funded and produced. The stages also include idea creation, evolving the storyline, creating a script, designing or modelling the characters, designing the background or environment, storyboarding, scheduling and budgeting (White, 2006). Details of these processes for animation film development will be discussed in later topics.
We shall look into the history of animation so that you will know the timeline of animation development and appreciate the works of those great animators and creative people who contributed immensely to make animation a successful entertainment industry.
ACTIVITY 1.2
1. Learn how to breathe life into a series of simple drawings by following this YouTube tutorial at https://youtu.be/3LG4OSk1gE0
2. You can also use a stack of papers or sticky notes (20 pieces) to draw a stick figure of various hands or feet positions (or a dot with increasing sizes using a marker) on each paper. Flip through the
stack of papers very quickly. Congratulations! Now you have created a flipbook animation.
1.2 EVOLUTION OF ANIMATION (BEFORE 1900)
Early animation is thought to have started with the paintings on the cave walls which appeared like spirits coming to life in the flickering flames of fire. In 1824, Roget published Persistence of Vision With Regard To Moving Objects. He found that each image is held on the retina for a fraction of a second before being replaced by the next image, thus resulting in the perception of movement when images are replaced rapidly. This is similar to flipbook animation. Roget's findings led to other experimentations with perception of motion.
In 1825, John A. Paris from England created a simple optical toy, Thaumatrope, using only two images (Wright, 2005). Figure 1.2a and Figure 1.2b show the original Thaumatrope toy (Kuperberg, 2002) while Figure 1.3 shows a similar one that you can create yourself. It is a flat disk with different images on each side and two pieces of string attached to the edges of the disk. When it is rapidly spun
around, the two images appear as one, such that you see the bird in a cage. This is an optical illusion due to the persistence of vision as explained by Roget.
Figure 1.2: Thaumatrope toy with (a) a picture of a bird on one side and
(b) a picture of a cage on the other side
Source: Kuperberg et al. 2002
Figure 1.3: Thaumatrope the images merged together after being twirled
Source: http://andrewrossncblog.blogspot.my
In 1832, Joseph Plateau of Belgium invented a Phenakistoscope (see Figure 1.4). It was a cardboard disk with successive images that can be spun on a pivot. The images appeared to move when viewed through slits or shutters on a second disk.
Figure 1.4: An example of a Phenakistoscope image
Source: http://hendricksgin.tumblr.com
Emile Renaud of France created and patented the Praxinoscope (see Figure 1.5) in 1877 using coloured strips of paper on the inside surface of a cylinder attached to a pivot which was similar to the zoetrope toy invented in 1834. A band of pictures which were slightly different from one other was placed inside a rotating drum of the praxinoscope. The pictures were viewed by looking at their reflections on narrow vertical mirrors placed at the centre of the drum. When the drum was spun by hand, the pictures looked like a single moving image on the mirrors.
At the same time, a Californian photographer, Eadweard Muybridge photographed animals in motion. Muybridge's images which were shown in France in 1881 could be projected from transparencies, such that they appeared to be moving. Figure 1.6 shows the motion of a galloping horse which Muybridge captured using his primitive camera. This classic picture becomes a reference for motions by animators until today.
Reynaud later on created hand-drawn films, Pantomimes Lumineuses, which were projected onto a screen at the Grévin Museum in 1892 (Wright, 2005).
Figure 1.5: Praxinoscope early optical toy
Source:http://www.mhs.ox.ac.uk
Reynaud later on created hand-drawn films, Pantomimes Lumineuses, which were projected onto a screen at the Grévin Museum in 1892 (Wright, 2005).
Figure 1.6: A Galloping Horse and Rider Eadweard Muybridge's study of motion
Source: http://www.europeana.eu
In the late 1890s, James Stuart Blacktone, a Briton, produced caricatures using primitive camera which can be cranked to take pictures, one at a time (Wright, 2005). Another Briton, Arthur Melbourne Cooper made the first animated film (stop-motion animation) using animated matches. Emile Cohl, a Frenchman, made more than forty short films with humour and great style from 1909 to 1920. Table 1.1 is a summary and timeline of the history of animation which comprises the study of persistence of vision, photography, study of motion and stop-motion animation.
Table 1.1: Summary and Timeline of the History of Animation
Year
|
Who?
|
Finding
|
1824
|
Roget
|
Roget Persistence of vision
|
1825
|
Paris
|
Thaumatrope
|
1832
|
Plateu
|
Phenakistoscope
|
1877
|
Reynaud
|
Praxinoscope
|
1877
|
Muybridge
|
Photographed moving images
|
1892
|
Reynaud
|
Pantomimes Lumineuses
|
1890s
|
Blacktone
|
Caricatures
|
1890s
|
Cooper
|
First
animated stop motion
|
After 1900, rapid development in the film industry also contributed to the advancement of the animation industry globally. In 1937, Walt Disney in the US produced his first animated feature film, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (see Figure 1.7).
Figure 1.7: Poster of DisneyÊs Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs
Source: https://en.wikipedia.org
In Malaysia, the government agency known as Filem Negara Malaysia started its animation unit in the 1960s. The first short animation film for TV, Hikayat Sang Kancil, was made in 1978. You can watch a sample of this animation film at YouTube (https://youtu.be/pcCcNCTuC2g). Our local filmmakers focused on folk tales, scenes of daily life, fantasy and superhero adventures.
You can read more about the history of animation by browsing the following links:
(a) http://history-of-animation.webflow.io/
(b) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_animation
(c) https://www.nyfa.edu/student-resources/quick-history-animation/
(d) http://joshuamosley.com/UPenn/courses/Ani/AnimationHistory.html
ACTIVITY 1.3
1. Name three popular Disney animation films that you have watched.
2. Can you recall other local animation films produced by Filem Negara Malaysia?
1.3 TYPES OF ANIMATION
There are many different types of animation depending on the techniques used to create them (Kerlow, 2004):
(a) Hand-drawn or cel animation;
(b) Stop-motion animation;
(c) Animatronics;
(d) Performance animation;
(e) Character animation;
(f) Effects animation; and
(g) Visual effects animation for live action.
We will further discuss these types of animation by describing how they are created.
(a) Hand-drawn Animation
Traditionally, animations are created using hand drawings. Hand-drawn animation is also known as cel animation. Cel comes from cellulose, or acetate, a type of material used by traditional animators, including Disney animators, to draw images of their animation (Kerlow, 2004; Wikipedia, [n.d.]). To create the animation, animators start by developing a sequence of pencil drawings on paper. Then they record the drawings successively to create a preview of motion known as pencil test. This is similar to how you created your flipbook animation earlier. Once the drawings are approved by the producer, they will be sent for clean-up.
The next step is the process of ink and paint whereby the drawings are coloured. The real drawings are done by hand on acetate overlays or cel. These drawings which contain figure shapes of cartoon characters, letterforms or scanned photographs that move over the background are scanned to digital ink and paint system before being saved as files. The background is actually a painted photographic image. A shot is made up of several layers of drawings arranged over the background. Once completed, all the layers are composited digitally over the background and recordings are made on film, one frame at a time. The hand-drawn animation process is summarised in Figure 1.8.
Figure 1.8: Hand-drawn animation process
(b) Stop-motion Animation
Some animators work with puppets, use clay (see Figure 1.9), plastic materials or foam to produce stop-motion animation. It is also known as stop-motion photography. Animators create characters or models and build sets. Animation is done by animating a jointed model or character and then using a camera to record the different positions on a single frame each time. Stop-motion animation has created landmark visual effects for live action films from 1930s to 1950s, for example, the movie King Kong. Animation can also be made by modelling objects using clay and followed by the use of
rubber skin with wire armature (Kerlow, 2004). This technique can also be used to set key poses for 3D computer-animated characters. Special metal armatures send information of joint-angles to animation software.
Source: http://www.listal.com
c) Animatronics
Animatronics are computer-controlled models that can be animated in real time. The model is made up of mechanical and electronic components, usually consists of metal-jointed armatures covered with synthetic skin and moved with servomotors. Motions are usually programmed with forward and inverse kinematics software. The fish character in the movie Jaws is an example of animatronics, so are the dinosaurs in the movie Jurassic Park (see Figure 1.10).
Source: http://collider.com
(d) Performance Animation
Performance animation refers to puppetry (see Figure 1.11) where live actors control the performance of animated characters. The characters are created with puppets or live actors inside a suit. In 3D computer animation, motion capture is used for performance animation. There are two modes of motion capture. The first mode is live motion capture which is directly applied to computer characters and the second mode is processed motion capture where collected data is refined or enhanced using other animation techniques (Kerlow, 2004).
Source: http://www.thaivisa.com
(e) Character Animation
Character animation is the process of animating 2D or 3D characters using techniques to make the characters move and come to life. It is the highest form of animation which tries to bring life to imagined or virtual characters (see Figure 1.12). Character animation involves creating digital characters which appear real and believable and can create powerful social and emotional connections with the audience or users in the case of video games (OÊNeill, 2008). A few character animators are in charge of blocking out the primary motions of the characters while assistant animators perform the cleaning up of the primary motions as well as adding the secondary motions.
This type of animation is usually created with a combination of inverse and forward kinematics techniques and motion capture (Kerlow, 2004).
Source: https://www.pinterest.com
(e) Effects Animation
Other than character animation, there is the effects animation which include
natural phenomena such as fire, smoke, wind, dust, water and its many
forms (for example, ocean and snow) and special lighting effects (for
example, sparks and shadows). Effects animation usually deals with props
and entire sets. It relies on techniques that allow the animator to control a
vast number of elements over time, particle systems and dynamic
simulations.
(f) Visual Effects Animation (VFX) for Live Action
This type of animation complements live actions. Therefore, it should
visually match the motions, colours, lighting and perspectives of live
sequence. It must blend seamlessly with the action plates provided by the
cinematographer (Kerlow, 2004).
Some authors also categorise animation into traditional and computer
animation (2D and 3D). Traditional hand-drawn animations have been
replaced by computer animations where some or all of the animating
processes are carried out using computers. Computer animation is the art of
creating moving images via the use of computers („Three-Dimensional
Computer Animation Pixar‰, n.d).
(g) Traditional Animation
Traditional or hand-drawn animation has been discussed in the Subtopics
1.3.(a). With the advent of computers, some of the processes of animation are
done using computer software.
(h) 2D Computer Animation
Large animation studios started using scanners to transfer clean-up and
pencil test to computer systems (Kuperberg et al., 2002). Hand-tracing and
outlining in ink is no longer necessary. In addition, computers with higher
processing power and increased memory allow the digitised drawings to be
played back in real time to test the action. Digital compositing (layering)
techniques also allow more than one animator to work on different parts of
a scene simultaneously. When completed, all the layers will be composited
digitally over the background. Complicated camera movements such as
combination zooms with pans within a scene can be done easily using a
computer's virtual camera. These computerised techniques duplicate the
stages of traditional animation production. Currently there are dedicated 2D
animation software programs (for example, Toon Boom and Animo) which
enable all the processes to be made using computers. Thus, production time
and cost are reduced but animators have to learn the skills needed to use the
software. It should be noted that the computer is only a tool. As such,
animators still need their creativity to produce compelling animations.
(i) 3D Computer Animation
3D animation is part of a larger field of 3D computer graphics. In general, the
term describes an entire industry that uses 3D animation computer software
and hardware in various types of production (Beane, 2012). The
advancement of computer technology contributes to the proliferation of
powerful processors and higher memory, thus enabling the development of
3D animation which involves the creation of realistic and life-like animations.
The steps involved in developing 3D animation are shown in Figure 1.13.
Once a character has been modelled, it can be viewed realistically from any
angle as in real life. The success of creating objects that match the appearance
of those in real life is known as photorealism, the main aim of most 3D
software. 3D animation software can simulate reality through their
modelling capabilities, lighting, use of textures and surface materials and
rendering of the final images (Kuperberg et al., 2002).
Source: Beane (2012)
ACTIVITY 1.4
1. Search the Internet for information on animation. Find out different ways to categorise the different types of animation.
2. Watch a few different animation or cartoon shows on television and identify the type of animation for each one.
SELF-CHECK 1.1
Describe any three types of animation. Give your example.
1.4 THE ENABLING TECHNOLOGY
Computers are the backbone of animation development. In traditional animation,
images are hand-drawn before being scanned and painted. Current developments
in computer hardware as well as software enabled animation to be carried out
within a shorter time, with fewer numbers of animators and can be completed in
a shorter duration. However, animation movie production still require the use of
powerful computers such as workstation and render farm which are groups of
computers that work in tandem to reduce the time taken to complete the rendering
task (Beane, 2012) as well as servers for image generation and storage. Generally,
the hardware required for animation development includes computers, scanners,
data storage facilities, specialised input device for drawing such as graphic tablet
(for example, Wacom Cintiq tablet). Availability of affordable software such as
Adobe Animate (previously known as Flash) has enabled many people to develop
2D animations. Toon Boom, a premier animation software producer, produced
animation software used by many big companies such as Disney, Nickelodeon and
Warner Bros. Among them, Toon Boom Harmony is the most powerful 2D
animation program available to date. It can do everything from traditional handdrawn
animation to paperless workflow, Flash style cut-out animation, particle
effects, 3D cameras and 2D/3D integration besides having amazing drawing tools
that you can use to create anything imaginable (http://www.2danimation
softwareguide.com/). DigiCelÊs FlipBook which is available in different versions
(for example, Lite, Studio, Pro, ProHD) is a favourite among Disney and other
professional animators (https://digicel.net/).
Animators can create traditional frame-by-frame drawn animation as they would
normally do on a lightbox for traditional hand-drawn animation. They can draw
directly using the software or draw on paper first and then scan it in to do cleanup
and ink and paint in FlipBook. There is also free or open-source software
available for creating computer animations. Examples are Pencil for 2D animation
(http://www.pencil2d.org/), Synfig Studios (http://www.synfig.org/), Stykz
(http://www.stykz.net/), CreaToon (http:// www.softpedia.com/get/Multimedia
/Graphic/Graphic-Editors/CreaToon.shtml) and for 3D there is Blender
(https://www.blender.org/) and Daz 3D (https://www.daz3d.com/get_studio),
to name a few. Table 1.2 outlines the typical hardware and software facilities used
in computer animation studios.
Table 1.2: Basic Components - Hardware and Software Facilities in Animation Studios
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