Animation for Beginners

Animation is a great thing to learn, however, it can be quite difficult to master which can turn people off.

12:17 22 December 2020

These days it is a whole lot easier to be able to get into animation. Software is becoming cheaper than ever before (and sometimes even free), and plenty of computers have the software to handle animation.

 

Though pretty much anyone can get into animation, it becomes far harder when you begin to master it. Luckily, you do not need to be a professional to be able to create cool animations, so if you’re not into it for Disney-grade animation, you can just have fun and enjoy the creating process. When you are looking to make an animation, there are a few things that you need to know first.

 

What is an animation?

 

Animation is the act of bringing something to life. Animations are created when multiple sequenced images are played one after the other to create the illusion of life. However, when people hear animation, that usually is not the first thing that pops into their head.

 

Maybe you think of Disney or Pixar, but the most important word of all is the word ‘life’. An animator’s number one job is to create the illusion of life and capture the true essence of it. This could be done with character rigs, drawings, Lego figures, or even puppets. Like one piece filler arcs

 

Types of animation

 

Animation isn’t just one singular thing, in fact, there are several different types of animation that people aren’t even aware of. Let’s take a look at some different types of animation:

 

• Stop motion animation- Stop motion has a variety of variants, but the base stays essentially the same throughout as it is all about manipulating real-world objects. You move these objects ever so slightly and photograph each movement. When they are shown as a sequence, they become an animated object.
  
  
• 3D animation- 3D animation is often called CGI (computer-generated imagery) and is the most well-known and most popular type of animation.It is becoming more and more common for feature films, TV, and short films alike. 3D animation is also used to create digital characters for video games and live-action films.
  
  
• Hand-drawn animation- Hand-drawn animation is the type of animation seen in the ever so popular movie Winnie the Pooh (2011). Hand-drawn animation is likely one of the most impressive forms of animation due to the fact that it is entirely unique and done by hand.

 

Animation Vocabulary

 

Now that basic animation has been understood, we should go into deeper meaning by understanding the animation vocabulary.

 

• Timing- Timing is the number of total frames which will be used to make a single movement
  
  
• Spacing- Spacing is the small or large amount of change that occurs between each frame.
  
  
• Easing- Easing refers to how the spacing is controlled.
  
  
• Timeline- The timeline is the part of the animation process that represents the progress of the animation over time.
  
  
• Frame rate- Frame rate refers to the number of individual images that are being shown in the span of one singular second.