Animation

Creating an Animated Story

Although the process of animation takes many forms depending on the medium used, the following is typical. A preview or rough overview of the story, called a pencil test, is created. This is a sample sequence of pencil drawings created on paper to present a rough overview of the story. In the early days of animation, these were then recorded on an animation stand, but now they are placed on film or videotape. Sometimes, after a story idea is conceived, a "treatment" is created instead of a pencil test; this is a brief narrative description of the proposed film or video. Both pencil tests and treatments are often used to solicit sponsors. The action of the story and its development are conveyed through the use of storyboards, which are used to compose, organize, and deploy the animation.

A storyboard is a series of visual sketches that the story creator uses when developing the narrative and depicting the action of the animation. This is done so that everyone involved in the animation project can literally sketch out what is happening, making sure that important details are not overlooked. The storyboard details the sequence of actions necessary to convey the story line, character development, and point of view. This would include the background, action, and camera movement of the scene, but also each change of scene, each change in perspective, the timing and length of each scene, sound requirements, and the timing of the whole work.

With the storyboard in place, the dialog or music for the animation is recorded, and the sound length is determined in terms of the number of frames that it can handle. This information is entered on a "dope sheet"— a document detailing the nature of the music clips, their times, and the number of frames per clip. A layout is drawn up for each scene and the director uses the layout and dope sheet to plan the action and its timing. Next a background is created and the movement is created by a sequence of drawn images, which is then also entered on the dope sheet.

The image drawings for movement are then tested; if there are discrepancies, corrections are made to the timing or the drawings. In traditional animation, hand-drawn or cel animation is the most common technique. The cleaned-up drawings are inked and colored by hand on acetate overlays called cels. The cels are placed on the background, which is then placed under the camera. The camera operator, using the dope sheet, assembles the background and movement cels, and shoots each frame, after which the film is sent for processing and printing. The printed scenes are then edited to integrate all the sound tracks, including music and dialogue. The result of this integration is called a work or cut print. The lab makes a final print that can be projected to an audience or is transferred to film.

Computers are now used for many or all parts of this process. With current technology, the completed computer file is sent directly to digital tape, which will be transferred to film or broadcast on DVD or videotape.

Types of Animation

Many types of animation exist but there is no common classification scheme to describe them. The Encyclopedia of Animation Techniques (1996) lists drawn animation and model animation, but there are also cutout animation, 3-D animation, virtual reality (VR) animation, and animatronics, to name a few other types. The hand-drawn or cel animation, mentioned earlier, is the most common traditional technique. Hundreds of examples of hand-drawn animation were generated by Walt Disney (1901–1966) and his studios, such as Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs and Bambi. Hand-drawn animation in pencil form and cels is no longer used much today. Drawings are often made with computer software, and foregrounds and backgrounds are now generated through the use of digital files.

Model animation follows a process similar to hand-drawn animation, using models such as puppets (sometimes referred to as puppet animation) or clay figures (sometimes referred to as claymation). Set workers create movement by physically modifying the clay figures or changing the positions of the puppets. Each time this is done, a new scene is recorded on film or videotape. Because motion is captured through the position-by-position image of the models on single frames, model animation employs a technique known as stop-motion animation. The Christmas favorite Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer is a classic example of stop-motion animation.

One of the well-known creators and directors of "claymation" was Nick Parks, who created the characters Wallace and Gromit in A Grand Day Out (1990), which won a British Academy Award. He also created Creature Comforts (1990), featuring interviews with inmates of a zoo, which won an Academy Award, as did two more adventures of Wallace and Gromit: A Close Shave (1995) and The Wrong Trousers (1998).

Cutout animation has been made notable by Terry Gilliam in Monty Python's Flying Circus and by Matt Stone and Trey Parker in South Park. To create cutout animation, an artist cuts actors and scenes out of paper, overlays them, and moves them, and captures their images frame by frame, again using stop-motion animation. In Gilliam's work, the animation was done frame by frame, but Stone and Parker quickly abandoned the physical work of generating the figures and turned instead to advanced computer workstations that create the same effect.

3-D animation is similar to hand-drawn animation, but it involves thinking in three-dimensional space and working with objects, lights, and cameras in a new way. 3-D animation requires the use of computers. The movie Toy Story is an example of 3-D computer animation.

Virtual reality animation is created through such technologies as VR and VRML (Virtual Reality Modeling Language). These make it possible to create 3-D environments, accessible through web sites, within which viewers can feel fully immersed in the animated surroundings. Quicktime VR uses photographic images or pre-rendered art to create the inside of a virtual environment that is downloaded to the viewer's own computer. VRML uses 3-D models and real-time interaction that puts the viewer inside 3-D environments.

Animatronics entails the use of computer-controlled models that can be actuated in real-time. These models have electronic and mechanical parts including motion-enabling armatures covered with a synthetic skin. These models, often used in conjunction with live actors, form the foundation for animation sequences. Films featuring animatronics include Jaws, Star Wars, and Jurassic Park.

Animation Techniques

Two basic animation techniques are keyframing and in-betweening. Keyframing is derived from key moments of still frames in the animation sequence. A keyframe is defined by its particular moment in the animation sequence, its timeline, parameters, and characteristics. In traditional pencil drawings, these would be keyframe drawings; in claymation or puppet animation, these would be key poses. Once the keyframes are established, then the sequences of animations between these keyframes have to be done. This technique is called in-betweening; it involves creating the frames that fill the gaps between the key frames. In computer environments, the technique is called interpolation and there are several varieties. Keyframe interpolation provides the frames that are required, but how this is done depends on the kind of interpolation used, linear or curved. Linear interpolation provides frames equally spaced between the key frames, based on an averaging of the parameters of the key frames and employing a constant speed. Curved interpolation is more sophisticated and can accommodate changes in speed.

History of Animation

Most basic animation principles and techniques were developed in the first twenty years of the twentieth century, and were perfected by the 1940s, particularly by Walt Disney, whose studios popularized the form through full-length feature films. Disney's impact on animation and the entertainment industry was profound. Ironically, his first attempt at an animated film production was a failure. In 1922, as a twenty-one-year-old commercial artist, he launched Laugh-O-Gram films in Kansas City. The company went bankrupt after a year. Fortunately, his creditors permitted him to retain one of his short features, which provided the basis for the launch of Disney Brother Studios in Hollywood. It produced the Alice Comedies, which featured a combination of animation and live action.

Disney.

In 1928 Walt Disney teamed with his brother, Roy O. Disney, and animator Ub Iwerks to produce Steamboat Willie, the first cartoon that was synchronized with sound. Steamboat Willie gave us Mickey Mouse, one of the long line of popular characters—such as Donald Duck, Goofy, Pluto, Cinderella, and Simba—that made Disney famous and on which the Disney empire is built. Then Disney made a series of animated short films set to classical music, called the "Silly Symphonies" (1929–1939), in which he introduced Technicolor into animation. Disney held the Technicolor patent for two years. Disney won an Oscar for the first cartoon and full-Technicolor feature called Flowers and Trees (1932).

In 1937 Disney released Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, the first full-length animated feature film. In order to produce this film, Disney invented the multiplane animation camera. With this invention, for which he was inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame, he changed the animation industry. Disney's camera made it possible to have cartoon characters move through many layers of scenery.

Disney always pushed the limits in his use of new technologies: for example, he produced Fantasia (1940) in Fantasound, a forerunner of current movie sound systems; Lady and the Tramp (1955) in CinemaScope, an innovative movie viewing experience with a wide screen and stereophonic sound; and 101 Dalmations (1961) using Xerox technology to make cels from animated drawings.

Following the success of Snow White, Disney produced a series of animated films, now regarded as classics, that secured his reputation. Among them are: Fantasia (1940), Pinocchio (1940), Dumbo (1941), Bambi (1942), Song of the South (1946), Cinderella (1950), Alice in Wonderland (1951), Peter Pan (1953), Lady and the Tramp (1955), and Sleeping Beauty (1959). Starting in 1961, Disney found additional success in the rapidly growing medium of television with what came to be known as Walt Disney's Wonderful World of Color, which included many animated components or productions. During his lifetime, Walt Disney won thirty-two personal Academy Awards, and the Walt Disney Studios during the same time won an additional twenty-three Oscars in categories such as in animation (e.g., Pigs Is Pigs in 1953) and original musical compositions or songs (e.g., Pinocchio in 1941).

After the death of Walt Disney in 1966, his studios continued to garner awards and to produce commercial animation successes such as The Little Mermaid (1989), Beauty and the Beast (1991), Aladdin (1992), The Lion King (1994), Pocahontas (1995), Mulan (1998), and Atlantis (2001). The company also produces many live-action films and television series. Disney's animations are also on display throughout the company's popular theme parks.

MGM.

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) was an early promoter of animated films. Two of their in-house animators, William Hanna and Joseph Barbera, launched the Tom and Jerry films in 1940 that subsequently won five Academy Awards. They later created such familiar characters as the Jetsons, Scooby Doo, the Flintstones, and the Smurfs.

Trends.

Major growth in animation productions started in the 1960s prompted by the growth of mass media, particularly with visual effects in films (e.g., Mary Poppins) and animated cartoon series on television (e.g., The Flintstones). In the 1970s, the growth of computer animation was facilitated by the invention of minicomputers, particularly by Digital Equipment Corporation's PDP and VAX computers. Because of cost and complexity, computer-assisted animation was still the domain of commercial companies. While personal computers (PCs), such as the Macintosh and the IBM-PC, were introduced in the mid-1980s, it was only in the 1990s that their power and available software were adequate for personal computer animation authorship. The diversity of developments and inventions and increasing use of technologies for computer animation are presented in a timeline (1960–1999) in Isaac Victor Kerlow's The Art of 3-D Computer Animation and Imaging (2000).

Principles of Animation

Around 1935, some animators at Walt Disney Productions wanted to develop lessons that would refine the basic animation techniques that had been in use from the earliest days of animation. These became the fundamental principles of traditional animation, though most can also be applied to Internet and 3-D graphics environments. John Lasseter, in "Principles of Traditional Animation Applied to 3D Computer Animation," provides a list:

1. Squash and Stretch, in which distortion is used in animated action to convey the physical properties of an object;
2. Timing, in which actions are spaced so that they help portray the personal or physical characteristics of characters or objects;
3. Anticipation, meaning that actions are foreshadowed or set up;
4. Staging, through which the animator conveys ideas clearly through background, foreground, and action;
5. Follow-Through and Overlapping Action, wherein the end of one action builds a bridge to the next action;
6. Straight-Ahead and Pose-to-Pose Action, which are two primary ways of creating action;
7. Slow In and Out, which refers to the animator's placement of the in-between frames to create various levels of sophistication in timing and motion;
8. Arcs, a visual representation of movement that appears natural;
9. Exaggeration, wherein an idea is emphatically represented through design and action that is not restricted to representing reality;
10. Secondary Action, which refers to the action of an animated object or character that is caused by the action of something or someone else;
11. Appeal, or audience-pleasing action, stories, and visuals.

Web Animation

Several software formats have been used for producing animation on the Internet. One of the first was Netscape Navigator 2's GIF89, which allowed a user to animate GIF (Graphic Interchange Format) images. It was not intended as a medium for full animation, however. Partly as a response to this, dHMTL (dynamic Hypertext Markup Language) was born. Dynamic HTML is a hybrid of JavaScript, HTML, and cascading stylesheets, but the disparity between Internet Explorer and Navigator platforms made it difficult to use.

When CD-ROMs (Compact Disk-Read Only Memory) became common, Macromedia distinguished itself with Director, a multimedia authoring system. In 1995 the company released the Shockwave Internet browser plug-in for Director, which allowed users to see online content created by Director. Macromedia later produced a plug-in designed specifically for web browsers, called Flash, which it continues to improve and support. However, realizing the value of dHTML, Macromedia created another product, called Dreamweaver, which avoids many browser platform disparities, by producing a dHTML page as an HTML page. Unfortunately, the standard HTML page was not conceived as a medium for animation, and its performance is not as great as plug-in formats, such as Flash, Director, or Quicktime, although the standards may evolve.

Game Animations

Games began to appear almost as soon as computers appeared. In the late 1960s, Spacewar! was created, partly as a way of experimenting with one of the earliest computers, the PDP-1, developed by Digital Electronic Corporation. A lot of two-dimensional games began to follow, including Pac-Man. In 1984 Atari's I, Robot appeared. Loosely based on Isaac Asimov's book by the same name, it foreshadowed the movement to three-dimensional games. At the same time, Nintendo was working on a video game console, Famicom, which later emerged as the Nintendo Entertainment System in the United States.

Part of the success of these systems was the structure of the computer they used: the computer had chips for the central processing unit (CPU), audio, and video which permitted better efficiency and looser control. This was the case with Commodore's Amiga and Atari's ST computer series. Before long, PC peripheral manufacturers started producing more powerful video cards (e.g., "graphics accelerator cards" with their own chips and memory, such as the ATI series), and sound cards (e.g., SoundBlaster). These eventually posed a challenge to the units designed specifically for games because they could handle the graphics and sound requirements necessary for games. Examples include Nintendo's GameCube, Sony's Playstation and Microsoft's X-Cube.

Animation in the early games was basic, relying on simple movement and graphics, but current games embrace sophisticated animation. There are many genres of games, including electronic versions of traditional games like Monopoly, Solitaire, Hearts, and Jeopardy! Early maze games, such as Pac-Man, and puzzle games, like Tetris, paved the way for more sophisticated action games like Street Fighter and Killer Instinct (fighting games); Castle Wolfenstein (a first-person shooter game); and third-person 3-D games, such as Tomb Raider and Deathtrap Dungeon. Animated computer games also include racing games such as Destruction Derby and 3-D vehicle-based games, such as Dead Reckoning; flight simulators, such as Wing Commander, and other popular simulations (e.g., Sim City, Sim Ant); role-playing games, such as Dungeon Hack; and adventure games, such as The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. At the pinnacle are full-motion video games, like Myst and Raven. Software, including The Games Factory and PIE 3D Game Creation, has emerged to cope with the demands of creating animated games.

SEE ALSO GAMES; MUSIC; MUSIC, COMPUTER.

Thomas J. Froehlich

Bibliography

Finch, Christopher. The Art of Disney: From Mickey Mouse to the Magic Kingdoms. New York: Harry N. Abrams, 1995.

Kerlow, Isaac Victor. The Art of 3-D Computer Animation and Imaging, 2nd ed. New York: John Wiley and Sons, Inc., 2000.

Lasseter, John. "Principles of Traditional Animation Applied to 3D Computer Animation." Computer Graphics (ACM) 21, no. 4 (1987): 35–44.

Taylor, Richard. Encyclopedia of Animation Techniques. Philadelphia, PA: Running Press Book Publishers, 1996.

Wagstaff, Sean. Animation on the Web. Berkeley, CA: Peachpit Press, 1999.

White, Tony. The Animator's Workbook. New York: Billboard Publications, 1988.