“You're doomed if you only target children.

Adults are just grown-up children.”

Walt Disney

Today we will tell you about what animation is and where the wizards who create it live. There are 4 main types of animation:

• classic (hand drawn);
• computer (2D and 3D);
• stop motion (time-lapse photography of real objects);
• motion capture (created using motion capture of live actors).

Traditional hand-drawn animation

This is a classic type of animation based on frame-by-frame shooting of changing pictures. At first, each image was drawn entirely and separately. It was a very labor-intensive and long process, because one second of the cartoon required twenty-four full-fledged images. Later, artists learned to paint objects and backgrounds on overlapping transparencies, which greatly reduced the amount of work.

Nowadays, most animation studios create cartoons on the computer, but some of them are true to the old school. For example, the Japanese studio Ghibli, known primarily for the classic anime of Hayao Miyazaki. Although its artists do not neglect the help of computers.

Famous hand-drawn cartoons:

1. "The beauty and the Beast"(1991). Walt Disney planned to make the cartoon back in the late thirties, but due to the outbreak of the war, he postponed it until later. The film not only grossed half a billion dollars at the box office, but also became the first animated film in history to be nominated for an Academy Award in the Best Picture category.”

2. (2011). Hayao Miyazaki's anime masterpiece at one time became the highest-grossing Japanese film and also won an animation Oscar. It gained such a cult status that it still tops the list of best cartoons on IMDB to this day.

3. (1994). This is the real “king” of not only Disney, but also world animation. The cartoon brought the studio an armful of Oscars, the love of the audience and several billion in income.

2D computer animation

Creation of animation: history

3000 BC

The history of animation begins before our era. People have been trying to create moving images ever since they learned how to draw. Thus, archaeologists found in Iran a 5,000-year-old clay vessel with drawings of goats, which is an early attempt to “revive” the image.

1989

The first episode of The Simpsons airs on FOX. The adventures of the yellow family continue to this day - it is the longest-running American animated series, sitcom and primetime series.

1995

Pixar's Toy Story, the first full-length computer animated film, is being released.

2003

“Magicians and Giants” is released, the first full-length cartoon created using flash animation. It also became the first Mexican cartoon in thirty years.

2004

Robert Zemeckis' The Polar Express is released, the first film shot entirely using motion capture technology.

The best animation studios in the world

Although their first feature-length cartoon was released only twenty years ago, Pixar was able to do what no one else could - overthrow Disney from its ancestral throne. However, since 2006 they themselves have been part of the “mouse house”. Pixar is not just a studio, it is an example of how you can truly love your work.

The studio's best cartoons:"Toy Story 1-3", "WALL-E", "Monsters, Inc.", "Inside Out".

2. Walt Disney Animation Studios.

Does it make sense to say something about this studio? The name of its founder has become synonymous with the word “animation” for many people, and that says something. At the turn of the 2000s, it seemed that the studio had fallen into stasis, losing its leadership in animation to its colleagues from Pixar without a fight. But the successes of Braveheart, City of Heroes and Zootopia show that Disney is ready to once again lead the industry.

It's also worth noting Disney Television Animation- the television division of the company, responsible for such hits as “Gravity Falls”, “Phineas and Ferb”, etc.

The studio's best cartoons:“Bambi”, “Alice in Wonderland”, “Beauty and the Beast”, “The Lion King”, “Wreck-It Ralph”, “Zootopia”.

3. Studio Ghibli.

This is probably the main anime studio in the world, founded by the legendary Hayao Miyazaki, who created its main masterpieces. Although the studio suspended animation production after his departure, there is still faith in the company's future. So, last year the Red Turtle was released, a cartoon created in collaboration with Ghibli.

The studio's best cartoons:"Grave of the Fireflies", "My Neighbor Totoro", "Spirited Away", "Howl's Moving Castle".

4. Aardman Animations.

This British studio specializes in cartoons created using clay stop-motion animation. First of all, it is known for the cult series about Wallace and Gromit. Although the specifics of the studio do not allow it to rank with industry leaders, it also allows it to be unique and recognizable.

The studio's best cartoons:"Wallace and Gromit", "Chicken Run", "Shaun the Sheep".

5. DreamWorks Animation.

The animation division of Steven Spielberg's DreamWorks studio began its journey with hand-drawn cartoons created within the framework of classical drama. However, after the success of the first Shrek, the studio relied on humor and 3D computer animation. While DreamWorks hasn't managed to catch up with Pixar and Disney, it has plenty of time and resources ahead of its new owners at Universal to fix that.

The studio's best cartoons:"Shrek", "Madagascar", "How to Train Your Dragon".

6. Laika Entertainment.

At first, the studio planned to produce both computer and stop-motion animation. However, after the success of their first film, Coraline, management decided to concentrate on the second. Unfortunately, none of their projects have paid off yet.

The studio's best cartoons:"Coraline in Nightmareland", "ParaNorman".

7. Illumination Entertainment.

Despite being the youngest studio on the list, it has achieved more than most in its ten years of existence.

The studio's first cartoon, Despicable Me, not only became an unexpected super hit, but also brought it a goldmine in the form of minions. And also determined the style of all subsequent cartoons: a small budget and a lot of jokes.

The studio's best cartoons: Despicable Me, The Secret Life of Pets.

8. Warner Bros. Animation.

In 1933, Warner Brothers launched the Warner Bros. animation division. Cartoons, which gave the world such characters as Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck and others. In the 70s, the department was closed, but in 1989 it was relaunched under the name we know. Currently, the studio specializes in creating animation based on DC comics.

The studio's best cartoons:“The Steel Giant”, “Lego. Movie, The Dark Knight Returns.

9. Cartoon Network Studios.

It would be remiss not to mention the studio responsible for the revival of interest in 2D animation and the universal popularity of animated shows. Although the Cartoon Network channel was founded in the nineties, real success came to it only 15 years later with the release of Adventure Time and a number of other shows.

The studio's best animated series:“Adventure Time”, “Regular Show”, “Other Side of the Fence”, “We Are Regular Bears”.

It is also worth noting such television studios as: Nickelodeon Animation Studio("The Ren and Stimpy Show", "SpongeBob"), Williams Street Production(“Robot Chicken”, “Rick and Morty”), Fuzzy Door Productions(“Family Guy”, “American Dad”) and Rough Draft Studios(“Futurama”, “Beavis and Butt-head”).

Computers can no more create computer animation than a pencil can create hand-drawn animation. Any animation is created by an artist. Most talented artists in Kyiv you can find in the animation studio KINESKO!

Animation is the creation of a moving image on the screen. Or rather, the illusion of continuous movement. In fact, this is a sequence of static frames. It is also a technically complex and constantly evolving art. So if someone tells you that cartoons are not serious, protest vigorously and give reasons. Here is a brief educational program on the main types of moving pictures, from which it will become clear why animation is not inferior to feature films, and in some ways even surpasses it.

Classic hand-drawn cartoon

Many in childhood drew figures in the margins of notebook sheets, changing poses with each page. If you quickly flip through such a notebook, it will seem that the character is running and the flower is blooming. Classic frame-by-frame animation works in a similar way.

The standard format for the frequency at which pictures change is 24 frames per second. And all these frames need to be drawn! Previously, this was done manually. Over time, special editing programs came to the rescue, so now only reference frames are drawn by hand. However, creating a stop-motion animated film is still a painstaking and difficult job.

The first variation of stop-motion animation is sometimes called the thaumatrope, a vintage disc-shaped toy with designs on both sides. By quickly rotating the circle on the thread, it was possible to achieve the effect of combining pictures. For example, a bird and a cage turned into an image of a bird in a cage, and flowers and a vase - into a full-fledged still life. At the beginning of the twentieth century, the first animated films began to appear. Steward Blackton directed a short film "Funny expressions on happy faces", and Emil Kohl - "Phantasmagoria". In both films, the authors draw characters on a board, and then they come to life. Kohl found out that each phase of movement needed its own pattern and used a vertically mounted camera.

Then a great event happened - Walt Disney came to animation. He came up with, in particular, a way to create volume by combining different plans, as well as a layer-by-layer technique in which transparent celluloid films with images were superimposed on each other, so that the frame no longer had to be drawn from scratch. Using the three-color Technicolor system (combining monochrome images shot through red, blue and green filters), Disney created the first color cartoon, Flowers and Trees. He also directed the first sound cartoon in history (“Steamboat Willie” with Mickey Mouse whistling in leading role) and the first full-length animated film - "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs", which created a real sensation.

It turned out that animation is interesting to people of different ages. Moreover, it allows you to achieve a special emotional effect using unique means.

An actor, even with the mimicry skills of Jim Carrey and the dedication of Christian Bale, who lost up to 30 kilograms for roles, still cannot go beyond the limits of human capabilities. But drawn heroes are not obliged to strictly obey the laws of nature and physics. Therefore, the artist can award them with any proportions, external features and plasticity - as long as it all works to reveal the image.

For this, we also need to thank Disney, who created a whole pantheon of iconic characters, whose character is reflected in their appearance. His methods were adopted by other animation directors. Thanks to them, there are hundreds of memorable animated heroes and villains today.

The style of classical animation can be different. Disney or Soviet cartoons, European original or even abstract animation, anime - different styles that you will never confuse. However, technically this is all stop-motion animation.

Puppet animation

Stop-motion technology uses a mock-up stage, which serves as a stage set, like in a theater, and puppet “actors”. To create the illusion of movement, the poses of the figures are slightly changed, photographed frame by frame, and then the whole thing is turned into a film. Such animation appeared along with classical cinema. For example, the famous scene from the movie “A Trip to the Moon”, where spaceship hits the Earth's satellite directly in the eye - this is also stop-motion.

Puppet cartoons are always a special story in the world of animation. They are not turned into huge franchises (they won’t because of the complexity of production), and they are not the most successful commercially. However, there is a special magic in this method of reviving the static.

Such cartoons make it possible to create volume that classic hand-drawn animation is not capable of, and also provide detail without the need to draw anything - just place objects in the frame. However, this is not at all simple. The scenery for puppet cartoons is created by hand, and this is truly hellish work.

Popcorn dyed pink was used to represent sakura in the movie Coraline.

Each flower on the toy trees is created by the hands of cartoonists and placed as required for the scene. In Kubo. Legend of the Samurai" monkey hair is made from tiny pieces of silicone, each of which was glued onto the figurine. All these things need to be thought out in advance, because when the item has already been created in the material, pressing undo will not work. When dubbing puppet animation, each movement of the lips of the puppet-actor is created separately, synchronizing facial expressions with the sound track. Today, many parts are printed on a 3D printer, and yet it is still a piece of work.

In the 60-80s, puppet animation was very popular in the USSR - for its textured materials and cozy intimacy. “Mitten” by Roman Kachanov, where a lump of red wool evokes a storm of emotions, and “Plasticine Crow” by Alexander Tatarsky, with its virtuoso play of forms (plasticine animation is also a subtype of stop-motion) and cheerful songs, earned special popular sympathy.

At some point, puppet animation left behind computer animation in terms of complexity and naturalness of character movements. However, today CG technologies have stepped forward, and computer heroes are not inferior to their puppet counterparts, but in many ways surpass them.

Over time, difficult to produce and time-consuming stop-motion animation began to lose popularity. Oddly enough, this does her good. Only ideological directors who know exactly what they want to talk about and have an original style decide to work in this genre. For example, Tim Burton with his famous films about singing skeletons and dead pets, or Wes Anderson, who directed the film Fantastic Mr. Fox.

Computer animation

In this case, moving images are produced using computer-generated 3D animation. 3D object models move and interact the way the directors want them to.

George Lucas was one of the first to use computer animation in cinema. Special effects of early episodes " Star Wars"Many fans still value it higher than the graphics in modern films. Lucas's studio ILM also worked on many famous epics with outstanding effects (Indiana Jones, Back to the Future, Star Trek), as well as on the film Who Framed Roger Rabbit, combining actors and drawn characters.

Then it turned out that animation can not only serve films with actors, but also create its own world. The pioneers in the field of computer animation, who did no less for it than Disney did for traditional animation, were the Pixar studio. Today it is the most successful animation studio in the history of cinema.

The 1986 animated short Luxo Jr. features a small table lamp, watched over by a parent lamp, playing with a ball. The lamps were given the honor of becoming cartoon characters because they allowed us to work with light and demonstrate how it was reflected different surfaces. This short cartoon has what Pixar's work is still praised for - innovative technology and emotional liveliness of the characters. In 1995, the studio released its first entirely computer-generated feature film, Toy Story.

The studio is constantly improving technology and looking for new opportunities. Curly hair in the wind, objects sinking in water, cloud movements, millions of grains of sand on the beach...

In the case of CG films, making it all convincing requires taking into account textures, weight, motion paths and many other factors. The fact that objects are virtual makes their “material characteristics” only more important. After all, artists and developers want the rubber ball to spring back and the fabric to flutter in the wind, just like the real thing.

These methods have been adopted by other studios, for example, Blue Sky Studios, which released " glacial period”, and Dreamworks (franchises “Shrek”, “Madagascar”, “Kung Fu Panda”, “How to Train Your Dragon”).

Computer animation gave the viewer the depth of the picture, as well as the opportunity to run with the characters and make dizzying flights. Such dashing turns of the camera were not possible in classical animation, or even in regular cinema. This is why there are so many races and adventures in 3D cartoons, and scripts are written with visual components and dynamics in mind.

Of course, good cartoons are attractive not only due to technology. However, it is precisely the wide possibilities of animation that allow directors not only to convey experiences, but also to touch upon complex topics. Hayao Miyazaki talks about harmony with nature, Tim Burton makes even talking about death fun, and Pixar films teach you to accept yourself and understand your own feelings.

ABSTRACT

On the topic "Animation"

Work completed

Volodkovich Angelina

Teacher: Semyonova Larisa Vasilievna

Ulyanovsk 2016

Animation

All about animation

Animation(from Latin multiplicatio - multiplication, increase, increase, reproduction) - technique creating the illusion of moving images (movement and/or changing the shape of objects - morphing) using a sequence of still images (frames) replacing each other with a certain frequency. Animation (French animation: revival, animation) is the Western name for animation: a type of cinematic art and its work (an animated film and, in particular, a cartoon), as well as a family of corresponding technologies.

(C) Wikipedia

History of Animation

First steps in animation

70s BC- Roman poet and philosopher Lucretius in his treatise “On the Nature of Things” he described a device for displaying moving pictures on a screen.
X-XI centuries- The first mention of Chinese shadow theater - a type of spectacle visually close to the future animated film.
XV century- Books appeared with drawings that reproduced the various phases of the movement of the human figure. Rolled up and then instantly unfolded, these books created the illusion of animated drawings.

In the Middle Ages, there were also craftsmen who entertained the public with sessions of moving pictures using optical devices like filmoscopes, into which transparent plates with drawings were inserted. Such devices were called a magic lantern or in Latin “laterna magica”.

1646 g. - Jesuit monk Athanasius Kirscher gave the first description of the structure of the “magic lantern” he designed - a device that illuminated an image on transparent glass. Since the 17th century, such performances have been held in traveling theaters throughout Europe.

1832. - Attempts to find ways to revive drawings using special devices long preceded the advent of cinema. Young Belgian professor Joseph Plato built back in 1832 a small laboratory device - a phenakistiscope, the design of which is based on the ability of the retina of the human eye to save images (the name comes from the Greek word "phenax" - deceiver and the root "scope" - to look).

1832. - The same principle was laid down by the Viennese professor Simon von Stampefer the basis of a strobe light. The effect of visible movement when changing still images taken on the internal disk became known as the stroboscopic effect. In the middle of the 19th century, this device called a “strobe” became widespread as a technical toy. Essentially this was the birth of animation in its most primitive form. To get in a strobe light or on a movie screen the right movement, the artist has to make (multiply) a large number of drawings that decompose a particular movement into its constituent elements. A “strobe” was the name given to a cardboard drum mounted on an axle. On inside of this drum, on a paper tape, there was a series of drawings (usually there were from eight to twelve), illustrating the successive phases of the movement of a person or animal performing specific action, for example: an ostrich running, an elephant walking, a horse galloping, a child jumping with a skipping rope, etc. Each subsequent drawing was slightly different from the previous one in that it reproduced a new moment of movement; The last drawing of each cycle was, as it were, closing in relation to the first drawing. By inserting a paper strip with designs into a drum with narrow, oblong holes cut opposite each design, and rotating the drum around its axis, the viewer saw a rapid succession of patterns, which created the complete illusion of their movement.
1834- A zoetrope, in which, like a strobe light, drawings pasted on tape moved, was designed by an English mathematician William George Horner. However, in the original Horner’s apparatus was called “daedaleum” (in honor of Daedalus, who, according to legend, created moving pictures of people and animals), and only subsequent versions of this apparatus (in particular, the apparatus that was designed in 1860 by the Frenchman Dezvin, and a similar American device William E. Lincoln) assigned to all such devices the name “zoetrope”.

Zoetrope on the theme of infanticide "All things fall"

Watch the video: http://www.kulturologia.ru/blogs/170515/24532/

Animation technologies

Currently, there are various technologies for creating animation:

Classical (traditional) animation is an alternating change of drawings, each of which is drawn separately. This is a very labor-intensive process, as animators have to create each frame separately.

Freeze-frame (puppet) animation. Objects placed in space are fixed by the frame, after which their position changes and is fixed again.

Sprite animation is implemented using a programming language.

Morphing– transformation of one object into another by generating a specified number of intermediate frames.

Color animation - with it, only the color, and not the position of the object, changes.

3D animation created using special programs (for example, 3D MAX). Pictures are obtained by visualizing a scene, and each scene is a set of objects, light sources, textures.

Motion Capture- the first direction of animation, which makes it possible to convey natural, realistic movements in real time. Sensors are attached to the live actor in places that will be aligned with control points in the computer model to input and digitize movement. The actor's coordinates and orientation in space are transmitted to the graphics station, and the animation models come to life.

Lesson from the series: “Working in the Flash editor”

Animation(from lat. Animare– animate) – imitation of movement or change in shape of static objects.

In addition to the term “animation”, the term “animation” (from Lat. multiplicatio- multiplication, reproduction).

Personnel- These are drawn or photographed images of successive phases of movement of objects or their parts. When viewing a sequence of frames, the illusion of the static characters depicted in them comes to life.

To create the effect of a smooth change in the shape and position of objects, the frame rate, based on the characteristics of human perception, should be at least 12-16 frames per second.

Film uses 24 frames per second, television uses 25 or 30 frames per second.

Drawing all phases of movement (frames) in the first cartoons required enormous labor costs. So, for a cartoon lasting 5 minutes at a frequency of 24 frames per second, 7200 drawings are needed. At the same time, many frames contain repeating fragments that had to be redrawn many times.

Therefore, since the 20s. XX century began to use simplified animation technology: transparent films with changing moving elements began to be applied to a static, unchanging drawing. This was the first step in the mechanization of the work of an animator, which was developed in computer technology.

In computer animation, only a few reference frames are drawn (they are called key), and intermediate ones are generated (calculated) by computer programs. Independent animation of individual image elements is ensured by creating graphic objects for each character and placing them on different layers(similar to transparencies in classical animation).

The main types of computer animation: frame-by-frame animation and automatic (movements and shapes).

Frame-by-frame animation (animation) consists of drawing all phases of movement. All frames are key frames.

Automatic animation consists of drawing keyframes corresponding to the main phases or stages of movement, and then automatically filling in the intermediate frames.

Any animation is based on recording the phases of movement of objects - determining at each moment in time their position, shape, size and other properties, such as color. This operation is called phasing or timing.

To reduce labor costs and avoid mistakes when working on a computer, it is useful to first outline the phases on paper.

When animating the movement of inanimate objects, you can limit yourself to indicating the trajectory of movement and fixing objects in the most important positions.
Example 1. A ball thrown horizontally hits the floor three times. Draw several phases of movement.

Let's draw the trajectory of the ball's center. Let us depict the position of the ball at the moments of impact on the floor (1, 2, 3) and the greatest rise (2, 4). Let's add a few intermediate provisions.

Example 2. Draw the phases of movement of a walking and running man.

Let us depict the phases of movement as shown in the figure.

Animation techniques are constantly evolving, and game developers and film studios are constantly looking for talented and creative personalities who can apply these methods.

Here are the main types of animation that can be used to create digital characters for television shows, commercial applications, company logos, movies, videos or games.

• Traditional animation.
• 2D vector animation.
• 3D computer animation.
• Motion graphics.
• Stop motion.

Traditional animation

Have you ever seen images that appear as frames in quick succession, drawn on transparent sheets of paper with colored markers? This type of computer animation is called traditional. It is used for preliminary character sketches.

This process can be quite expensive and time-consuming, as animators have to create a series of different frames based on the 24 frames per second frame rate. This method is used mainly on PCs, as well as tablets, using special computer programs that allow you to create animation in the style of old Disney cartoons.

2D vector animation

The most commonly used animation style. Its frames are created on a relatively flat surface. In addition, vector animation has adopted some traditional animation techniques. In reality, it is the same as traditional animation, except that a process known as shading and shading is applied to the frames.

During this process, animators place thin, transparent sheets of celluloid onto paper on which animated characters are drawn, and then transfer them onto film. At the end there are stills from different characters overlap each other, and due to the high transparency of the film, this allows you to create a composition from various elements and characters.

3D computer animation

3D animation is completely different from other types of animation in computer graphics. Although they use the same principles of composition and movement, the technical methods used to solve the various problems differ significantly. In 3D animation, the animator does not need to be a graphic artist. It's more like playing with dolls than drawing.

These are also called computer-generated images ( CGI). They occur when computer animators create a stream of images that are brought together to form an animation. Combining dynamic and static images is done using computer graphics. Characters created in 3D are digitally displayed on screen and then combined with the wireframe, allowing each model to be animated differently.

Animation is created by creating models in individual key frames, and then the computer multiplies them, interpreting the animation by adding intermediate frames between key frames.

In addition, a lot of time is spent working with curves representing different parts of the object in different periods time. In 3D animation, all characters must be taken into account, even those that at a certain point in time are blocked by something and are not visible.

The main difference between these types of animation is that in traditional and 2D animation the artist works on individual frames, while in 3D animation there is always a continuous flow. If it stops, it is perceived as an error. Even when the character remains in place, there is always a continuous flow of frames that creates the illusion of reality.

Motion graphics

Have you ever wondered how promotional videos, animated logos, movie opening credits, and app advertisements are created? This is done using moving graphic texts and elements, or as I call it, motion graphics.

This is a process that uses "multiplication" of animated frames to create smooth movement between frames. Frame multiplication programs support scripts that automatically change the animation to create numerous effects.

3D compositions are created from flat elements moving relative to each other, which creates the illusion of volume. They may also be accompanied by sound effects or music. Such objects are often used in multimedia projects.