This animation moves at 10 frames per second.

This animation moves at 2 frames per second. At this rate, the individual frames should be discernible.

12 frames per second is the typical rate for an animated cartoon.

Animation is the optical illusion of motion created by the consecutive display of images of static elements. In film and video production, this refers to techniques by which each frame of a film or movie is produced individually. These frames may be generated by computers, or by photographing a drawn or painted image, or by repeatedly making small changes to a model unit, and then photographing the result with a special animation camera. When the frames are strung together and the resulting film is viewed, there is an illusion of continuous movement due to the phenomenon known as persistence of vision. Generating such a film tends to be very labour intensive and tedious, though the development of computer animation has greatly sped up the process.

Graphics file formats like GIF, MNG, SVG and Flash (SWF) allow animation to be viewed on a computer or over the Internet.

The bouncing ball animation (at right) consists of these 6 frames.

Animation studios

Animation Studios, like Movie studios, may be production facilities or financial entities. In some cases, especially in Anime they have things in common with artists studios where a Master or group of talented individuals oversee the work of lesser artists and crafts persons in realizing their vision.

Styles and techniques of animation

Further reading

• Frank Thomas and Ollie Johnston, Disney animation: The Illusion Of Life, Abbeville 1981
• Walters Faber, Helen Walters, Algrant (Ed.), Animation Unlimited: Innovative Short Films Since 1940, HarperCollins Publishers 2004
• Trish Ledoux, Doug Ranney, Fred Patten (Ed.), Complete Anime Guide: Japanese Animation Film Directory and Resource Guide, Tiger Mountain Press 1997
• The Animator’s Survival Kit, Richard Williams
• Animation Script to Screen, Shamus Culhane
• The Animation Book, Kit Laybourne
• CG101: A Computer Graphics Industry Reference. Terrence Masson Unique and personal histories of early computer animation production, plus a comprehensive foundation of the industry for all reading levels.

Links

• Animation Directory at the Open Directory Project
• Animating Under the Camera
• Experimental Animation Techniques
• Drawn Under-Camera Style Animation
• Keyframe - the Animation Resource
• Animation Nation - a forum for professional American animators
• Chronology of Animation
• Zagreb Film
• Don Markenstein’s Toonopedia
• Hints and tips for the animation hobbyist
• Animation World Network
• 28 Principles of Animation
• Animationmeat.com - Notes Model Sheets and Reference material by Professional Animators
• Media & Techniques in Animation
• PowerPoint Heaven - The Power to Animate Contains tutorials on creating animations for PowerPoint Presentations.
• Best Download Cartoons

This guide is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia.

Video: 3d animation short “Bugs’ Race”