Basics of Traditional & Computer Animation
By Adrien-Luc Sanders, About.com Guide to Animation
Animation has progressed from painstaking labors with cels and paint to the digital animation, with dozens of hybrid techniques in between. Whether you'd like to learn the basics of traditional animation or get started with digital 2D and 3D animation, we've got the information that you need to get started.
Principles of Animation
Whether you're animating by hand or using digital techniques, there are some basic principles that remain universal. Lip-synching, squash and stretch, walk cycles - all are familiar hallmarks of animation, and should be mastered no matter how you prefer to animate.
- Building an Animation-Ready Character
- Animation Character Sheet/Character Breakdown Basics
- Lip-Synching For Animation: Basic Phonemes
- Keyframe and In-Between Basics
- 8-Frame Basic Walk Cycle
- Pencil Animation: Rough Motion Sketches
- Pencil Animation: Rough Detail Sketches
- Pencil Animation: Retracing & Line Weight
Flash 2D Animation Basics
Animating in Flash can be fun, and can be as easy as just a few clicks. You can use Flash to create detailed frame-by-frame animations, or to automate animations using Flash's tweening processes.
- Flash Basics: Tweening
- Flash Basics: Program Tools
- Flash Traditional Animation
- Understanding Flash Symbols
- Masking
3D Animation Basics
3D animation is used in video games, in movies, even in everyday television. It can be used to create wholly 3D productions as short as an advertisement or as long as a feature film, or can be layered with live action for special effects.
- Understanding Computer Animation
- Understanding Video Game and Movie Animation
- 3D Studio Max Introduction
FAQ and Glossary
Have questions? Need to learn the basics of animation terminology? Check out the FAQ and glossary, where many of your most frequently asked questions and definitions of simple animation terms are covered.
