Multimedia element: Animation

Week - 13

The power of animation• Animation is achieved by adding motion to still

image/object.• May also be defined as the creation of moving

pictures one frame at a time.• Animation grabs attention.• Few types of animation

– Layout transition– Process/ information transition– Object movement

Layout Transition

• The simplest form of animation is transition.

– Spiral– Stretch– Zoom– Checkerboard

Process / Information transition

• Animation can be used to describe complex information / process in an easier way – Perform visual cues (e.g. how things work)

Process / Information transition

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Object movement

• Simple animated GIF

• Complex scene

How animation worksAnimation is possible because of • a biological phenomenon known as persistence of

vision – An object seen by human eye remains chemically

mapped on the eye’s retina for a brief time after viewing

• a psychological phenomenon called phi.– Human’s mind need to conceptually complete the

perceived action i.e. translating the action

How animation works• Combination of these two (persistence of vision + phi)

make it possible for a series of images that are changed very slightly and very rapidly, one after another, to seemingly blend together into a visual illusion of movement.

• E.g. a few cells or frames of rotating logo, when continuously and rapidly changed, the arrow of the compass is perceived to be spinning.

How animation works Still images are flashed in sequence to

provide the illusion of animation

How animation works• The speed of the image changes is called the frame rate.• Film is typically delivered at 24 frames per second (fps)• In reality, the projector light flashes twice per frame, thus

increasing the flicker rate to 48 times per second to remove any flicker effect.

• The more interruptions per second, the more continuous the beam of light appears, the smoother the animation.

Animation techniques• Cel animation • Stop-motion• Computer animation

– Digital cel & sprite animation– Key frame animation

• Hybrid technique• Kinematics• Morphing

Animation techniques – Cel AnimationMade famous by Disney

1) A series of progressively different graphics are used for each frame of film

2) Elements in a scene that might move, for example Kluang man, are drawn on sheets of transparent material called ‘cel’, and laid over a background which is drawn separately (kampung scenery for example)In producing a sequence, only the moving elements on the cel need to be redrawn for each frame, the fixed part of the scene need only be made once.

Animation techniques – Cel Animation• Animation is drawn between keyframes.

– Key frames identify the start and end of some action– The process of filling in the action is called tweening.

• Tweening is a process which requires calculating the number of frames between keyframes and the path the action takes, and then actually sketching on to a cel the series of progressively different outlines.

Animation techniques – Stop motion• Miniatures three-dimensional sets are used (stage,

objects)• Objects are moved carefully between shots.• Objects may include articulate figures, whose limbs can be

repositioned, or solid figures whose parts are replaced, or substitute between shots, to produce an effect of gesture, walking, and so on.

• Plasticine may be used for objects, to be manipulated between shots to produce both natural movement, and otherwise impossible changes and transformations.

Computer Animation – Digital cel & sprite animation

• Employ the same logic and procedural concept of cel animation.

• Objects are drawn using 3D modeling software• Objects and background are drawn on different layers,

which can be put on top of one another.• Layers allow you to create separate parts of a still image,

for example, a person and the background of a scene they are walking through – so that each can be altered or moved independently.

Computer Animation – Digital cel & sprite animation

• Sprite animation – animation on moving object (sprite).

• A set of images, called faces is associated with each sprite.

• Example, a walking man, can be created by advancing the position of the sprite (the man) and cycling through the faces (walking motion), the man can be made to walk.

Computer Animation – Key Frame Animation

• Keyframes : – Are drawn to provide the detailed characteristic of

characters at important points in the animation.– Example, specify the start and end of a walk, the top

and bottom of the fall.• 3D modeling and animation software will do the

tweening process– It fill in the gaps between the keyframes and create a

smooth animation.– You just set the value of frames per second (fps) for

your animation.

Computer Animation – Key Frame Animation

Computer Animation – Hybrid technique

• Mixing cel and 3D computer animation.• May as well include life footage.

Animation Techniques - Kinematics• The study of motion of jointed structure (such as people)• Realistic animation of such movement can be complex.• Latest technology use motion capture for complex

movement animation.

Animation techniques - Morphing• The process of transitioning from one image to another

Animation Techniques - Morphing• When morphing, few key elements (such as a nose from

both images) are set to share the same location (one the final image).

Animation Techniques - Morphing

Animation File Formats

• Windows Media files : .avi, .asf or .wmv• Apple QuickTime files: .qt or .mov• Motion video files : .mpeg or .mpg• Flash files : .swf• Shockwaves files : .dcr• Animated GIF : .gif

Creating Animation• Use digital camera to capture each drawn frame.• Scan the drawn image/frame.• Video camera (connected through video capture

card) is connected directly to computer to capture each frame of animation on disk – let it be on paper, cel, constructed on 3D set or by any other techniques discussed.

Creating Animation• Software tool can help create object such as:

– Rolling ball

Creating Animation– Create eight rotated images at 45-degree incremental

angle, rotating a full circle of 360-degrees.– when displayed sequentially at the same location, the

sphere spins.– Calculation is needed in order to create a smooth

rolling effect.

Creating AnimationA bouncing ball– Gravity makes the ball speed up as it falls and slow

down as it rises– Formula: s = 1/2gt2

Creating AnimationAnimated scene– Few images are combined together.

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