Creative Human Character Animation: The Incredibles vs. The Polar Express

Isaac Kerlow looks at recent human 3D character animation developments in The Incredibles and The Polar Express.

By Isaac V. Kerlow | Monday, November 29, 2004 at 12:00 am

With animators controlling the facial movements of the characters, expressions are clear and broad with the Parr family.

The approach to facial animation in The Incredibles followed the Pixar tradition of allowing animators direct control of all parts of the face. Facial animation was done with a multitude of deformers tied to macro-controllers, and without using blend shapes. Compared to the facial animation tools used in Finding Nemo these had more and better features, nothing groundbreaking but many incremental advances, for example: a greater number of controls to allow for squash-and-stretch, a new eyebrow package with spline-based controls, and the ability to do wild cartoony distortions of the face including the eyeballs – something that Pixar animators traditionally did not distort.

The implementation of referencing across models was another animation tool in The Incredibles that broke with past practice. This standardization of a basic common rig structure for all characters made it easier for animators and TDs to share poses and facial expressions between characters. Some characters, however, had multiple rigs. The standard rigs were limited to "normal" squash-and-stretch articulation, but a few special-case rigs were developed for complex distortions. For example, Helen (Elastigirl) in her stretchy suit, or the transformation of baby Jack Jack into a monster. There were also at least two versions of the rig for Bob the Dad: one for the fit superhero version, and another one for his fat version with a gut and shorter legs. Switches inside all models were used to preserve old behaviors by linking different rig versions for each character. A lot of the character articulation work in The Incredibles was done by new employees at Pixar, and the passion for their work and talent are a testament to what the computer animation industry is all about.

Performance Capture and Emotion
From the animation point of view, the initial intent in Robert Zemeckis' The Polar Express was to create computer-generated human characters that were not keyframe-animated cartoons. The scope and the scale of the technology assembled and developed at Sony Imageworks (called ImageMotion) to make this task possible is impressive. The Polar Express' production teams used motion capture technology in an innovative way and developed a unique production pipeline.

Unable to use keyframing as the primary animation technique, motion capture remained the obvious choice for animating the somewhat realistic-looking human characters of The Polar Express. Fortunately, the teams understood what we have learned after years of capturing motion: that there is big a difference between plain motion capture and performance capture. While motion capture seeks to record a cold sequence of moves (ideal for a fast-paced computer game fight or sports competition) performance capture seeks to record the emotion and the intention contained in the way an actor moves and pauses.

Creative Human Character Animation: The Incredibles vs. The Polar Express

Isaac Kerlow looks at recent human 3D character animation developments in The Incredibles and The Polar Express.

By Isaac V. Kerlow | Monday, November 29, 2004 at 12:00 am

All The Incredibles images © 2004 Disney Enterprises Inc./Pixar Animation Studios. All The Polar Express images © 2004 Warner Bros. Ent. All rights reserved.

The Incredibles and The Polar Express are two recent animated features that achieve remarkable creative results using different styles of human character animation. The Incredibles is an example of first-class keyframe cartoon character computer animation that integrates 2D traditional styles with the 3D computer style that we have come to expect from Pixar projects. The Polar Express offers an innovative approach that animates computer-generated virtual characters by applying realtime human performances and keyframe touch-ups.

Comedy and Action Through Squash-and-Stretch
Two aspects of The Incredibles represent significant departures from the topic and style of earlier Pixar movies: the human characters are central to the storyline and they are animated with considerable squash-and-stretch. To make the later possible the technical character team and the animators joined forces to develop new tools for animating squash and stretch humans in real time. The design and ease of use of the character setup rigs was driven by the animators' needs, and keeping the overall look-and-feel similar to earlier versions of Pixar animation software was an important consideration.

One of the main characteristics of the software tools used to animate The Incredibles was the layering of two key stages in the animation process: the bone and muscle calculations, and the squash-and-stretch system. Without the layering of these two stages it would have been difficult to provide animators with realtime feedback. In simple terms, the first stage of this layered process started by running the bone and muscle calculations through all the character's positions in a shot. Using statistical analysis the software determined the most significant changes in the character's skin throughout the shot, and "baked" those deformations into the model so that they could effectively be used as blend shapes. (Without the baking animated models played back at rates of eight to 10 frames per second.) After doing the first pass animation the animators saw the baked geometry and did not have to deal directly with the bone and muscle system. The second stage of the layered animation process consisted of applying the squash-and-stretch to the baked geometry as a post-process, and animators were able to visualize this in realtime.

Geometry decimation was another technique used to keep the playback as close as possible to 24 frames per second. Animators were involved in the process of hand-crafted decimation that brought some meshes to about 25% of the full geometry but kept, for example, the full and decimated silhouette shapes of each character identical. Each character had a decimated version, with most of the savings occurring in the body geometry and not the face. Decimated models did everything that full models did, and the deformation hierarchies remained the same but with much less overhead. Shots got finalized during the animation stage using the decimated version but the final rendering used the full geometry.

The approach to facial animation in The Incredibles followed the Pixar tradition of allowing animators direct control of all parts of the face.
Facial animation was done with a multitude of deformers tied to macro-controllers, and without using blend shapes. Compared to the facial
animation tools used in Finding Nemo these had more and better features, nothing groundbreaking but many incremental advances, for
example: a greater number of controls to allow for squash-and-stretch, a new eyebrow package with spline-based controls, and the ability to
do wild cartoony distortions of the face including the eyeballs – something that Pixar animators traditionally did not distort.
The implementation of referencing across models was another animation tool in The Incredibles that broke with past practice. This
standardization of a basic common rig structure for all characters made it easier for animators and TDs to share poses and facial
expressions between characters. Some characters, however, had multiple rigs. The standard rigs were limited to "normal" squash-andstretch
articulation, but a few special-case rigs were developed for complex distortions. For example, Helen (Elastigirl) in her stretchy suit, or
the transformation of baby Jack Jack into a monster. There were also at least two versions of the rig for Bob the Dad: one for the fit
superhero version, and another one for his fat version with a gut and shorter legs. Switches inside all models were used to preserve old
behaviors by linking different rig versions for each character. A lot of the character articulation work in The Incredibles was done by new
employees at Pixar, and the passion for their work and talent are a testament to what the computer animation industry is all about.
Performance Capture and Emotion
From the animation point of view, the initial intent in Robert Zemeckis' The Polar Express was to create computer-generated human
characters that were not keyframe-animated cartoons. The scope and the scale of the technology assembled and developed at Sony
Imageworks (called ImageMotion) to make this task possible is impressive. The Polar Express' production teams used motion capture
technology in an innovative way and developed a unique production pipeline.
Unable to use keyframing as the primary animation technique, motion capture remained the obvious choice for animating the somewhat
realistic-looking human characters of The Polar Express. Fortunately, the teams understood what we have learned after years of
capturing motion: that there is big a difference between plain motion capture and performance capture. While motion capture seeks to
record a cold sequence of moves (ideal for a fast-paced computer game fight or sports competition) performance capture seeks to record
the emotion and the intention contained in the way an actor moves and pauses.
To capture the performances of the various characters, the most complex performance capture system was established.

The Incredibles and The Polar Express are two recent animated features that achieve remarkable creative results using different styles of
human character animation. The Incredibles is an example of first-class keyframe cartoon character computer animation that integrates 2D
traditional styles with the 3D computer style that we have come to expect from Pixar projects. The Polar Express offers an innovative
approach that animates computer-generated virtual characters by applying realtime human performances and keyframe touch-ups.
Comedy and Action Through Squash-and-Stretch
Two aspects of The Incredibles represent significant departures from the topic and style of earlier Pixar movies: the human characters are
central to the storyline and they are animated with considerable squash-and-stretch. To make the later possible the technical character
team and the animators joined forces to develop new tools for animating squash and stretch humans in real time. The design and ease of
use of the character setup rigs was driven by the animators' needs, and keeping the overall look-and-feel similar to earlier versions of Pixar
animation software was an important consideration.
One of the main characteristics of the software tools used to animate The Incredibles was the layering of two key stages in the animation
process: the bone and muscle calculations, and the squash-and-stretch system. Without the layering of these two stages it would have been
difficult to provide animators with realtime feedback. In simple terms, the first stage of this layered process started by running the bone and
muscle calculations through all the character's positions in a shot. Using statistical analysis the software determined the most significant
changes in the character's skin throughout the shot, and "baked" those deformations into the model so that they could effectively be used as
blend shapes. (Without the baking animated models played back at rates of eight to 10 frames per second.) After doing the first pass
animation the animators saw the baked geometry and did not have to deal directly with the bone and muscle system. The second stage of
the layered animation process consisted of applying the squash-and-stretch to the baked geometry as a post-process, and animators were
able to visualize this in realtime.
Geometry decimation was another technique used to keep the playback as close as possible to 24 frames per second. Animators were
involved in the process of hand-crafted decimation that brought some meshes to about 25% of the full geometry but kept, for example, the
full and decimated silhouette shapes of each character identical. Each character had a decimated version, with most of the savings
occurring in the body geometry and not the face. Decimated models did everything that full models did, and the deformation hierarchies
remained the same but with much less overhead. Shots got finalized during the animation stage using the decimated version but the final
rendering used the full geometry.

CHARACTER ANIMATION

Character animation is a specialized area of the animation process concerning the animation of one or more characters featured in an animated work. It is usually as one aspect of a larger production and often made to enhance voice acting. The primary role of a Character Animator is to be the "actor" behind the performance, especially during shots with no dialog. Character animation is artistically unique from other animation in that it involves the creation of apparent thought and emotion in addition to physical action.

Historically, Winsor McCay's Gertie the Dinosaur (1914) is often considered the very first example of true character animation. Otto Messmer imbued Felix the Cat with an instantly recognizable personality during the 1920s. The following decade, Walt Disney made character animation a particular focus of his animation studio, best showcased in productions such as Three Little Pigs, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Pinocchio, and Dumbo. Disney animation artists such as Bill Tytla, Ub Iwerks, Grim Natwick, Fred Moore, Ward Kimball, Les Clark, John Sibley, Marc Davis, Wolfgang Reitherman, Hal King, Hamilton Luske, Norm Ferguson, Eric Larson, John Lounsbery, Milt Kahl, Frank Thomas and Ollie Johnston all became masters of the technique.

Frank and Ollie, as they were affectionately known by their proteges,taught that the thoughts and emotions behind the character were primary to the creation of every scene. ^[1] Out of all the Nine Old Men, Frank and Ollie were the most known for their mentor /apprentice relationships, and the sharing of their knowledge about creating characters, most notably as transcribed through Disney Animation: The Illusion of Life. This book relays the 12 basic principles of animation, and is informally considered to be the 'animation bible' for any student of animation.

Other notable figures in character animation include the Schlesinger/Warner Bros. directors (Tex Avery, Don Bluth, Chuck Jones, Hanna-Barbera, Bob Clampett, Max Fleischer, Walter Lantz, Frank Tashlin, Robert McKimson, and Friz Freleng), independent animator Richard Williams, John Lasseter at Pixar, and latter-day Disney animators Andreas Deja and Glen Keane. Character animation is not limited to Hollywood studios, however. Some of the finest examples of character animation can be found in the work of Nick Park of Aardman Animations and Russian independent animator Yuri Norstein.

Though typical examples of character animation are found in animated feature films, the role of character animation within the gaming industry is rapidly increasing. Game developers are using more complicated characters that allow the gamer to more fully connect with the gaming experience. Prince of Persia, God of War, Team Fortress II or Resident Evil contain examples of character animation in games.

Character animation is augmented by special effects animation, which creates anything that is not a character; most commonly vehicles, machinery, and natural phenomena such as rain, snow, lightning and water, as well as the "non-natural" effects often seen in science fiction films. Sometimes, even special effect animation uses the principles of character animation; an early example is the pseudopod in The Abyss.

On-going computer science research on character animation deals with the question of generating multi-layer level of detail at run-time to allow large crowd rendering in real time applications

Stop motion (also known as stop action or frame-by-frame) is an animation technique to make a physically manipulated object appear to move on its own. The object is moved in small increments between individually photographed frames, creating the illusion of movement when the series of frames is played as a continuous sequence. Clay figures are often used in stop motion for their ease of repositioning. Motion animation using clay is called clay animation or clay-mation.

Animatronics is the use of electronics and robotics in mechanised puppets to simulate life.

Animatronics are mainly used in movie making, but also in theme parks and other forms of entertainment. Its main advantages to CGI and stop motion is that it is not a simulation of reality, but rather physical objects moving in real time in front of the camera. The technology behind animatronics has become more advanced and sophisticated over the years, making the puppets even more realistic and lifelike.

Animatronics for film and television productions are used to perform action on camera in situations where the action involves creatures that do not exist, the action is too risky or costly to use real actors or animals, or the action could never be obtained with a living person or animal. The application of animatronics today includes computer controlled as well as radio and manually controlled devices. The actuation of specific movements can be obtained with electric motors, pneumatic cylinders, hydraulic cylinders and cable driven mechanisms. The type of mechanism employed is dictated by the character parameters, specific movement requirements and the project constraints.

speciel effects of animation

the illusions used in the film, television, theater, or entertainment industries to simulate the imagined events in a story are traditionally called special effects (often abbreviated as SFX, SPFX, or simply FX).

Special effects are traditionally divided into the categories of optical effects and mechanical effects. With the emergence of digital film-making tools a greater distinction between special effects and visual effects has been recognized, with "visual effects" referring to digital post-production and "special effects" referring to on-set mechanical effects and in-camera optical effects.

Optical effects (also called photographic effects), are techniques in which images or film frames are created photographically, either "in-camera" using multiple exposure, mattes, or the Schüfftan process, or in post-production processes using an optical printer. An optical effect might be used to place actors or sets against a different background.

Mechanical effects (also called practical or physical effects), are usually accomplished during the live-action shooting. This includes the use of mechanized props, scenery, scale models, pyrotechnics and Atmospheric Effects: creating physical wind, rain, fog, snow, clouds etc. Making a car appear to drive by itself, or blowing up a building are examples of mechanical effects. Mechanical effects are often incorporated into set design and makeup. For example, a set may be built with break-away doors or walls to enhance a fight scene, or prosthetic makeup can be used to make an actor look like a monster.

Since the 1990s, computer generated imagery (CGI) has come to the forefront of special effects technologies. CGI gives film-makers greater control, and allows many effects to be accomplished more safely and convincingly – and even, as technology marches on, at lower costs. As a result, many optical and mechanical effects techniques have been superseded by CGI.

Multi-sketch is an animation method of story-telling where a sequence of hand-drawn sketches are created simultaneously while narrating it with voice. To achieve this a Tablet PC or digitizing tablet can be used to create improvised progressive line sketches which are captured to video.

Such types of cartoons are created in a freestyle unscripted manner, which makes them original, since the whole cartoon does not need editing after it is completed. Originally invented by Renat Zarbailov when he combined two software applications—sketching software with screen capturing one. One of the pioneers of Multi-Sketch cartoon creation is Kenly Dillard, who, at the age of twenty four held the title of the world's third champion in speed sketching competition. The final multi-sketch can be sent to various formats, HDTV, DVD, web streaming, or WMV/FLV/Quicktime/MPEG4.

chukimation

Chuckimation is a type of animation created by the makers of the cartoon Action League Now! in which characters/props are thrown, or chucked from off camera or wiggled around to simulate talking by unseen hands, combined with traditional stop motion animation.^[1]

An animation style similar to chuckimation is used in the show, "A Town Called Panic", where clay figures are posed and moved by a strange force. Every time they talk they move a little, and their mouths don't move

Other techniques and approaches

• Character animation
• Chuckimation
• Multi-sketching
• Special effects animation
• Animatronics
• Stop motion
  
• character animation:
  

  Character animation is a specialized area of the animation process concerning the animation of one or more characters featured in an animated work. It is usually as one aspect of a larger production and often made to enhance voice acting. The primary role of a Character Animator is to be the "actor" behind the performance, especially during shots with no dialog. Character animation is artistically unique from other animation in that it involves the creation of apparent thought and emotion in addition to physical action.

  Historically, Winsor McCay's Gertie the Dinosaur (1914) is often considered the very first example of true character animation. Otto Messmer imbued Felix the Cat with an instantly recognizable personality during the 1920s. The following decade, Walt Disney made character animation a particular focus of his animation studio, best showcased in productions such as Three Little Pigs, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Pinocchio, and Dumbo. Disney animation artists such as Bill Tytla, Ub Iwerks, Grim Natwick, Fred Moore, Ward Kimball, Les Clark, John Sibley, Marc Davis, Wolfgang Reitherman, Hal King, Hamilton Luske, Norm Ferguson, Eric Larson, John Lounsbery, Milt Kahl, Frank Thomas and Ollie Johnston all became masters of the technique.

  Frank and Ollie, as they were affectionately known by their proteges,taught that the thoughts and emotions behind the character were primary to the creation of every scene. ^[1] Out of all the Nine Old Men, Frank and Ollie were the most known for their mentor /apprentice relationships, and the sharing of their knowledge about creating characters, most notably as transcribed through Disney Animation: The Illusion of Life. This book relays the 12 basic principles of animation, and is informally considered to be the 'animation bible' for any student of animation.

  Other notable figures in character animation include the Schlesinger/Warner Bros. directors (Tex Avery, Don Bluth, Chuck Jones, Hanna-Barbera, Bob Clampett, Max Fleischer, Walter Lantz, Frank Tashlin, Robert McKimson, and Friz Freleng), independent animator Richard Williams, John Lasseter at Pixar, and latter-day Disney animators Andreas Deja and Glen Keane. Character animation is not limited to Hollywood studios, however. Some of the finest examples of character animation can be found in the work of Nick Park of Aardman Animations and Russian independent animator Yuri Norstein.

  Though typical examples of character animation are found in animated feature films, the role of character animation within the gaming industry is rapidly increasing. Game developers are using more complicated characters that allow the gamer to more fully connect with the gaming experience. Prince of Persia, God of War, Team Fortress II or Resident Evil contain examples of character animation in games.

  Character animation is augmented by special effects animation, which creates anything that is not a character; most commonly vehicles, machinery, and natural phenomena such as rain, snow, lightning and water, as well as the "non-natural" effects often seen in science fiction films. Sometimes, even special effect animation uses the principles of character animation; an early example is the pseudopod in The Abyss.

  On-going computer science research on character animation deals with the question of generating multi-layer level of detail at run-time to allow large crowd rendering in real time applications

Other animation techniques

• Drawn on film animation: a technique where footage is produced by creating the images directly on film stock, for example by Norman McLaren, Len Lye and Stan Brakhage.
• Paint-on-glass animation: a technique for making animated films by manipulating slow drying oil paints on sheets of glass, for example by Aleksandr Petrov.
• Erasure animation: a technique using tradition 2D medium, photographed over time as the artist manipulates the image. For example, William Kentridge is famous for his charcoal erasure films.
• Pinscreen animation: makes use of a screen filled with movable pins, which can be moved in or out by pressing an object onto the screen. The screen is lit from the side so that the pins cast shadows. The technique has been used to create animated films with a range of textural effects difficult to achieve with traditional cel animation.
• Sand animation: sand is moved around on a backlighted or frontlighted piece of glass to create each frame for an animated film. This creates an interesting effect when animated because of the light contrast.
• Flip book: A flip book (sometimes, especially in British English, called a flick book) is a book with a series of pictures that vary gradually from one page to the next, so that when the pages are turned rapidly, the pictures appear to animate by simulating motion or some other change. Flip books are often illustrated books for children, but may also be geared towards adults and employ a series of photographs rather than drawings. Flip books are not always separate books, but may appear as an added feature in ordinary books or magazines, often in the page corners. Software packages and websites are also available that convert digital video files into custom-made flip books.

• clay animation:
  
• or Plasticine animation often abbreviated as claymation, uses figures made of clay or a similar malleable material to create stop-motion animation. The figures may have an armature or wire frame inside of them, similar to the related puppet animation (below), that can be manipulated in order to pose the figures. Alternatively, the figures may be made entirely of clay, such as in the films of Bruce Bickford, where clay creatures morph into a variety of different shapes. Examples of clay-animated works include The Gumby Show (US, 1957–1967) Morph shorts (UK, 1977–2000), Wallace and Gromit shorts (UK, as of 1989), Jan Švankmajer's Dimensions of Dialogue (Czechoslovakia, 1982), The Trap Door (UK, 1984). Films include Wallace and Gromit: Curse of the Were-Rabbit, Chicken Run and The Adventures of Mark Twain
• Cutout animation is a type of stop-motion animation produced by moving 2-dimensional pieces of material such as paper or cloth. Examples include Terry Gilliam's animated sequences from Monty Python's Flying Circus (UK, 1969–1974); Fantastic Planet (France/Czechoslovakia, 1973) ; Tale of Tales (Russia, 1979), The pilot episode of the TV series (and sometimes in episodes) of South Park (US, 1997).
  

  

  A clay animation scene from a Finnish television commercial.
  • Silhouette animation is a variant of cutout animation in which the characters are backlit and only visible as silhouettes. Examples include The Adventures of Prince Achmed (Weimar Republic, 1926) and Princes et princesses (France, 2000).
• Model animation refers to stop-motion animation created to interact with and exist as a part of a live-action world. Intercutting, matte effects, and split screens are often employed to blend stop-motion characters or objects with live actors and settings. Examples include the work of Ray Harryhausen, as seen in films such Jason and the Argonauts (1961), and the work of Willis O'Brien on films such as King Kong (1933 film).
  • Go motion is a variant of model animation which uses various techniques to create motion blur between frames of film, which is not present in traditional stop-motion. The technique was invented by Industrial Light & Magic and Phil Tippett to create special effects scenes for the film The Empire Strikes Back (1980). Another example is Vermithrax from Dragonslayer (1981 film).
• Object animation refers to the use of regular inanimate objects in stop-motion animation, as opposed to specially created items.
  • Graphic animation uses non-drawn flat visual graphic material (photographs, newspaper clippings, magazines, etc.) which are sometimes manipulated frame-by-frame to create movement. At other times, the graphics remain stationary, while the stop-motion camera is moved to create on-screen action.
• Pixilation involves the use of live humans as stop motion characters. This allows for a number of surreal effects, including disappearances and reappearances, allowing people to appear to slide across the ground, and other such effects. Examples of pixilation include The Secret Adventures of Tom Thumb and Angry Kid shorts

an example of stop animation.

STOP ANIMATION

main article:stop animation

Stop-motion animation is used to describe animation created by physically manipulating real-world objects and photographing them one frame of film at a time to create the illusion of movement. There are many different types of stop-motion animation, usually named after the type of media used to create the animation. Computer software is widely available to create this type of animation.

• Puppet animation typically involves stop-motion puppet figures interacting with each other in a constructed environment, in contrast to the real-world interaction in model animation. The puppets generally have an armature inside of them to keep them still and steady as well as constraining them to move at particular joints. Examples include The Tale of the Fox (France, 1937), Nightmare Before Christmas (US, 1993), Corpse Bride (US, 2005), Coraline (US, 2009), the films of Jiří Trnka and the TV series Robot Chicken (US, 2005–present).
  • Puppetoon, created using techniques developed by George Pal, are puppet-animated films which typically use a different version of a puppet for different frames,rather than simply manipulating one existing puppet.
    

An example of traditional animation.A hourse animated by rotoscoping from eadweard.that is 19th centuruy photos

ANIMATION TECHNIQUES

at the first one:traditional animation

Traditional animation (also called cel animation or hand-drawn animation) was the process used for most animated films of the 20th century. The individual frames of a traditionally animated film are photographs of drawings, which are first drawn on paper. To create the illusion of movement, each drawing differs slightly from the one before it. The animators' drawings are traced or photocopied onto transparent acetate sheets called cels, which are filled in with paints in assigned colors or tones on the side opposite the line drawings. The completed character cels are photographed one-by-one onto motion picture film against a painted background by a rostrum camera.

The traditional cel animation process became obsolete by the beginning of the 21st century. Today, animators' drawings and the backgrounds are either scanned into or drawn directly into a computer system. Various software programs are used to color the drawings and simulate camera movement and effects. The final animated piece is output to one of several delivery media, including traditional 35 mm film and newer media such as digital video. The "look" of traditional cel animation is still preserved, and the character animators' work has remained essentially the same over the past 70 years. Some animation producers have used the term "tradigital" to describe cel animation which makes extensive use of computer technology.

Examples of traditionally animated feature films include Pinocchio (United States, 1940), Animal Farm (United Kingdom, 1954), and Akira (Japan, 1988). Traditional animated films which were produced with the aid of computer technology include The Lion King (US, 1994) Sen to Chihiro no Kamikakushi (Spirited Away) (Japan, 2001), Treasure Planet (USA, 2002) and Les Triplettes de Belleville (2003).

• Full animation refers to the process of producing high-quality traditionally animated films, which regularly use detailed drawings and plausible movement. Fully animated films can be done in a variety of styles, from more realistically animated works such as those produced by the Walt Disney studio (Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin, Lion King) to the more "cartoony" styles of those produced by the Warner Bros. animation studio (Iron Giant, Quest for Camelot, Cats Don't Dance). Many of the Disney animated features are examples of full animation, as are non-Disney works such as The Secret of NIMH (US, 1982) and The Iron Giant (US, 1999), Nocturna (Spain, 2007)
• Limited animation involves the use of less detailed and/or more stylized drawings and methods of movement. Pioneered by the artists at the American studio United Productions of America, limited animation can be used as a method of stylized artistic expression, as in Gerald McBoing Boing (US, 1951), Yellow Submarine (UK, 1968), and much of the anime produced in Japan. Its primary use, however, has been in producing cost-effective animated content for media such as television (the work of Hanna-Barbera, Filmation, and other TV animation studios) and later the Internet (web cartoons). Some examples are; Spongebob Squarepants (USA, 1999–present), The Fairly OddParents (USA, 2001–present) and Invader Zim (USA, 2001–2006).
• Rotoscoping is a technique, patented by Max Fleischer in 1917, where animators trace live-action movement, frame by frame. The source film can be directly copied from actors' outlines into animated drawings, as in The Lord of the Rings (US, 1978), used as a basis and inspiration for character animation, as in most Disney films, or used in a stylized and expressive manner, as in Waking Life (US, 2001) and A Scanner Darkly (US, 2006). Some other examples are: Fire and Ice (USA, 1983) and Heavy Metal (1981).
• Live-action/animation is a technique, when combining hand-drawn characters into live action shots. One of the earlier uses of it was Koko the Clown when Koko was drawn over live action footage. Other examples would include Who Framed Roger Rabbit? (USA, 1988), Space Jam (USA, 1996) and Osmosis Jones (USA, 2002).

Computer animation

Main article: Computer animation

A short gif animation of Earth.

A 3-D computer animation of hypercube.

Computer animation encompasses a variety of techniques, the unifying factor being that the animation is created digitally on a computer.

[edit] 2D animation

2D animation figures are created and/or edited on the computer using 2D bitmap graphics or created and edited using 2D vector graphics. This includes automated computerized versions of traditional animation techniques such as of tweening, morphing, onion skinning and interpolated rotoscoping.

Examples: Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends, Danny Phantom, Waltz with Bashir

• Analog computer animation
• Flash animation
• PowerPoint animation

[edit] 3D animation

3D animation are digitally modeled and manipulated by an animator. In order to manipulate a mesh, it is given a digital skeletal structure that can be used to control the mesh. This process is called rigging. Various other techniques can be applied, such as mathematical functions (ex. gravity, particle simulations), simulated fur or hair, effects such as fire and water and the use of Motion capture to name but a few, these techniques fall under the category of 3d dynamics. Many 3D animations are very believable and are commonly used as Visual effects for recent movies.

An Egyptian burial chamber mural, approximately 4000 years old, showing wrestlers in action. Even though this may appear similar to a series of animation drawings, there was no way of viewing the images in motion. It does, however, indicate the artist's intention of depicting motion.

animal animation - mom and calf) There's no such thing as "happy cows" that are raised to produce meat and dairy. On dairy factory farms, my baby was taken from me right after birth. This is profoundly upsetting to both of us. My calf will soon be sold as "veal." For months to follow, I'm hooked up to machines that take all of the milk that nature intended for my baby, and is instead sold to humans who have already been weaned from the mothers of their own species. When I'm no longer able to have babies to make more milk for humans, I too will be sold as "ground beef."

International Animation Festivals
Annecy International Film Festival, France

Ottawa International Film Festival, Canada

International Animation Festival of Hiroshima, Japan

Anima Mundi, Brazil

Brussels Cartoon and Animation Festival, Belgium

Holland Animation Festival, The Netherlands

Cartoons on the Bay, Italy

Zagreb Animation Festival, Croatia

Tehran International Animation Festival, Iran

Stuttgart International Animated Film Festival, Germany

FMX - International Conference on Animation, Effects, Games and Digital Media, Stuttgart, Germany

Fantoche International Animation Festival, Switzerland


Cinanima - International Festival of Animated Films, Portugal

Turku International Animated Film Festival, Finland

Spike and Mike’s Festival of Animation, USA

Melbourne International Animation Festival, Australia

SIGGRAPH Computer Animation Festival, USA

Bradford Animation Festival, UK

Animadrid International Animation Film Festival, Spain

New York Animation Festival, USA

Asian Animation Film Festival

Animation Festivals in India

Anifest India (Organised by The Animation Society of India - held annually)

Chitrakatha International Student Animation Festival (Organised by the National Institute of Design, Ahmedabad, - held once every two years)

MIFF - Mumbai International Film Festival (Includes live-action films, shorts, documentaries and animated films from around the world - held once every two years)

IFFI - International Film Festival of India (Primarily a live-action film festival but occasionally has animated entries as well - held annually)

The Team

While everyone else in India was racing to create the Next Big Animated Film, Akshata Udiaver decided she preferred being the one to write about it. Taking note of the serious dearth of animation -related information specific to India, she started a little ‘blog’ – All About Animation - that spoke about various aspects of Indian Animation. The response was so encouraging that she decided to take it forward and develop it into a full-fledged portal that would become a one-stop destination for anyone in India seeking info on the Indian Animation Scenario.

Akshata is a committee member of TASI -The Animation Society of India, and also a member of ASIFA India and Women in Animation India. She loves animation in all its different avatars and is a big fan of experimental animation. An Applied Arts Graduate from Sir J J Institute of Applied Arts, Mumbai, Akshata was running her own design studio doing graphic and web design and copywriting till she could no more resist the call of animation and thus, All About Animation (the blog) was born on 1st September 2007, while website was launched on 1st December 2007.

A short stint at the prestigious School of Visual Arts, New York in 1999-2000 had already introduced her to the magical world of animation (to which she has been addicted ever since). The fascination has now translated into a passion to create the much-needed awareness about animation in India and also to promote budding animators and artists while fostering a culture of original, independent and creative Indian animation.

All though she is yet to make her first animated film, she has tried her hand at various styles of experimental animation and has several stories swimming around in her head. Whether the stories find their way out as animated films or as books remains to be seen. But in the coming days, AAA is sure to become THE destination for animation students, wannabes, professionals, educators and fans alike!

The Mission

All About Animation is a three-pronged effort at animation awareness, education and encouragement, in the form of a website, blog and soon-to-be- launched monthly E-Magazine. It is dedicated to enabling animation lovers in India to educate themselves on every aspect of animation, interact with its exponents and truly appreciate this art form in all its glory.

Awareness - for those enjoy viewing animation but know little or nothing of it.

Education - for those who know a little bit about animation and are interested in learning more.

Encouragement - for those who are already a part of the Indian animation community, either as students or professionals, and need nurturing, support and motivation.

AIMS:

* to create one single, unified information destination; for anybody and everybody in India who is interested in animation
* to acquaint young Indian animation enthusiasts with global animation; its history, evolution, varying styles and techniques
* to raise awareness as well as interest levels; what is animation? what are visual effects? what is gaming?
* to assist and guide students both prospective and current; recommend schools, list resources, solve problems
* to discuss issues affecting the Indian animation industry; attrition, acute shortage of talent, lack of awareness and training
* to showcase good animation; by students, independent animators as well as studios
* to provide a free platform for students to display their creations and for people to view student work
* to elucidate career options; creative, technological and business

This is a very big project and we are looking for support from the Indian Animation community, by way of information sharing, sponsorship and advertising.

3D - Computer Animation

The most well-known technique of animation besides traditional animation is computer-generated 3-dimensional animation created with the help of software like Maya, Softimage, 3D Max and also some open-source variants like Blender.

To give a brief overview, 3D computer animation involves a series of important steps - modelling, rigging, animation, texturing, lighting and rendering.

Currently it is the most popular technique for creating animation in India, also because of a common misconception that one only needs a computer and software to create animation. It is important to understand that besides these two, one needs to have a solid understanding of the principles of animation and basic art skills at the least to be able to successfully create any kind of animation.

Flash Animation

A popular technique of animation that is used widely for the web and television programming is animation created using the software - Flash. Essentially 2D in style, the software gives the artist a lot of freedom to experiment and enables faster drawing, easier management of layers, manipulation of text, and a lot more.

Experimental Animation

Experimental Animation is the name given to assorted methods of painstakingly animating frame-by-frame to manipulate the resulting images. There are no set rules and the artist can take liberties with the medium, let his imagination run wild and create poetry on film by drawing directly on film or using anything from sand to paint to pins!

Drawn on Film Animation
A technique where footage is produced by creating the images directly on film stock, for example by Norman McLaren and Len Lye.

Sand Animation
Sand is moved around on a backlighted or frontlighted piece of glass to create each frame for an animated film. This creates an interesting effect when animated because of the light contrast.

Paint on Glass Animation
A technique for making animated films by manipulating slow drying oil paints on sheets of glass.

Pinscreen animation
This technique makes use of a screen filled with movable pins, which can be moved in or out by pressing an object onto the screen. The screen is lit from the side so that the pins cast shadows. The technique has been used to create animated films with a range of textural effects difficult to achieve with traditional cel animation.

Pixillation

Pixillation is a specialized technique for animating people. The camera records occasional frames of some natural or real-time event, but because of the intermittent filming, the effect of the resulting film is that of an unnatural movement somewhat like in an old silent movie. A stationary camera records a stationary posed subject, shooting on twos. Between exposures, the character moves to a new position. The process is low, tiring and requires a great amount of patience. Because the subject in pixillation is usually a living person, complete control of the pose is difficult. Trial and error rules pixillation.
Example of Pixillation - Norman McLaren’s Oscar-winning film Neighbours

Silhouette Animation

When backlit, cutout animation becomes simplified dark (black) images and is referred to as silhouette animation. It was used by German animation pioneer Lotte Reiniger for many short films as well as The Adventures of Prince Achmed (1926), the oldest-surviving feature-length animated film.

Cutout Animation

This is a type of stop-motion animation produced by moving 2-dimensional pieces of material such as paper or cloth on a flat surface or in a digital environment.
Example of Cutout Animation - South Park and Nickelodeon’s popular kid’s programme -Blue’s Clues.

Clay Animation

In this technique figures made of clay or a similar malleable material are used to create stop-motion animation. The figures may have an armature or wire frame inside of them, similar to the related puppet animation (below), that can be manipulated in order to pose the figures. Alternatively, the figures may be made entirely of clay, such as in the films of Bruce Bickford, where clay creatures morph into a variety of different shapes.
Examples of Clay Animation - Most of the Aardman Studios films including the Wallace and Grommit series and Chicken Run

Stop Motion

Stop motion (or frame-by-frame) animation is an animation technique to make a physically manipulated object appear to move on its own. The object is moved by small amounts between individually photographed frames, creating the illusion of movement when the series of frames are played as a continuous sequence.

When clay figures are used to create stop motion animation, it is known as Clay Animation.

Software applications such as Stop Motion Pro and the free AnimatorDV make use of this technique.

Model Animation
This technique has stop-motion animation created to interact with and exist as a part of a live-action world. Intercutting, matte effects, and split screens are often employed to blend stop-motion characters or objects with live actors and settings.
Examples of Model Animation - Ray Harryhausen’s Jason and the Argonauts and the King Kong films

Object Animation
This style refers to the use of regular inanimate objects in stop-motion animation, as opposed to specially created items.
Example of Object Animation - Ishu Patel’s Beadgame

Puppet Animation
This kind of animation typically involves stop-motion puppet figures interacting with each other in a constructed environment, in contrast to the real-world interaction in model animation. The puppets generally have an armature inside of them to keep them still and steady as well as constraining them to move at particular joints.
Examples of Puppet Animation - Tim Burton’s Nightmare Before Christmas and Corpse Bride

Traditional Animation

Traditional animation, also known as cel animation, was the process used for most animated films of the 20th century. The individual frames of a traditionally animated film are photographs of drawings, which are first drawn on paper. To create the illusion of movement, each drawing differs slightly from the one before it. The animators’ drawings are traced or photocopied onto transparent acetate sheets called cels, (from where the phrase ‘cel animation’ has been dervied) which are filled in with paints in assigned colors or tones on the side opposite the line drawings. The completed character cels are photographed one-by-one onto motion picture film against a painted background by a rostrum camera.

This process became obsolete by the beginning of the 21st century. Today, animators’ drawings and the backgrounds are either scanned into or drawn directly into a computer system. Various software programs are used to color the drawings and simulate camera movement and effects. The final animated piece is output to one of several delivery mediums, including traditional 35 mm film and newer media such as digital video.

Full animation refers to the process of producing high-quality traditionally animated films, which regularly use detailed drawings and plausible movement. Films produced by Walt Disney studios are full animation films.

Limited animation involves the use of less detailed and/or more stylized drawings and methods of movement. Pioneered by the artists at the American studio United Productions of America, limited animation can be used as a method of stylized artistic expression. The Hannah Barbera cartoons are examples of limited animation.

Rotoscoping is a technique, patented by Max Fleischer in 1917, where animators trace live-action movement, frame by frame. The source film can be directly copyed from actors’ outlines into animated drawings, as in The Lord of the Rings (US, 1978), used as a basis and inspiration for character animation, as in most Disney films, or used in a stylized and expressive manner, as in Waking Life (US, 2001) and A Scanner Darkly (film) (US, 2006).

History of Animation

The desire to animate is as old as art itself. Early man drew pictures on cave walls, attempting to depict motion by showing animals with multiple superimposed legs. The vases of ancient Greece with their gods and heroes and the friezes of Rome with their battling warriors and galloping steeds, also sought to capture, in static images, the dynamics of action. It was only in the 19th century, in the years leading up to the invention of the motion picture, that animated pictures became a real possibility.

Here is an extract from the book “Animation Art” that sums up the origin and evolution of Animation as we know it now.

The early days of animation were filled with invention and novelty - on screen and behind the scenes. This was an era of experimentation, where techniques being created and refined. Brave newspaper cartoonists attempted to adapt their pen and ink creations to the moving screen - and most of them succeeded beyond their wildest dreams.

Standardization of production methods was quickly established, and then the storytellers, artists and film-makers took over. At first they told jokes, then proceeded to telling stories with original characters, classic fables and comic-strip adaptations. They tried live-action combined with animation, stop-motion, pixilation, silhouette animation, sound cartoons and colour. They then made documentaries, instructional films and pure visual art. But it was not easy…

Winsor McCay drew complete scenes - background settings and moving characters - for every frame of motion-picture film, and there were 24 frames per second. Earl Hurd improved upon this by drawing characters individually on celluloid (cels) over static background paintings. Raoul Barre created registration pegs so animator’s drawings would align under the camera. Otto Mesmer animated characters that could think, while Walt Disney and Ub Iwerks gave their cartoon drawings real personality.
It was the beginning of a new visual medium where anything was possible. In thse pioneer days before sound, the artists sharpened their skills and created an industry.

ANIMATION A-B-C

Animation a-b-c

THE PERSISTENCE OF VISION

All film is essentially an optical illusion, a trick of the eye, which is known as ‘persistence of vision’. When the human eye sees an image, it retains it for a fraction of a second. If in that tiny space of time, one image can be substituted by another which is slightly different, then there appears to be movement! What you really see when watching a ‘movie’ is NOT really a ‘moving’ picture at all but a series of ’still’ pictures being shown in rapid succession. At the rate of 24 frames per second, the eye is easily deceived.

Animated film-making is fundamentally different from live-action film-making. The live-action camera captures a scene moving in real-time and freezes it into individual still ‘frames’ which are then projected onto the screen. In animation, there is no pre-existing motion. The camera captures stills that are either drawn, sculpted or created in a digital environment.

Animation is a complex and immersive art, with science as its backbone. It takes a great deal of practice and dedication for an artist to master it.