P1 - Different Types Of Animation

Animations

Animations are basically just multiple images put together in order to create a sequence which makes it look like the image is moving (commonly known as frames), basically a series of images grouped together to cause them to act together and create an animation/sequence of moving images.

The Coka-Cola advert that was released in 2006 is a very good example of animation, this is because it shows the Cola bottle as an un-animated object but everything else around it is animated. It was created by Dutch creators: the beginning of the advert begins with a man (un-animated) putting money into a vending machine to get the bottle of Coke, the moment the money enters the machine everything but the Cola bottle becomes animated, from the beginning, through to the Coke bottle leaving the machine for the man to collect his drink, thus, everything becoming un-animated again.
A clip of this is displayed as the YouTube link below.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iX2xS9vPQ-Y

William Horner - Zoetrope - 1834
William Horner created the Zoetrope in 1834, it was one of the first simple animation techniques created (with what looked like moving images). A Zoetrope is basically just a device that displays an illusion which makes images look like they're moving, it is basically just an improvement to the simple Phenkitascope, (created in 1832 by Dr Roget which was basically just a disk that has images drawn on it in different attitudes which makes it look like the images are moving when the disk is spun around, when in reality they'r not, it's just an illusion, the figures from this are also able to be projected up onto a screen), however, the Zoetrope is much easier to hold and the images on it are displayed more clear which makes the animation appear a lot more clear than that of the Phenkitascope. The Zoetrope later went on to produce the Praxinoscope, (it is a typical toy that was created in 1976 by Charles Émile Teynaud after the Phenkitascope and the Zoetrope. it is basically just a cylinder which has a strip of paper with it, displaying 12 separate frames in which will display the animation. While the cylinder rotates, mirrors that are placed in the center of the Praxinoscope reveal an image in single motion), the Praxinoscope made it much easier to look at the animation that was being displayed, this is because it had smaller slits on the sides where the person was able to look inside of it, it also gave a better result than the Phenkitascope. There are a number of designs created for the Zoetrope, from animals and workers, to football players and children playing. Back in 1834 when the Zoetrope was first invented, because nothing like that had ever been created or seen before, the people who owned them thought that they were some form of magic as the images were moving before their eyes even though they weren't real, but in reality, it was just a simple illusion, a trick of the mind which lead the viewers to believe the images was moving when in reality it wasn't, it was just a series of images looping over and over, producing something that looks like it is moving.
Zoopraxiscope
Eadweard Muybridge invented the Zoopraxiscope in 1979. All that he did was use the movement that was used in moving toys, and basically combined it with the projection of what was called the 'magic lantern', what he then did after this was draw a series of pictures in which he would then place into the motion of 'moving' images, basically for the first time ever, making it seem like images were actually moving before your eyes, this was done by drawing a number of pictures, and putting them together so that it's like each image is its own frame. The Zoopraxiscope is actually the beginning of a moving image, what is considered to have been the missing link of slide projection and cinema.
Tweening
Tweening is the abbreviation of in-betweening in animation, it is basically just the process of putting frames in between the major frames which will make the animation look more effective and fluent, which would give the images a more smooth moving look instead of it jumping from place to place, this is done so that when the animation is playing, it is smooth and each steady movement is recorded in between for a full effective animation process. Tweening is a very important process in the area of animation, this is because it displays tiny animations like a short movie clip.
Morphing
Morphing is the abbreviation of metamorphosing. Morphing is basically just the changing of an animation, such as an image slowly changing into something which is completely different from the first frame which you started out with. The majority of animation programs that are used today support at least 1 type of morphing feature when it comes to animating images. With cartoons, animation is what is used entirely to create it, so the entire series is created with a series of frames, all holding a different image so that the character actually moves and interacts with things, however, each time the character moves, it is actually morphing, this is because each different movement makes the character change, therefore the character is morphing into a different position. With morphing, the effect is basically the entire changing of a character, so the first drawing of before, and the final drawing of after get drawn up first so that you're able to build up the frames between to get the morphing effect that is needed for the change.
Masking
Masking is basically just a feature which is designed to allow you to block a specific part of one layer so that you're able to put another layer there in its place to get an effective animation. You're able to use masking to hide any object in the animation that you don't wish to use or you don't need. you're actually able to place a variety of different masks in each different masking animation so that you can get the animation that you want. Masking is used so that you're able to add effects into your animation, such as making a specific character be the main aspect on the screen, or make something in the background more visible than the rest. Masking is actually used to be a window of your animation, each different window contains a different piece of animation which will be seen on your final animation once it is played. With masking, each different layer is only able to contain 1 item for animation, you're not able to add any more animation onto your window.