Have you ever wondered how your favorite animations are made? What makes them different from one another? Why is the Kung Fu Panda so realistic? And why does Ernest & Celestine feel nostalgic even though it was made in 2012?
In this article, we have collected different types of animation with some examples.
Motion graphics is made from two words “motion” and “graphic” and in a simple sense, it is a graphic that has movement and the capabilities of both are used to convey the message. In simple words, it is defined as graphics with movement. Generally, real images are not used in them, and graphic design software such as Photoshop and Illustrator are used for graphic design.
Presenting content in the form of motion graphics is more attractive to the audience due to the presence of movement and sound. It is used in several films but mostly, in various animated commercials such as the examples below:
Motion graphics are considered one of the types and sub-branches of animation. Both animators and motion graphics designers use the same software and are engaged with static objects and graphic elements.
Animation and motion graphics have some differences followed below:
This type of animation consists of simulating black line graphics that are drawn on a white background and depict existing concepts or ideas. This efficient style leads to a simple, accurate, and influential result. Despite the common conception, Black and white animation is not exclusively classical and old-fashioned. There are several successful modern animations made in black and white as well.
Here are some of the most famous black-and-white animations:
An infographic is a combination of two words information and graphics. Infographics are a collection of texts, images, graphic elements, etc. that depict an overview of your desired topic and give the audience the ability to understand information at one glance. Today, with the increasing growth of the web world and the increase in the content production process, infographics are considered a valuable and distinctive tool to overtake competitors and communicate visually with the audience. The movies below are made using infographic designs.
Do you happen to remember Pat & Mat? How about Shaun the Sheep? Plenty the memorable animations of our childhood were made using a method called stop motion.
Stop motion is an animation technique in which a model is moved frame by frame and its image or video is recorded using a camera. When these images are put together, the viewer or audience feels that the model is alive and moving by itself. An animator who specializes in this field has such creativity that he can give life to all objects and make them move. The methods of stop motion are using dough, dolls, objects, cut out, pixilation, and stop motion models. Some of the iconic stop-motion animations are listed below.
Traditional animation, also known as hand animation, is a technique in which each frame of the film is drawn by hand. In this animation style, since frame by frame is drawn on paper, the work is usually two-dimensional and in anime mode.
One of the first examples of drawn animation is the traditional animation Fantasmagorie, which was created in 1908 by Emile Cohle. This animation contains about 700 frames that were drawn by hand and then captured on the negative.
Cel animation style is seriously time-consuming and almost old-fashioned. However, it is known as a magnificent work of art and still has a place in the animation industry.
Here is a list of some traditional animated movies:
This type of animation consists of characters and graphic designs that move in a 2D environment. These characters can move in the up, down, right and left directions, that is, in the X and Y axis. 2D animation lacks depth and is displayed flat and in the form of drawings on paper.
So many of the famous animations are categorized as 2D. Some of them are named below:
3D animation is presently known as the most common type of animation. It refers to the process of taking digital objects and bringing them to life by creating the illusion that they are moving in a 3D space. These computer-generated objects appear on a 2D screen, but they are built to imitate the principles of a 3D world. They appear to move, spin, and rotate like a real-world object, allowing for 360-degree vision. 3D animation was originally used in video games, television, and filmmaking.
3D animation is the process of creating 3D moving images in a digital context. These images are created using 3D software such as Maya, allowing animators to create computer-generated objects that appear in 3D even though they are on a 2D surface. Through visual effects and precise timing, animators can make anything from a video game character to a car in an ad seem to move through a 3D space.
Here are some examples of 3D animation:
So, why is the Shrek animation 3D but SpongeBob 2D? That’s a question I ask myself every day.
In the 2D world, images all appear flat and span only one x-axis (horizontal) and one y-axis (vertical). A two-dimensional whole is a shape that has only length and height as dimensions. Because two-dimensional shapes are located on a flat surface, they are also called plane figures or plane shapes. While 2D shapes have area, they do not have volume.
However, 3D animations add a critical third axis, the z-axis, which creates depth. In addition to length and height, the 3D shape also has dimension or width as its third dimension. Old Disney animated films such as “Sleeping Beauty” and “Bambi” are examples of 2D animation. In contrast, ‘Frozen’ and ‘Ice Age’ provide examples of 3D animation.
In today’s industrious world, marketers must consider several factors for choosing advertisement methods to effectively promote their products or services. Here are some of these essential elements.
The most popular styles of animation in advertising are motion graphics, stop motion, 2D, and 3D. Different styles of animation can be most effective for certain kinds of content. Collaborating with the right studio gives marketers the chance to create the most suitable animated ad and to benefit from it.