ANIMATION FUNDAMENTALS

By Alexander Ewing

WHAT IS ANIMATION

A simulation of movement created by displaying a series of pictures, or frames. Cartoons on television is one example of animation.

Animation on computers is one of the chief ingredients of multimedia presentations. 

The word Animation derives from the Latin words Anima meaning life,

Andanimare meaning to breathe life into.

EADWEARD MUYBRIDGEPHENAKISTOSCOPE DISC (1893)

HOW DOES IT WORK

When a person views a moving object in real life, the human brain retains the image of a moving object for

longer than that image is actually present. This creates an opportunity to convince the brain's image

processing centres that a series of fast, still images are actually moving pictures.

The human brain will perceive motion when watching a series of moving images presented at a speed as slow as 10 frames per second, but the motion will appear

jerky.

A rate of 16 images per second creates an impression of a moving image virtually indistinguishable from live

motion.

HISTORY OF ANIMATION

Throughout history, people have employed various techniques to give the impression of moving pictures.

Cave drawings depicted animals with their legs overlapping so that they appeared to be running. The properties of

animation can be seen in Asian puppet shows, Greek bas-relief, Egyptian funeral paintings, medieval stained glass,

and modern comic strips.

Film showing images from a 5,200-year old bowl from an ancient burial site in Iran.

Chauvet Cave in the valley of the Ardèche River in

France.30,000-year old

ANIMATION MODERN TIMELINE

Zoetrope (180 AD; 1834)

Thaumatrope (1824)

Flip book (1868)

Praxinoscope (1877)

ANIMATION MODERN TIMELINE

Gertie the Dinosaur (1914)

Steamboat Willie (1928)(The first successful sound animated film)

Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937)(The first animated feature film produced in America $1.5 Million)

Beauty and The Beast (1991)(The first animated feature to be nominated for the Academy Award

as Best Picture.)

ANIMATION MODERN TIMELINE

Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within (2001)(the most expensive video game-inspired film ever made)

The Simpsons (2005)(The longest running television comedy series ever

made)

Happy Feet (2006)(Though primarily an Animated film, Happy Feet does

incorporate motion capture of live action humans)

SOURCES

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_animation

http://www.animazing.com/gallery/pages/history.html

http://donsmaps.com/chauvetcave.html

http://joshuamosley.com/UPenn/courses/Ani/AnimationHistory.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eadweard_Muybridge