Unit 31 P2 - Different Uses of Animation

Different Uses of Animation

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This is an advert for Penguin Chocolate bars using animation. The animator has used animation to create penguins and show them creating the chocolate bars themselves for the television advert. The animator has created the penguins and shown them moving via flash animation, which has allowed him to create the advert.

Creative Arts

http://animationart.tumblr.com/

This website is for an artist who creates his art via animation. The art is all digitally created, giving it the "animated" look. The art style is created entirely via animation, and allows him to create his art in different animated and "cartoony" styles.

Entertainment

Fifa 14 is a game created by EA that uses animation. The characters in game are animated to move and perform in a certain way, with different techniques utilized to make the characters in game move. The animation allows the player to make the characters perform different moves and techniques with the in game ball. 

Education

Animation has been used in my education to date in several different ways. Animation can be used to show examples of different techniques that have to be used in different subjects. For example, animation can be used to show how to perform certain animating techniques when creating animations.

Simulation

http://www.theaa.com/aattitude/games/hpt.jsp

This is a link to the hazard perception test for driving. It is a simulation of a car driving on the road, and you have to point out the hazards along the way. This allows the user to simulate the experience of driving a car, without the dangers of driving one without proper training and lessons.

Animation is the process of taking several frames and playing them one after another to create an animation. Each second several frames are played, and the more frames each second the smoother the animation will be. Different types of animation use the frames differently and will play them at different speeds to get the desired effect. For example, clay animation is played one frame at a time to create live action animation.

Traditional animation is a technique where each frame is drawn by hand and then played quickly one after the other to create the illusion of motion video and animation. Traditional animation usually begins with a storyboard, and this eventually gives life to the several images drawn and played to create a scene. 

Fantasmagorie is a french hand drawn animated film and is one of the first known animations. It was created by Émile Cohl in 1908. It is considered to be the first animated cartoon. The animation consists of a stick figure moving about and coming across different hand drawn objects which morph into other objects, such as a wine bottle which transforms into a flower. 

The Zoetrope was constructed by William Horner in the 19th Century. The Zoetrope was a spinning device with several frames painted on the inside depicting different scenes in a sequence, and when spun at high speeds and viewed through vertical slits on the outside, creates the illusion of motion picture and thus animation. 

There are several different animation techniques. Frame by frame animation, which is what clay animation is done on, is the process of taking single pictures very shortly after another and then playing them at high speed one after another afterwards. This can create a long video of still objects in the real world moving. Inanimate objects, such as clay, can be moved around and create the illusion of motion.

Tweening is is the process of creating a frame inbetween two frames to link between the pair, allowing the first image to move into the second one smoothly. More sophisticated software allows you to specify certain images and decide how slowly and how smoothly they transition into the next image. Tweening adds more frames to the animation, but makes it a smoother animation overall. 

Morphing is a special effect that transitions one photo to a middle ground and then finally a third photo, showing the change in a seamless transition. Morphing is often used to show a transition from one person to another person via technology, or showing the transition from one scene to another via a gradual transition. 

Masking is a visual animation of hiding certain things in a scene with a background or other object. This allows for the animator to reveal other parts of the scene at his discretion, for added dramatic effect. One of the most famous masking uses is the James Bond intro, where James Bond is hidden by the barrel of a gun until he comes into view. 

Advantages and Limitations of Animated .GIFs

Animated GIFs

Advantages
A GIF allows the user to create an animated, short "video" into an easily up loadable image which then replays indefinitely. This creates a new medium of animation for animators to use. GIFs are usually relatively small files, which makes uploading them and storing them on a computer much easier. GIFs can be used for lots of different animations and images, and usually varying in length. Depending on how long the GIF is, the larger the file will be. 

Disadvantages
GIFs only allow 256 colours in each image. This is a very limited number, meaning images can appear blocky. Some GIFs will be required to be compressed, and if they aren't compressed well then the GIF will appear blocky again and the resolution will become distorted. 

Types of Animation
There are several different types and formats for animation. Each one is different, with different features, advantages and disadvantages. 

Flash
A Flash animation or Flash cartoon is an animated film which is created by Adobe Flash or similar animation software.

Flash animation supports audio, animation and advanced interactivity which allows the animator to create an animation what allows interactivity from the user. This means animations can have different options that the user can take, which can continue the animation in a different direction depending on which option was chosen. 

Flash is relatively easy to learn as it provides a designer-friendly learning environment. However, it requires a good understanding of computer graphics, and the advanced features require familiarity with programming or scripting techniques.

Flash integrates well with other web technologies. This gives it a lot of options for interactivity when used in web browsers, and allows for more interactivity between the user and the animation. 

Shockwave
Adobe Shockwave is a multimedia platform used to add animation and interactivity to webpages. It allows Adobe Director applications to be published on the Internet and viewed in a web browser on any computer which has the Shockwave plug-in installed. 

Shockwave player is one of the less used multimedia platforms, as other programs like Flash have taken over the majority share and are the ones often used and integrated in webpages to add animation and user interactivity. 

Dynamic HTML
Dynamic HTML refers to HTML tags, scripts and elements that are more user interactive. Dynamic HTML combines HTML with other languages such as CSS and Javascript.

A Dynamic HTML page does not reload at every click. Instead, it loads only the part of the content that is supposed to change, such as the main text, a graphic, or the menu bar. So you can keep adding content and it won’t slow down the loading time.

Dynamic HTML makes use of built in features on the browser, so compatibility is less of a problem. Users don't have to download plug-ins or update their browser to access Dynamic HTML websites. 

Dynamic HTML sites can add more features without weighing down the site. Dynamic HTML sites often have lots of added features while still keeping a compact look.

Dynamic HTML can be costly to edit, as many HTML editors can handle Dynamic HTML code. To build a Dynamic HTML page, you may need an advanced editor such as Dreamweaver, which can be costly. 

Dynamic HTML combines with Javascript and CSS and as such has complex code. Most Dynamic HTML editors will do most of the work, but if you only have a knowledge of HTML, you'll need at least a working knowledge of the other two languages.

QuickTime
QuickTime is an extensible multimedia framework developed by Apple that is capable of handling different formats of digital video, picture, sound and interactivity. 

QuickTime is a relatively unknown platform compared to Java, and while Java is created to be compatible cross platforms, QuickTime is only installed by default on Macs. Other users must navigate to certain websites to install and update QuickTime, and it may not always work on certain PCs and operating systems.