- [Voiceover] Hey guys, in this video, I'm gonna go over the five
different types of animation and show you show some cool
examples of each of them. If you're interested in
becoming an animator, I have a cool surprise
at the end of this video, and I'll show you what you can do to pursue career in
animation based on the typed of animation you're interested in. But if you're just an
animation fan, that's okay. This video's gonna be a lot
of fun for you either way, just stick around, now let's get to it. We'll start off with
traditional animation, you might call it 2D animation, but actually place 2D
in a different category, and you'll see why later in the video. Traditional animation,
sometimes referred to as cell animation, is one of
the older forms of animation. In it, the animator draws every frame to create the animation sequence, just like they used to do
in the old days at Disney. If you ever had one of those
flip books when you were a kid, you know what I mean. Sequential drawings screen
quickly one after another, create the illusion of movement. Traditional animation consist of hand drawings called frames. In the past, the drawing
occurred on a big light table, which is basically a drafting table with a big light panel
in the middle of it, on which the animator drew the sequence. The light enabled the animator
to see his previous drawings through the paper to get a
better look of his animation, this is called onion skinning. Nowadays, even traditional
animation is being done mostly on computers by using a tablet like the Wacom Cintiq. 2D or traditional animation
is usually animated on 12 frames per second with
occasional faster action animated on 24 frames per second. Japanese animation, however,
is known to be animated on a lower frame rate in most cases. Next on the list is 2D animation. When I talk about 2D animation, I'm referring to vector-based animation, like the ones done in Flash. This style has become very
popular in the last decade, with the increasing
amount of people doing it due to the accessibility
of the technology. Flash is cheap and easy
to use, such are other vector-based animation program. The reason I placed 2D animation
in a different category is that in addition to the option of animating frame by frame,
an animator has an option of creating rigs for the characters, and then moving the
body parts individually, instead of drawing the
character over and over again. After effects allows you to create complex rigs for animation,
or use the puppet tool to drag and move body parts around. These flexibilities give
beginners more options when approaching animation, especially if drawing
isn't their strong suit, unlike traditional animation, where drawing skills are mandatory. The third type is 3D animation, also known as computer animation, or honesty just animation at this point, since this is the most common
form of animation today, just like traditional animation used to just be called animation 30 years ago. 3D animation however, works
in a complete different way than traditional animation. They both require an understanding
of the same principles of movement and composition, but the technical skillset is
very different for each task. Like I mentioned before, while in the past you had to be an amazing
draftsman to be an animator, with computer animation
that is not the case. 3D animation is more similar
to playing with puppets, rather than drawing. The animator moves the
character in a 3D program with special controls that are
connected to each body part, such as hands, elbows, lips, etc., and then sets a keyframe
when all the body parts are in the right position. They proceed to move forward in time, and move all these controls again to create another keyframe. The computer then calculates the journey the body parts is going through between each of those keyframes. The 3D animator will
spend most of their time looking at curves that
represent the movement of different body parts over time. Another big different
with 3D animation is that, unlike traditional animation, the character's body
parts are always present and should be taken into
consideration, let me explain. When animated in 2D,
the character has to be drawn for every frame. When the character is
viewed from the side, half of its body isn't
showing, and thus isn't drawn. It technically does not exist. It's drawn on a flat page
and there really isn't more to the character other
than what the animator draws. With 3D though, the character's body parts always exist in the shot. Even when one hand isn't
visible, it's still there. That adds some work for the animator, since we need to be aware of the entire character at all times. The last major difference
with 3D animation is the frame rate. Like I said before, traditional animators usually work on two's, which mean they draw a new
drawing every two frames, and thus having one drawing
last for two frames. With 3D animation however,
the motion is always smooth except for stylized pieces, which intentionally try to look different. Having a character stop completely looks like a mistake in 3D. Even when the character is standing still, there should always be some signs of life. This is something 2D
animation can get away with much more easily than 3D. Number four on our list
is motion graphics. While still considered
a form of animation, motion graphics is rather
different than the other types of animation on the list, mostly because unlike the other types, it is not character or story driven. It is the art of creatively
moving graphic elements or text, usually for commercial
or promotional purposes. Think animated logos, explainer
videos, app commercials, television promos, or
even film opening titles. The skills for motion graphics
don't necessary translate to the other types of animation, since they don't require knowledge of body mechanics or acting, but they do have some
attributes in common, such as understanding good composition, and the all important camera motion. Last but not least, is stop motion. Stop motion is a special form of animation that combines live action
film making principles with traditional character animation. Stop motion is done by
taking a photo of an object, and then moving it just a little bit, and taking another photo. The process is then repeated, and when the photos are
played back one after another, they give the illusion of movement. This is similar to traditional animation, but uses real life material
instead of drawings. Let's look at some different
styles of stop motion. One of the most popular
form is claymation, working with clay or Play-doh characters that can easily be
manipulated for animation. Advanced claymation, as seen
in the Neverhood or Armikrog, uses the metal skeletons on
which the clay is then molded for more sturdy rigs. Some animators would use regular puppets instead of clay ones,
usually also built upon some sort of skeletal rig. The faces of the
characters can be replaced based on the expressions or
be controlled within the rig. Another popular form of
stop motion is cut-out, using construction paper
or cardboard characters and placing them on paper, while shooting the animation from above. That's how South Park was originally made, before they switched to computers. Similar to cut-out animation, silhouette animation uses cardboard or some kind of flat material, but the objects are all dark, and the shot is depicted
with silhouettes only. This is one of the oldest
forms of stop motions and is rarely used today. Some use action figures or
Lego characters for animation. This genre is very popular on Youtube, with many channels dedicated to creating funny skits with Lego characters. Robot Chicken is a great example of that, they use famous action figures
to make fun of pop culture. Then there's pixelation,
a form of stop motion that uses real people
and real environments to create unreal videos. It uses the stop motion method
of taking a still photo, moving things around, and
then taking another photo, but the subject matter
is usually real people instead of puppets. Alright, so now you know all about the different types of animation. If you're interested in taking
things to the next level, I have written a complete
guide with step by step process to learning each of those
five types of animation. In each section of the guide, you'll have an overview
of the animation style, the best schools that
specialize in that style, and the dedicated software
you should be using. To read the full guide go to www.bloopanimation.com/5typesofanimators. Thanks for watching. (light fun music)
