Animation is
a method in which figures are manipulated to appear as moving images.
In traditional animation, images are drawn or painted by hand on
transparent celluloid sheets to be photographed and exhibited
on film. Today, most animations are made with computer-generated
imagery (CGI). Computer animation can be very detailed 3D
animation, while 2D computer animation can be used for stylistic
reasons, low bandwidth or faster real-time renderings. Other common
animation methods apply a stop motion technique to two and
three-dimensional objects like paper cutouts, puppets or clay
figures.
Commonly the
effect of animation is achieved by a rapid succession of sequential images that
minimally differ from each other. The illusion—as in motion pictures in
general—is thought to rely on the phi phenomenon and beta
movement, but the exact causes are still uncertain. Analog mechanical
animation media that rely on the rapid display of sequential images include
the phénakisticope, zoetrope, flip book, praxinoscope and
film. Television and video are popular electronic animation
media that originally were analog and now operate digitally. For display
on the computer, techniques like animated GIF and Flash
animation were developed.
Animation is
more pervasive than many people realize. Apart from short films, feature
films, television series, animated GIFs and other media dedicated to the
display of moving images, animation is also prevalent in video games, motion
graphics, user interfaces and visual effects.
The physical
movement of image parts through simple mechanics—in for instance moving images
in magic lantern shows—can also be considered animation. The
mechanical manipulation of three-dimensional puppets and objects to emulate
living beings has a very long history in automata. Electronic automata were
popularized by Disney as animatronics.
