Understand the techniques and development of 2D animation (P1,M1,D1)

Please visit this link below to view the online interactive timeline I created:
http://www.tiki-toki.com/timeline/entry/278646/Animation-Development-history/#vars!date=1871-01-20_04:22:14!

Traditional 2d animation

Flick book-1868

The first flipbook was patented by John Barnes Linnett named “Kineogragh”. It was the first type of 2D animation that used a linear sequence of images compared to circular contraptions such as the Phenakistoscope. It is a book with an image on each page that changes slightly from one page the next. When rapidly turning or “flicking” the pages it appears to be animated and simulating movement.

Cel Animation-1914

Cel that stands for celluloid is a sheet of a transparent material where objects or images are drawn on to. First used in 1914 by Earl Hurd a background image would usually be drawn onto a sheet for a particular scene and then used on other cells to reduce how long it would take to produce each scene. The outline of the image on a cell would be drawn on the front and the colour would be on the back. This would hide the brush marks and any scruffy edges to the colour. These cells can then be put into strips for the use of a projector.

Two great examples of Cel animation are:

• The little mermaid (1989) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DGQlABgbs9k
• Pokémon (1998) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lvc7GFxfVXU

Rotorscoping-1915

This is when animators trace over footage, each and every frame. Used in live-action and animated films, it originally were projected onto frosted glass and then re-drawn. However this technique has now been replaced digitally. It was invented by max Fleischer in 1915 used in his series ‘Out of the Inkwell’. Rotorscoping creates a stylised “cartoon” look creating large regions of colour.

Drawn on film-1912

This technique is produced by the animator drawing onto blank film to create the images. This allows you to draw, paint and attach any 2d objects to create virtually anything. The first and best artists to do this technique include Len Lye, he used many different techniques to create his work including carving into black stock film to create patterns and abstract movements.

Photographic stills-1810

Photographic still were intended for use to market and publicise feature films and television productions. When using these still to create an animation there are two possible routes.

The first is to use stop motion animation however this type of animation tends to be 3D using materials such as clay however 2D animation can also be achieved when using cut outs such as the well-known TV series south park. The other way is photoaniamtion which is a technique that is very old, still photos and artwork are filmed with an animation stand creating special visual effects.

Digital techniques

2D Bitmap Graphics-1960s

A bitmap image is associated with its name because of how the image is a map of pixels and suffers badly from image quality loss when scaling. They are dependent on resolution and the amount of pixels that are in the image. In comparison with vector graphics there are no complicated mathematical equations allowing it to be as complex as needed with intricate curves and millions of colours. Common bitmap file formats include:

• BMP - Bitmap File Format
• GIF - Graphics Interchange Format
• JPG/JPEG - Joint Photographic Experts Group
• PNG - Portable Network Graphics
• PCX - Personal Computer eXchange
• TIFF - Tagged Image File Format
• PSD - Photoshop Document

2D Vector Graphics-1960s

Vector graphics use geometrical shapes, lines and curves. It is a path with a start and end point. Because vector based images are not made up of dots or pixels they can be scaled without losing image quality. When scaling a raster image it looks blocky and pixelated whereas the edges within a vector image stay smooth and like the original image. The file size of a vector graphic image depends on the number of graphic elements it contains and therefore the file sizes are not affected in a large way as the information is within the structure.

Application software

Flash-1996

Adobe Flash is an application that allows users to create vector graphics, animations and games then viewed and played using Adobe Flash Player. It is most frequently used for video and audio players, advertisement and interactive multimedia on web pages. Manipulating vector and raster graphics is easy to create animation of text and drawings  using a range of peripherals.

Flash originated from an application names SmartSketch by Jonathan Gay and published by FutureWave Software. FutureWave later added cell animation editing to the vector drawing of SmartSketch and was release as FutureSlpash Animator on multiple platforms. Finally in 1996 Futuresplash was acquired by Macromedia and realised as Flash that we know today however now developed and distributed by Adobe Systems after their purchase of Macromedia in 2005.

After effects-1993

This Adobe Software is a digital motion graphics, visuals and composting application used in post-production of films and television programs. The user can animate in a 2D and 3D space with many various tools and settings, you can create very visually appealing graphics and motions with intricate and complex designs.

After effects was originally created by The Company of Science and Art in Providence USA where the first version was released in 1993. The Company and After Effects were purchased by Aldus in July 1993 then acquired by Adobe in 1994 and released the version we know today.

Anime studio-1999

This software, like flash, is vector based and mainly used for 2D animation. It also is very similar to after effects in the aspect that it uses a layer system however what makes it different are the feature allowing more efficient design and creation of the animations. It also has a physics engine that allows the effect of gravity to be produced as well as tools to make more natural animations.

Toon Boom Studio-1994

This software is purely aimed at animation to create 2d carton characters, there is a simple interface however it is a very powerful tool and program to produce traditional looking animations. A great example is the Simpsons film in 2007 that used this software.

PowerPoint-1990

Powerpoint made by Microsoft was first introduced in 1990 to display information and create slides and presentations using bullet points and images. The first animation was introduced to PowerPoint in 2000 that allowed the using to draw animation paths for text and images. There are also transition and transformation tools that you can apply to your animations.

Pioneers

Joseph Plateau (Phenakitoscope)-1841

The Phenakitoscope was an early invention for animation.  It used a spinning disk with images painted round the edge (as you can see in the image) that were slightly different from the next and used the persistence of vision to create the illusion of motion and animation to the user. In 1829 the idea was established by Joseph Plateau and started planning the invention in 1839 and by 1841 he had created this contraption.

William Horner (Zoetrope)-100BC-1833

The zoetrope works much as the same principle as the Phenakitoscope but the images are within a spinning cylinder that has vertical slits on the sides. The user looks through the slits and as the images spin it gives the illusion of animation. The first ever “Zoetrope” was created in china in 100BC by Ding Huan. However the modern Zoetrope was invented in 1833 by William Horner who named it as ”The Daedalum”. It was publicly referred to as “The Wheel of the Devil” and didn’t become popular till the 1860s.

Emile Reynaud (Praxinoscope)-1877

This animation device was the successor to the Zoetrope invented by Emile Reynaud in France, 1877. It used the same principle as the zoetrope with a strip of images round the outer edge of a cylinder, however the slits were removed and an inner circle of mirrors were placed for the user to look at. This innovation gave a clearer and brighter image and also allowed the animation to be more or less stationary when spinning.

Edison (kinetoscope)-1894

This was an early motion picture device it was designed for films to be viewed by one person at a time through a peep hole at the top. It was not a projector but was the start of the standard for the projection of video with the illusion of animation using a perforated film strip. First described by Thomas Edison in 1888 and officially presented on April 14, 1894.

Developers

Walt Disney (1901-1966) (The Walt Disney Company 1923)

Walt Disney an American business man, animator and cartoonist; a major figure most infamously known for being the co-founder of The Walt Disney Company. He is entrepreneur, film producer and showman but more importantly an innovator of animation design. In 1923 he created a short film called Alice’s Wonderland which had actress interacting with animated characters. M.J. Winkler Productions contacted Disney with plans for a whole series of Alice whilst Walt and his brother formed Disney Brothers Cartoon Studio then in 1926 the name was changed to Walt Disney Studio.

After a few less popular animations, Steam Boat Willie was produced that had an animation with matching sound and went down well with the public and even went on to create Mickey Mouse the animated character in the 1930s everybody knows and loves. Now after many hits and success with titles such as Snow White and The Princess and the frog, Walt Disney Company is one of the biggest businesses in world making 45 billion (2013) and releasing a recent feature film titled ‘Frozen’.

Warner Brothers-1923

Warner brothers or simply just WB is an American TV, film and music producer.  They started simply from acquiring a movie projector to show films in small mining towns after moving to North America after the Russian empire in the 18^th century. They opened their first theatre in 1903 after investing in “The great Train Robbery”.

Warner Brothers didn’t really dip into 2D animation until 1936-1940s when Avery directed a few cartoons with well-established characters such as porky pig, daffy duck and bugs bunny. In 1996 “Space Jam” was created, offering live action sequences and tradition cartoons using cel animation and CGI for some of the short films.

Contemporary Work

Monty python-1969

This is a British comedy aired in 1969 that produced surreal scenes with cel animation as seen in the sketch “The Holy Grail”. They even used cut out animation in “The Miracle of Flight”.

Yellow Submarine-1968

This 1968 animated, musical, comedy film was based on the Beatles and utilised over 200 artists to make the film. Rotor scoping was the main animation method but the team was also challenged with “limited Animation” where frames are reused to shorten creation time. It was quite hard to give the illusion of movement even with frames changing however it turned out to be a big hit.

Persepolis-2007

This French-American animated film, written and directed by Satrapi with Vincent Paronnaud, was based on a novel with the same name. it is presented in a black and white style to match the graphics in the original novel. Present day scenes were in full colour while other scenes have their colour removed.

Genre and Forms

Cinema-1892

Most films nowadays have some animation or animated parts. Cartoons and animations have a much better visual quality on “The Big Screen” and many skilled professionals work hours into these projects and feature films to produce the content we expect today.

Advertising-1899

2D animation is used a lot in most adverts, old and new. A great example is the Frosties’ ”Tony the Tiger” that we all know.  Most web and TV advertisements include some animation to make them more visually appealing and attract the audience.

Computer Games-1983

Computer Games have been in sync with 2D animation from the start of 8 bit graphics it has been the pinnacle of the development of games and 2D animation alike. Digital 2D animation has been the main form of animation in video games however some tradition methods have been used in older games such as drawings and filmed shots.

Mobile Phones-1990’s

Digital 2D animation is used in most if not every new mobile phone for operating systems to games it uses this to display motion and movement, be it scrolling through Facebook or selecting an app. However tradition animation is not really applicable to this genre.

Bibliography

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

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

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

http://reymendoza.blogspot.co.uk/p/2d-animation.html

https://www.google.co.uk/imghp?hl=en&tab=wi&ei=hJisU_LqNcqX7Qa-pYEQ&ved=0CAQQqi4oAg