Types of Animation

There are many different types of animation that are used nowadays. The three main types are clay animation, computer animation, and regular animation.

Clay Animation

Clay animation is not really a new technique as many people might think. Clay animation began shortly after plasticine (a clay-like substance) was invented in 1897, and one of the first films to use it was made in 1902. This type of animation was not very popular until Gumby was invented. The invention of Gumby was a big step in the history of clay animation. Now, clay animation has become more popular and easier to do. Later on, more clay animation films were made, such as the Wallace and Gromit series of movies, the advertisements that were made for the California Raisin Advisory Board and the Celebrity Deathmatch series.

Computer Animation

Computer animation has also become common. Computer animation began about 40 years ago when the first computer drawing system was created by General Motors and IBM. It allowed the user to view a 3D model of a car and change the angles and rotation. Years later, more people helped make computer animation better. Movies that used computer animation are: The Abyss, Jurassic Park, Forrest Gump, and more. Also, computer animation was used differently, as in the show 'South Park', which used stop motion cutout animation; recently it uses computer animation. A well-known computer animation company is Pixar. They are responsible for making Toy Story, A Bug's Life, Monsters Inc., Finding Nemo, and more. Also, video games have used computer animation as well.

Cel-Shaded Animation

Cel-shaded animation is makes computer graphics appear to be hand-drawn. This type of animation is most commonly turning up in console video games. Most of the time the cel-shading process starts with a typical 3D model. The difference occurs when a cel-shaded object is drawn on-screen. The rendering engine only selects a few shades of each color for the object, making it look flat.

In order to draw black ink lines outlining an object's contours, the back-face culling is inverted to draw back-faced triangles with black-colored vertices. The vertices must be drawn many times with a slight change in translation to make the lines thick. This produces a black-shaded silhouette. The back-face culling is then set back to normal to draw the shading and optional textures of the object. The result is that the object is drawn with a black outline.

The first 3D video game to feature true real-time cel shading was Jet Set Radio for the Sega Dreamcast. After Jet Set Radio, many other cel-shaded games were introduced during a minor fad involving cel-shaded graphics. The next games with cel-shading to capture attention in some form were 2002's Jet Set Radio Future and Sly Cooper and the Thievius Raccoonus. Over time, more cel-shaded titles such as Dark Cloud 2, Cel Damage, Klonoa 2, and the Viewtiful Joe series were released with good results. There were also some television shows that used the cel-shading style. These shows included Family Guy, Futurama, Fairly Oddparents, Spider-Man, The Simpsons, and many more.

Regular Animation

Animation began with Winsor McCay. He did his animations all by himself, and it took him a long time (about a year for a five minute cartoon). But for some, it was ridiculous that they would have to wait so much for so little. Then the modern animation studio came to be. Years later, more people would invent more cartoon characters. Otto Messmer invented the character 'Felix the Cat'. Later on, the Walt Disney Studio created 'Steamboat Willie', which introduced the character Mickey Mouse. Other companies started to make their own cartoons; some of which we can still watch today.