Develop Computer Animation

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1 Name: Block: A. Introduction 1. Animation simulation of movement created by rapidly displaying images or frames. Relies on persistence of vision the way our eyes retain images for a split second longer than they actually appear which makes quick flashes of images appear as one continuous motion. Frame by Frame Animation - the rapid display of a sequence of still images (2D or 3D) or models in order to create the optical illusion of movement. o Example: Flipbook B. History of Animation 1. Traditional Animation Process Storyboards are created. The preliminary soundtrack is recorded. Keyframes are drawn by lead animators. Pencil testing is performed to match keyframes to the soundtrack. In-between frames are drawn to fill-in between the keyframes. Drawings are traced onto plastic cels and painted. Cels are photographed onto film. 2. Computer Assisted Animation Follows the same steps as traditional animation but the computer performs some of the work. Images or frames can be scanned into the computer or created by artists using graphics tablets. Computer can help tween and do pencil testing 3. Computer Generated Animation All the animation and images are created on the computer. Special software is used to create these animations. Can use motion capture actors wear special suits to allow the computer to copy their motions and apply them to 3D models created on the computer. 1 P a g e

2 C. Uses of Animation Advertising used to catch attention, such as banners on websites. Entertainment films, games, virtual reality Selling showcasing products, services or instructions Teaching illustrating concepts or processes Training simulations, presentations, etc. Use Animation Appropriately o Is it appropriate for the target audience? o Does it help deliver the message? o Is it overused? o Does it load quickly? D. Methods of Animating digital animation is based on the frame by frame process. 1. Morphing transforming one object into another. The user inserts the beginning image. The user inserts the ending image. The computer tweens the frames between the two. Tweening- the computer software fills in the missing parts so it looks like animation 2. Path Based Animation also called vector animation. The user inserts an object and draws a path (or vector). The computer tweens, or creates the frames, to move the object along the path. 3. Programming or Scripting-Based Animation a. Requires knowledge of programming or scripting languages. b. Example Rollovers also called mouseovers. When the mouse is moved over an image, it changes to a different image. Created by using scripting languages such as Javascript. Used for menus on webpages, CDs and DVDs. 4. Stop Motion Animation manipulating real-world objects and photographing them one frame at a time. Example: Clay Animation 5. Animation Software a. 3DS Max b. Adobe PhotoShop and Flash c. Blender d. Cinema 4D 2 P a g e

3 E. Creating a Computer Animation Using Animation Software 1. Parts of an Animation Program a. Stage part of program where the content is created and manipulated. Can work on text or graphics here. b. Library used to store frequently used files so it s east to insert them into an animation project c. Timeline used to arrange the order of the slides and organize the content Frame one individual image in an animation. Keyframe indicates where an action is to occur. o Where you make the graphic move Layers the timeline can be divided into different layers to give the author more control over different elements such as sound and text. Playhead the vertical red marker in the timeline that shows which frame is the current frame as the animation plays. 2. Copyright Laws 3. Create Animations 4. Add Sound 5. Animate Text F. Publishing Animations 1. Analyze and Optimize the Animation 2. Animation File Types o Animated Gif o AVI o MOV o MPEG o SWF 3. Methods for Publishing Animated Videos o Website o CD-ROM or DVD o Executable File 4. Plugins/Players may be required to view an animation over the Internet. a. Plugins are programs that work with the browser to expand its capabilities, such as allow it to play video or open certain file types. b. Standalone Players many plugins can also operate as standalone programs meaning they will open and work without the browser software being open. c. Examples: o Adobe Flash Player o RealPlayer QuickTime Windows Media Player 3 P a g e

4 5. Factors that Influence the Delivery of Animations Bandwidth - the amount of data that can be transmitted over a network in a given amount of time. Playback Rate - the number of frames per second that are shown when the animation is played. Streaming Rate - the number of frames per second contained in the animation. Key Terms Persistence of Vision Frame-by-Frame Animation Definitions Example: refers to the way our eyes retain images for a split second longer than they actually appear, making a series of quick flashes appear as one continuous picture. Example: what appears to be continuous motion is actually a series of many different frames Each frame shows the same graphic with a tiny amount of position change to simulate motion. Computer Assisted Animation Computer Generated Animation Types Of Animations Path Animation Morphing Animation Programming or Scripting- Based Animation The computer is used to make the animation process quicker and easier. It usually involves 2-D images that can be hand-drawn and scanned into the computer or drawn directly into the computer using graphics tablets. The images are positioned into keyframes containing the most important movements. Tweening is then performed by the computer to create images between keyframes All images, objects and animation are created on the computer. Typically uses 3-D images. It adds two steps to the animation process. Modeling process of creating a wireframe structure of the 3-D objects and scenes. Rendering process of applying colors, textures, shadows, transparency, etc. to create the final image or animation. Motion capture techniques can be used to animate objects. Example: Also called vector animation. An object follows a path which is a line, or vector, inserted by the animator A shortened term for metamorphosing. A technique in which one image is gradually turned into another. Requires knowledge of a programming or scripting language. Created by using scripting languages such as Javascript. 4 P a g e

5 Rollovers Also called mouseovers. When the mouse is moved over an image, it changes to a different image so quickly that it looks as if the change has occurred in a single instant. They are created in scripting languages. Stop Motion Animation Process of manipulating real-world objects and photographing them one frame at a time. Very popular method with the film industry until computer generated imagery became possible. Now used mainly in clay animation. Multimedia Program Parts For Title Development And Movement Stage The part of the animation program window where the animator s content is composed and manipulated. Frame A single still image in a video animation. Keyframe Shows where the key (most important) actions occur. Timeline The part of the animation program window that organizes and controls an animation s content over time using layers and frames. Library Used to store frequently used graphics, movie clips, and buttons. Playhead The vertical red marker in the timeline that shows which frame is the current frame when previewing an animation. Scrubbing Dragging the playhead across the timeline in order to preview an animation. Tween(ing) An animation process in which frames are created between the keyframes that are needed to create the illusion of movement. Compression The process of reducing the space required to store data by efficiently encoding the content. Sound And Video Distribution Formats MP3 A standard format for music files sent over the Internet that compresses music. WAV The standard format for sound files on Windows-based computers. Executable File A program file that can cause an application to run on your computer when it is opened. Plug-in A hardware or software application that adds a specific feature to a browser. Standalone Player A program that can work independently of a browser to play audio or video files. Factors That Influence Distribution Of Multimedia Bandwidth The amount of data that can be transmitted over a network in a given amount of time. Streaming A procedure for transmitting media files so they can start playing as soon as a computer begins receiving them rather than waiting for the complete files to download first. Streaming Rate The rate in frames per second at which the movie is downloaded. Playback rate The rate in frames per second at which the movie plays. 5 P a g e

6 Methods and Uses of Computer Animations How are the types of computer animations used? Entertainment Advertisement Selling Teaching Training What type of graphics are used in virtual reality? 3-dimensional. How is the rollover effect used? When the mouse is moved over an image, it changes to a different image so quickly that it looks as if the change has occurred in a single instant. Rollovers are extremely important for navigation buttons on user interface designs. Web pages CBT programs Kiosks CD-ROM Training Games CDs and DVDs. What happens during the morphing effect? The term morphing comes from the word metamorphosis, which is the transformation of one thing into another. The beginning image is inserted. The ending image is inserted. The computer performs the tweening to generate a sequence of images, each of which is slightly different from the one it follows to gradually morph the two objects. For example, a photograph of one person might gradually morph into a picture of another person. In business, morphing can be used to transition between web pages or images. Computer Animation Software and Design Guidelines List and describe the program parts for computer How do FPS, playhead, and scrubbing impact the animation software. process of designing computer animations? 1. Stage - the part of the animation program window where the animation s content is composed and manipulated. 2. Timeline - The part of the animation program window that organizes and controls an animation s content over time using layers and frames. 3. Library - Stores frequently used graphics, movie clips, and buttons. The FPS determines the length of the animation. The playhead shows which frame is the current frame being viewed. The playhead can be scrubbed, or dragged, across the timeline in order to preview the animation as it is being created. 6 P a g e

7 What are the guidelines to consider when designing computer animations? Insert keyframes at each change in the action Add a keyframe at the point where the animation will stop. Allow sufficient time for the image to be viewed after the final content change. Insert text, sound and motion on separate layers in the timeline. What are the functions of the different layers? How do the different types of tweening impact the movement of objects? Frame by frame animation the computer generates the frames in between the keyframes. Morphing the computer generates the frames to change one shape into another. Path animation the computer generates the frames by calculating the position of the object and rotating it appropriately as it moves along the path inserted by the animator. The timeline is divided into layers to help organize content and allow the different layers to be edited separately. Sound would be on a separate layer. Text would be on a separate layer. A motion path would be on a separate layer. A motion layer is a layer on which a motion path is drawn. Objects on different layers can be linked to the motion layer so they will follow the motion path. Once linked, they become guided layers Adding Sounds into Computer Animations Summarize MP3 format. MP3 is a standard format for music files sent over the Internet that compresses music or other types of audio. The compression process removes sounds that humans cannot hear. To most listeners, MP3 files sound as good as WAV but result in much smaller file sizes which means they can be uploaded or downloaded much quicker. Summarize the WAV format. WAV files are the standard format for sound on computers running the Windows operating system. They generate files with high-quality sound but result in very large file sizes. When creating or editing sound, WAV files are typically used until all editing is finished. The final sound file is then saved in a more compressed file format such as MP3. 7 P a g e

8 What is the purpose of the compression process? The purpose for compressing files is to reduce the amount of storage space required by files. This means the files will download and upload more quickly. What type of music can be used in professional productions? Any type of music can be used as long as copyright restrictions are observed. If a copyrighted piece of music is used, royalties will have to be paid to the copyright owner and permission will have to be obtained. If the music is an original composition, the person who wrote and played the music must give their permission to use it. Adding and Animating Text into Computer Animations What is the purpose of text in computer animation? It either provides information about the animation or gives directions to the user. Describe what happens to text when it is added into computer animations? The text is inserted and then it is formatted and animated. In some software, text can be inserted into its own layer and edited separately from the other elements. Publishing Videos What happens during the streaming process? Streaming is a technique for transferring audio and video files over the Internet as a continuous stream of data. The Streaming Process Data is held in a temporary storage area called a buffer until it is played by the computer. There will always be an initial delay while the first frame is buffered. What is the relationship between playback and streaming rate? If the streaming rate is slower than the playback rate, the video will pause until more data is received. What is the relationship between bandwidth and streaming rate? If a lot of people are using the network at one time, less bandwidth will be available to download the data. This will cause the streaming rate to be slower. What should occur during the analyzing and optimizing video files process? Animations should be analyzed for potential problems and optimized in order to: Reduce the file size for quicker downloads. Make the video or animation play more smoothly during playback. Maintain sufficient quality for viewing. 8 P a g e

9 What are the delivery methods for distributing computer animations? As part of a Web page On a CD-ROM or DVD. As an executable file which bundles both the animation and the program to play in a single file. What are some animation file types? Animated GIF AVI MOV MPEG SWF What is the purpose of a plug-in or player? Plug-ins or players may be required to view an animation over the Internet. A plug-in is a program that works with the browser to expand its capabilities. A standalone player is a separate program that can play video and audio files without the browser software being open. List examples of plug-ins and players. Adobe Flash Player QuickTime RealPlayer Windows Media Player 9 P a g e