Just what is computer animation? For decades, animation has been a trade
that rested solely in the hands of the entertainment industry; the
process required a great deal of time, manpower, and complex equipment
to accomplish. However, with the ever-growing movement to computerize
the industry, the animation process has become progressively simpler.
What was once done with pencils, cels, and paint by a team of dozens of
animators can now be accomplished by a single person with a powerful
enough home computer and the right software.
The term "computer animation" itself broadly covers a wide variety of
genres and applications, though the simplest way to break it down is
into the categories of 2D and 3D animation. "2D", short for
"two-dimensional", is sometimes also called "vector animation", and is
typically done in programs like Macromedia Flash and Macromedia
Director. The most familiar form of 2D animation can be found just by
turning on your TV on a Saturday morning: traditional cartoons, which
are progressing more and more into the digital realm. You probably see
simpler animations every day just while surfing the web, in the form of
advertisements, E-cards, and cartoon shorts. Vector animation is also
useful in designing interactive interfaces for the web.
2D animation, true to its name, is rendered in a two-dimensional space.
3D animation, however, is rendered in a virtual three-dimensional space,
using polygons captured by various virtual "cameras" to "film" the
animation. 3D animation has a variety of applications, from video games
to animated films; most commonly, 3D animation is used to render many of
the special effects seen in live-action films, removing the need for
scale model sets or staged stunts.
While both types of computer animation can be accomplished by either
frame-by-frame animation or by mathematical interpolation between key
frames, the initial steps prior to animating are drastically different;
the two separate processes also require different software packages.
With that in mind, the tutorials provided here have been grouped into
the categories of 2D and 3D animation, before being subdivided by skill
level to walk, step-by-step, through the basics of creating your own
animations. The 2D animation tutorials cover animation in Flash and
Director/Shockwave, while the 3D animation tutorials work in 3D Studio
Max.
