2D animation is two dimensional animation and this means that the animation is flat. 2D animation is created by showing a rapid number of flat 2D images in a sequence and when these images are played in a sequence succesfully it creates the illusion of movement. This illusion of movement is commonly referred to as persistence of vision. 2D animation usually runs at 24 frames per second and the reason for this is because our eyes pick up 24 frames per second as natural movement and this is why live action films are also shot at this frame rate, this is also why in the early 1900s when films were shot on less than 24 frames per second they looked sped up and unnatural. Even though 2D animations are usually run at 24 frames per second, a technique known as "shooting on twos" is commonly used in order to help speed up production time. To shoot on twos means to show one drawing every 2 frames rather than a new drawing each frame and this technique can be used to save time whilst still creating fluid movement. This technique of course is not always used, for instance when characters are required to perfrom a quick action shooting on twos can make the animation feel too slow and this is why it is best to know when to shoot on both ones and twos appropriately in order to create the best looking animation possible and save time and money. An example of 2D animation would be in cartoons such as Scooby Doo and looney tunes etc, the reason these cartoons are seen as 2D animation is because they feature flat 2D drawings of characters and environments.
3D animation however is different as it does not feature flat images, instead the characters and environments are 3D models that are created on a computer. This makes 3D animation much less flat looking than standard 2D animation and this is why many film companies today choose to use 3D animation over 2D. 3D animation can commonly be seen in Disney Pixar movies and the quality difference between 2D and 3D animation can be very noticabley different.
These images are an example of how far animation has come since 1950, the first image is 3D animation used by Disney in 2010 and the second is 2D animation used by disney in 1950.
Flip book animation
Flip book animation is a simple form of 2D animation and is one of the oldest known methods of 2D animation. A flip book is a small book with a number of blank pages, these small books are used to create animation by using each page as a frame and drawing a sequence of different images on each of the blank pages and then flicking through them at a fast enough speed to create the illusion of movement.
Although this animation technique is interesting and cheap to create, it does still come with its pros and cons. For instance the main advantage of this technique is the fact that it does not require you to have computer software or computer knowledge and only requires that you have a flip book and a pencil and the creativity to make an animation work, however having said this the main disadvantage of flip book animation is the fact that a flip book limits you to a set number of frames (depending on the number of pages in the book.) This means that you do not have the same amount of freedom that you would have on a computer, there is also the fact that a flipbook requires you to hand draw every single frame making the animation very difficult and time consuming to create.
Cel animation
A cel animation is a traditional form of animation that uses a transparent sheet of cellulose acetate which has objects drawn or painted on in order to create traditional hand-drawn frames for animation. This form of animation is not used as much today and was most popular from the 50's to the 90's. The main reason pure cel animation is not used as much today is because of the fact that cel animation is incredibly time consuming and requires incredible organization and attention to detail.
An old example of cel animation would be Disney's Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs which used this technique way back in 1937.
The main advantage of using this technique is the fact that it creates a traditional hand-drawn art style that many people can appreicate, however the biggest disadvantage is the fact that cel animation is difficult to create and also expensive. This is why cartoons today rely on computers rather than using cels, as the technology we have today makes creating cartoons on computers much more practical as it gives animators much more freedom.
Rotoscope animation
Rotoscoping is when animators trace over live action footage frame by frame. Animators use this technique in order to create realistic and fluid movements in their animation. This technique was originally created by having recorded live-action film images projected onto a frosted glass panel and re-drawn by an animator, however these days the live action footage is now drawn over on computer software.
Old technique
New technique
An example of how fluid a rotoscope animation can look, can be seen below:
Like other methods of animations this technique has both its advantages and disadvantages. The main advantage of this technique is the fact that it can create fluid and realistic movements, however the main disadvantage is that this technique can be very time consuming as it requires animators to draw over each individual frame of the live action footage and this can take a very long amount of time depending on how realistic the animator wants the animation to look.
Drawn on film
Drawn on film is a form of animation that is created by drawing directly on the film reel. Animators create animation by laying out blank film reels and fixing them into place and carefully painting/drawing on them in order to create the illusion of movement.
Here is an example of what this effect looks like.
This method has its advantages and disadvantages. The main advantage of this technique is the fact that it is not expensive as you do not need to purchase expensive cel sheets or animation software. However the main disadvantages of this technique is that the small frames can be very hard to work with and require the animators to be very careful and precise with each frame they draw onto.
Photographic stills
Photographic stills are still images that are put together in a particular sequence in order to create the illusion of movement and interesting effects. Although all the other forms of 2D animation may also technically use a sequence of images to create the illusion of movement, photographic stills are different in that they can be put together in a particular order in order to create unique effects that you would not normally be able to achieve with live action footage. An example of this can be seen below:
As you can see the sequence of images put together in that video showed how you can create a unique and humorish effect depending on how well you put a sequence of images together. Photographic stills have their advantages and disadvantages. The main advantage of photographic stills is how you can create unqiue effects if you cleverly plan out each image, however the main disadvantage is that it can be very time consuming as the animation you are hoping to create could consist of hundreds of images.
Flash animation
Adobe Flash is a 2D animation program that many animators use in order to create their animations. This program is very useful as it allows you to create animations with as many frames as you like and gives you complete freedom to draw each aspect of the animation. Another useful feature of this program is the fact that you are able to draw a graphic and save it into a libary, this means that you can reuse that graphic in multiple scenes without having to constantly redraw it, like you would with the likes of a flip book animation.
The program also uses layers which are very useful as they allow you to keep organized and also ensure that you are able to animate each graphic on the scene separately.
This is a screenshot of an animation I created on the program as you can see there is a layer for each graphic on the scene and this allows me to move each of the graphics separately. This program has its advantages and disadvantages. The main advantage is the level of freedom that animators have using this program, however the biggest disadvantage is that this is an expensive piece of software that many people would not be able to afford it.
Conclusion
In conclusion I have covered several different forms of 2D animation and have discussed their pros and cons and have learnt how 2D animation has evolved a lot over the years. I have also learned a lot about how our persistence of vision allows us to view 2D frames as natural movement and have also discovered how animators make use of techniques to save time and money such as shooting on twos when appropriate.
Useful sites that have helped with my research.
Youtube.com
Wikipedia.com
