Technology Of Computer Animation example essay topic

Animation: Where it came from and where will it be Animation in the past fifty years has taken large steps in improvements to what it is today. It has changed in many ways from techniques to their usage in entertainment. It has opened opportunities for new employment in companies. It has allowed us to see things we could only imagine.

It has also changed the way of life. To animate, according to the New World Webster Dictionary, is to make something alive or to give it motion. An animator according to? Animators? from?

Chronicle Guidance Publications? is: ? animators create moving illustrations for motion pictures, television, direct-to-video commercials interactive video games, and the Internet. Create a series of sequential drawings of characters of other subjects, which when photographed and projected at specific speeds become animated.? (? Animators? np) Animation's history can go back all the way to three thousand years ago in Eastern Asia with shadow puppets. In that place and time, it was one of the more popular forms of entertainment. In the past one hundred and fifty years there were devices called zoe tropes that were wheels with pictures inside them with little slits dividing the pictures.

The person would then spin the wheel, and if they were to look through the slits they could see the pictures moving, like a little never ending cartoon. A man named Winsor Mckay created one of the first lengthy cartoons. He experimented with a cartoon called 'Gertie the Dinosaur. ' In this cartoon he and his neighbor had to draw all the pictures themselves. Making it even harder to do is that he had to draw the background repeatedly again instead of using the cell animating method (? A Brief History of Gertie the Dinosaur?

1). This cartoon came about 80 years before the movie Jurassic Park. Then after about ten to fifteen years, because it took much time and money to make an animated picture, others started to arise. Favorites were Felix the Cat ('Concise History of Animation " np), Mickey Mouse, and later Loony Toons ('Chuck Jones History' np). Nevertheless, probably the big star back then was Felix the Cat created by Otto Mesmer ('Concise History of Animation " np). With the help increased of technology and just plain modern ingenuity animation has evolved into a highly technological tool to bring life on a screen.

In this world there are many ways of creating animation such as key framing, cell animating, and rotas coping. In key framing many artists, or animators, draw key frames of the product then hires junior animators to fill in the rest of the story. This technique saves time and money, but usually lacks quality. Using the technique of cell animation, animators use clear sheets of paper, called cell, to draw the moving parts of the scene while the background is placed behind it. Again this method saves time and money, but unlike key framing, it has good quality. Cel animating is the primary technique used by animators.

Rotas coping is when you copy images from previous scenes and use them over again. This way is cheaper and saves time, but it lacks quality ('Traditional Methods' np). There are a few more techniques used, but these are the most popular methods. One of the most popular types of animation today is computer animation. The advances in animation have allowed us to do spectacular life-like creations. Computer animation is being used almost everywhere from motion picture movies to local news broadcasts to the field of education.

It has allowed animators to make three-dimensional objects in order to recreate a disaster or event. Computer animators have used it to recreate plane crashes to see what went wrong so they can fix it and prevent it from happening again. They even used it to recreate the sinking of the Titanic. The technology of animation has allowed the world to view images that we would not usually see. For example, we would never be able to see a Tyrannosaurus Rex in real life; nevertheless, thanks to computer animation we were allowed to see one in the movie Jurassic Park (The Making of Jurassic Park np). The ability to use animation also allows artists to copy animated objects so they can fill empty spaces or make a more detailed crowd.

Utilizing this technique saves animators time and cost. The stampede scene in Disney's motion picture The Lion King is an example of the building a crowd when one is not actually there. Computer animation also allows animators to visualize three-dimensional objects or worlds. An example would be if an architect were to design a building and wanted to see it in? 3 D? The architect would give his design to a computer animator to create it in the computer and make it come to life.

In some old animated movies where the technology of computer animation was not used, a person could see the difference in reality compared to what there is today. Today quality, using computer animation, has improved stupendously. The detail in animation now is really amazing. Animations created by computer animators are so detailed one could not tell the difference between what is real and what is not. Just go to the movies today and wonder is it real or computer animation!

Computer animation also allows the computer animator to take out imperfections in a movie or television show. For an example, in real life an actor, or actress, falls and scratches his or hers face, using computer animation the animator is able to take out the scratch. Therefore, it is not seen in the final product (? Feature Animation, ? 2). There are some real advantages utilizing the techniques of animation, but there are also some pitfalls too.

The disadvantage to computer animation is it takes a long time just to make a little bit of film.? For about thirty seconds of footage it takes me about two to three days of working nonstop... ? (Fry, 1).

In addition to taking a long time it also cost a lot in computer equipment to run the programs necessary to animate. In addition to both of these disadvantages is that it also cost a lot to pay a good animator. But even though there are some disadvantages, computer animation is an amazing way to bring pictures to life. Computer animation may sound difficult, but there are only a few simple steps in creating an animated object. When making a computer animated cartoon or figure, a person must first have an idea on what to animate. Then that person puts that image into the computer and flexes it around a computer made skeleton.

After that, that person would fill it in with the basic colors and effects. Next the animator would put in the details and put it in its background. In a short overview, leaving the animator with a finished computer animated object (? Animators?

, 1-2).? Animation in the future is headed into using the computer a lot more than now... ? (Fry, 1). Regardless, the need for classic animation will also be in demand. So the combination of the two will most likely happen more than it does now.

Also the time it takes to make an animated film will decrease along with the need for so many animators. People in the future, most of the time will not be able to tell the difference between animation and the real thing. Actors will not be needed for movies so much because animation could replace them. As far as the eye can see, animation will be needed, wanted, and improved more in the future. In a career in animation there are certain skills needed according to Becky Fry from Golden Dome Productions...

? Patience, lots of patience! You also need art skills. You need to enjoy drawing.

It does not hurt to know how to use the computer. But companies before they hire you look at your art then, if they like it, teach you to use a computer.? Major industries of animation are basically film animators and independent animators. The one more successful are the film animators because they know they are always going to have a job.

But the independent animator takes on unwanted projects the big industries do not want to do or ask too much to make it. Major companies involved in animation are Disney, Warner Brothers, and Dreamcast. In the world today animators are needed a good deal. The Midwestern United States today need animators the worst.

Mostly because it is hard to find animators out there and big companies need good animations done for them (Fry 1). Animators are needed for both local broadcasting stations and big companies, like Disney. Animators can make up to twelve hundred dollars a week with experience (? Career as a Cartoon Artist? 23). As a result of this big demand, it leaves the industry open to anyone who would like to try.

Unfortunately, there are some bad points to the industry. One is that it takes a good amount of time to become successful in this career (? Animators? 2). Another is it can get extremely monotonous to the point of going crazy. In addition to those disadvantages, its pay the first few years stinks.

But if animation is a career like any other, you have your ups and your downs. Animation today has effected so many views on certain topics we care about. For example, back in World War II, Loony Toons took on the role to support the United States troops. Also through animation, kids can be taught doing what kids like to do best, watching cartoons. Some examples are The Magic School Bus and Science Court, which are educational animation productions. Animation may have also affected the public's behavior, the violence in cartoons is a good example of this hypothesis.

Could the violent animation be linked with the violence on the streets? In asking this question it also brings up if animation on television was to change, would it change the behavior on the public or would people just stop watching it. Animation is used today for many things, to show action, to express all kinds of emotions, or simply to encourage laughter. Another use, though most people do not think of this right away, is in making arcade games. Animation has also been used in commercials on television; in fact around twenty percent of televised advertisements have used cartoons (?

Animators? 1). Animation is also being used for medical purposes to teach future surgeons how to do a certain operations without using a real patient to operate on. Basically, animation has been used to entertain and educate, leading to a better future for the world. According to George Lucas, animation in computer graphics has advanced so much that it makes his first Star Wars movies made back in the late seventies and early eighties look like silent films, from the early nineteen hundreds, to what he has done in his new movie The Phantom Menace (?

George Lucas Behind the Scenes? 1). This is just an illustration to of what animation has been and what it will become. Animation has opened horizons that will soon open doors to a whole new world. A world that can create whatever can be imagined or drawn on a sheet of paper and bring it to life. Animation has and will continue to improve the society in which mankind lives in.

Animation and technology that will continue to improve its? self to new heights at a pace which is beyond belief.