Info about Animations
Animations – the art of motion
Animation can be defined as a single-frame photography or sequential graphic imaging that imprints and reproduces a motion in every single fraction by gradual change of the imageries. Conditioned by psycho-physiological specifics of human visual sensitivity (known as persistence of vision) in order to maintain the illusion of movement the sequence of images in gradual motion should be not less than 18 per second. The standard in modern film production is 24 frames per second.
The first attempts to depict a motion are found in cave paintings, Egyptian frescoes, and pottery - but these pictures are static. However, the principle of animation had been discovered long before the Lumiere Brothers started making moving pictures and invented cinématographe in 1892. In order to get the moving pictures effect some scientists used a revolving wheel, a ribbon with drawn pictures, or mirrors and a lantern. Among the key dates of the history of animation are: August 30, 1877 – believed to be a birthday of animation when Emile Reynaud patents his invention – Praxinoscope, 1892 when he screens the first graphical “film” in Musée Grévin in Paris, 1906 when The Vintagraph Co. produces “Humorous Phases of Funny Faces” (U.S.) which becomes one of the first film cartoons, and 1999 when “The Old Man and The Sea” paint-on-glass-animated short film of Alexander Petrov (Russia) becomes the first wide-screen animation and receives the Oscar.
The 20th century animations were hand-drawn also known as cel animation. Animation can be full, limited, rotoscoping, live-action, or a stop-motion. The new age technology provides special software for Flash and 3D animation. The market has a variety of 3D products on offer from the beginner’s to the professional level. Even the non-professional programs provide all necessary features for quality animation – and of course much depends on the user’s capacities and ability to finding interesting creative solutions. When deciding which software to buy one should know why he needs it, is it intended for a personal website? or to add a designer flavor to the 2D illustrations? or there are purely career objectives? Of course the professional 3D software provides finesse and power that is absent in the low end animation programs. The demo versions that usually are included in the software packages indeed are very handy. It will give you a feel of the program and while trialing the software you will see how it meets your expectations, check whether it has all that you need and works the way you like. You may find it useful to serf the provider’s website prior to purchasing their product.
The beginner’s level 3D software is replaced with high frequency – new products appear and the relatively old can hardly be found. To name few are: Xara 3D, Poser, 3D Canvas, Amorphium, and Adobe Dimension. Normally programs in this category cost not more that $50 however you can find freeware ones as well. The middle-level software are Strata 3D, Bryce 3D, Pixels, Blender, and other. The last may be considered the best option. The professional ones vary in applications which apart from animation are widely used also in television and movie production. Here belong: 3Ds Max from Discreet, Lightwave 3D from Newtek, Maya 3D from Alias, Softimage XSI, and other.