Written by Cherilyn Sathorn 2022 Cohort
I am sure that everyone is familiar with animation. It has always attracted me since I was a kid. From the first Disney classics to the latest Pixar animation, their adventures grab my attention ideally. The most exciting thing for me is ‘how is the process of making those animations?’. Let’s find the answer together!
In the 1930s, Walt Disney Studios used a traditional animation technique (cel animation or hand-drawn animation) in which each frame was drawn by hand. They drew on celluloid sheets with ink and placed these cells over painted backgrounds. This technique was the dominant form of animation in cinema until computer animation.
“Technology is the friend of traditional animation. It doesn’t have to replace it. It can help you do it.” – Tomm Moore.
According to the quote, technology has rapidly developed over the years. For the animation industry, it can help improve processes from 2D to 3D styles and from hand-drawn paper backgrounds to digitally painted backgrounds. It is a vast improvement, and animation today is becoming better and better.
Then we will talk about some of the more futuristic and upcoming animation technology we should know.
The Latest Animation Technology Trends
There are lots of technologies that have emerged nowadays. Let’s list and see some details of these animation technology trends.
3D Depth Sensors
Depth sensors are a form of the 3D range finder. They can pick up a wide field-of-view (FOV) and acquire the multi-point distance. It is one of the most popular ways of creating realistic human facial features and postures. We can call it a fantastic piece of animation technology.
Computer Generated Imagery or CGI
The effects of CGI are 3D computer graphics used by animators and filmmakers to create digital worlds, characters, scenes, and other special effects in movies, animations, and games. The main feature of CGI is to blur the line between real and digital stuff together. It has been around since the 1950s, and the first film which used CGI was ‘Alfred Hitchcock’s VERTIGO (1958)’.
3D Printing Maya clay is software that comes with a 3D printer. In a concise time, we can use it to create stop-motion animation, which has been awe-inspiring art for many decades. Animators can easily design models of characters, props, and backgrounds in the application and print them out as 3D models by using plastic materials. However, the only downside is that it is costly, and maybe freelance animators cannot afford the price.