In today’s creative industry, there are 4 main types and styles of animation that you can learn to create. Get exposed to these 4 animation genres so you can better understand and appreciate animations in different forms.
1. Flip book animation is a very primitive way of creating animation with just pencil, eraser, and a stack of drawing pads, like Post-it pads. This style can be very experimental and creative as you can draw anything you can think of.
Pros: It’s cheap and it’s available in all stationery stores. You can make use of your existing drawing skill and can get started almost immediately. This method allows you to produce the rough idea you have for the animation very easily.
Cons: You have to be prepared to erase and redraw when you make mistakes because you don’t have an undo button for this style. Adding details like color and shading can be time consuming because details need to be added on every page of your animation.
Industry: Rarely do creative houses create flip book animations mainly because it is not easy to create quality flip book animations. Since flipbook animation is a very old technique, it is not efficient to create one.
2. Stop motion animation uses the figure and physical objects to create the animation. You can start by using toys and figurines and capture them as photographic images. Once the photo taking is complete, use video editing software to compile these photos into a motion picture video.
Pros: The animation image will look relatively attractive if you are using toys because they look like real life! All assets are physical and there aren’t many tools to learn other than pressing a button to capture the photo.
Cons: Placing the toys frame by frame can be tedious and not accurate if the toys are not placed correctly compared to the previous frame. Toys that pose to fly or jump can also be tricky, so you need to be a little more creative in execution when it comes to creating stop motion animations.
Industry: From time to time we see films created with stop motion animation. Corpse Bride is an example of a stop motion film. This is not a popular style of animation due to the cost and human resources to create frame-by-frame animations.
3. 2D animation is a digital method of flip book animation where images are created by drawing in software. Drawing skills are preferably required, but there are much more convenient tools within the software that help you draw faster. The animation will eventually look much smoother because you can adjust the timing of your animation easily.
Pros: Animation can be created efficiently because you can back up your work. With 2D software, your animation can look much more polished because you can add more detail and visual effects.
Cons: You will need to be proficient in the use of computers and invest in the purchase of a computer and software. The learning curve can get steeper with 2D softwares when it comes to using the right tool to achieve the right result because sometimes there are just too many tools available to you.
Industry: 2D animation is very popular in the creative industry because it has its target audience. Anime and recent cartoon series on television are very good examples of 2d animations. Some web games are also created in this style as they can be integrated into web applications and games. 2d animators are versatile because they can apply their animation across many platforms, from multimedia to streaming video.
4. 3D animation creates animation using virtual space and has the potential to create aesthetically impressive and realistic images. 3D software can do it due to its calculation that can generate images as realistic as real life images. This is why many blockbuster movies, such as Batman and Transformers, use 3D software technologies to bring fictional stories to life.
Pros: The final artwork can be very realistic and real. 3D software makes this possible because of the number of tools available for the artist to use. Tools like lighting, bone structure, render calculation are some examples of powerful tools to create animations.
Cons: With so many tools available to the artist, the learning curve for understanding 3D software can be difficult if you try to learn it yourself. It is strongly recommended to learn 3D software with guidance or by taking a course to speed up the learning process. 3D softwares are also expensive to start with. As a student with no income, it can be quite a difficult decision to make on top of the handful of software to choose from.
Industry: 3D animation is as popular as 2D animation due to its realistic appeal. Although 3D animation is not efficient for small projects, it can be very efficient for large movie or game projects.
Before you decide which style of animation you want to learn and create, take some time to explore and figure out what is in your best interest.