Computer animation

Computer animation is essentially a digital successor to stop motion techniques, but using 3D models, and traditional animation techniques using frame-by-frame animation of 2D illustrations.

The technique was the dominant form of animation in cinema until the advent of computer animation.

Sometimes, the target of the animation is the computer itself, but sometimes film as well.

The moving images of a film are created by photographing actual scenes with a motion-picture camera, by photographing drawings or miniature models using traditional animation techniques, by means of CGI and computer animation, or by a combination of some or all of these techniques, and other visual effects.

Modern computer animation usually uses 3D computer graphics, although 2D computer graphics are still used for stylistic, low bandwidth, and faster real-time renderings.

The resulting images may be stored for viewing later (possibly as an animation) or displayed in real time.

The more general term computer-generated imagery (CGI) encompasses both static scenes and dynamic images, while computer animation only refers to moving images. For 3D animations, objects (models) are built on the computer monitor (modeled) and 3D figures are rigged with a virtual skeleton.

Computer animation can be very detailed 3D animation, while 2D computer animation can be used for stylistic reasons, low bandwidth or faster real-time renderings.

For 3D animations, objects (models) are built on the computer monitor (modeled) and 3D figures are rigged with a virtual skeleton.

Skeletal animation is a technique in computer animation in which a character (or other articulated object) is represented in two parts: a surface representation used to draw the character (called skin or mesh) and a hierarchical set of interconnected bones (called the skeleton or rig) used to animate (pose and keyframe) the mesh.

With the rapid advancement of real-time rendering quality, artists began to use game engines to render non-interactive movies, which led to the art form Machinima.

Most often, video games are used to generate the computer animation.

The first feature-length computer animated film was Toy Story (1995), which was made by Pixar.

Toy Story is a 1995 American computer-animated buddy comedy film produced by Pixar Animation Studios and released by Walt Disney Pictures.

The first feature-length computer animated film was Toy Story (1995), which was made by Pixar.

Pixar Animation Studios (also known simply as Pixar) is an American computer animation studio based in Emeryville, California, a subsidiary of Walt Disney Studios (owned by The Walt Disney Company).

With the rapid advancement of real-time rendering quality, artists began to use game engines to render non-interactive movies, which led to the art form Machinima.

The core functionality typically provided by a game engine includes a rendering engine ("renderer") for 2D or 3D graphics, a physics engine or collision detection (and collision response), sound, scripting, animation, artificial intelligence, networking, streaming, memory management, threading, localization support, scene graph, and may include video support for cinematics.

They are by default arranged into a default position known as a bind pose.

In computer animation, a T-pose, also known as a bind pose, is a default pose for a 3D model's skeleton before it is animated.

The very first full length computer animated television series was ReBoot, which debuted in September 1994; the series followed the adventures of characters who lived inside a computer.

It was the world's first completely computer-animated TV series.

The differences in appearance between key frames are automatically calculated by the computer in a process known as tweening or morphing.

Inbetweening or tweening is a key process in all types of animation, including computer animation.

In contrast, a newer method called motion capture makes use of live action footage.

Photorealistic animation, particularly modern computer animation, is sometimes erroneously described as “live-action” as in the case of some media reports about Disney's 2019 remake of The Lion King.

In contrast, a newer method called motion capture makes use of live action footage.

In filmmaking and video game development, it refers to recording actions of human actors, and using that information to animate digital character models in 2D or 3D computer animation.

Films that have attempted photorealistic human characters, such as The Polar Express, Beowulf, and A Christmas Carol

The Polar Express is a 2004 American computer-animated adventure film based on the 1985 children's book of the same name by Chris Van Allsburg, who also served as one of the executive producers on the film.

Films that have attempted photorealistic human characters, such as The Polar Express, Beowulf, and A Christmas Carol

Beowulf is a 2007 British-American 3D adult motion capture computer-animated fantasy adventure film directed by Robert Zemeckis, written by Neil Gaiman and Roger Avary and based on the Old English epic poem of the same name.

Films that have attempted photorealistic human characters, such as The Polar Express, Beowulf, and A Christmas Carol

A Christmas Carol is a 2009 American 3D computer-animated dark fantasy film written, co-produced and directed by Robert Zemeckis.

Computer animation can also be tailored to mimic or substitute for other kinds of animation, like traditional stop-motion animation (as shown in Flushed Away or The Lego Movie).

Flushed Away is a 2006 computer-animated adventure comedy film directed by David Bowers and Sam Fell, produced by Cecil Kramer, David Sproxton, and Peter Lord, and written by Dick Clement, Ian La Frenais, Chris Lloyd, Joe Keenan and William Davies.

Computer animation is essentially a digital successor to stop motion techniques, but using 3D models, and traditional animation techniques using frame-by-frame animation of 2D illustrations.

Since the general animation renaissance headlined by the likes of An American Tail, The Land Before Time and Who Framed Roger Rabbit at the end of the 1980s and the beginning of the 1990s, there have been an increasing number of traditional stop-motion feature films, despite advancements with computer animation.

This imagery originally appeared in their student film A Computer Animated Hand, which they completed in 1972.

The short film has been called groundbreaking and revolutionary for being one of the earliest examples of computer animation.

Modern computer animation usually uses 3D computer graphics, although 2D computer graphics are still used for stylistic, low bandwidth, and faster real-time renderings.

Another important factor controlling real-time computer graphics is the combination of physics and animation.

Blue Sky Studios, Inc. is an American computer animation film studio based in Greenwich, Connecticut.

Ice Age is a 2002 American computer-animated comedy film directed by Chris Wedge and co-directed by Carlos Saldanha from a story by Michael J. Wilson.

In 1968, a computer animation called "Kitty" was created with BESM-4 by Nikolai Konstantinov, depicting a cat moving around.

BESM-4 was used to create the first ever computer animation.

The Peanuts Movie (known in some countries as Snoopy and Charlie Brown: A Peanuts Movie ) is a 2015 American computer-animated comedy film based on Charles M. Schulz's comic strip Peanuts, produced by Blue Sky Studios and distributed by 20th Century Fox.