Anyone that enjoys art and loves cartoons will most likely be intrigued with animation and find computer animation fascinating. Animation came alive with 2D animation then moved on into 3D, which has now become the way of the animation world. It would never have evolved to this point without the success of the 2D. In fact, it is still dependant on the skills required for 2D to be applied to 3D animation. Therefore, where you hear someone say the 2D animation is mundane then do not give it a second thought.

In modern technology where almost everyone is on computers at some point of time it is unlikely they will not be exposed to some type of animation . It must not be forgotten that animation is not just restricted to cartoon characters.

To put it simply any moving image that has been made to do so by the computer is computer animation. The technique used is a way to create the illusion of movement one image on the screen quickly is replaced by another one that is almost identical to the first one but not exact. It happens this same way with other media such as television and movies. Most often, this is accomplished with 3D computer graphics and the results are directed to the computer, but it could be for movies as well. You may hear this referred to as CGI meaning computer generated imagery.

Computer animation is just another method of creating animation by way of automation or computer technology. The principals are the same as when they are done by hand, it is just the computer is able to do much of the preparation work and rendering of the finished version. It duplicates the stop motion techniques of 3D and framing by 2D.

Using the computer for animation is a systematic process. To begin with, the object is built on the computer monitor. These are the models. Then the 3D figures have to have a virtual skeleton. To get the major movements such as for the eyes, mouth or clothing for example then the computer will create an action called tweening or morphing.

Animation is the process of making films, movies,videos or computer games in which drawings or models of people and animals seem to move. Animation, contrary to what many people think, has a long and illustrious history of its own. Ancient Egyptian excavations reveal that the Egyptians did extensive wall decoration way back in 2000 B.C. Even the Greek, in their ancient paintings and drawings reveal a fascinating sense of imagination. Leonardo Da Vinci has used some form of animation in his famous illustrations. The Japanese have used scrolls to tell stories from ancient times. The ideas behind animation are not a recent phenomenon and have existed for centuries now. With the increasing impact of technology, the face of animation has been revolutionized.

It has been mankind’s quest from the beginning of time to capture the sense of motion in art. This gave rise to ancient paintings which could be found in caves. One has heard of such drawings associated with several civilizations of the past. A Frenchman named Paul Roget invented something known as the thaumatrope, which was a disc with a string attached to both sides. One side of the disc had the drawing of a bird and the other side an empty cage. When the disc was twirled using the strings, the bird appeared as if it was inside the cage. Such early inventions were forerunners to the present day animation.

Later, an instrument called the henakristoscope was invented by Joseph Plateau, which was a circular card with slits around the edge. The viewer had to hold the card up to a mirror and peer through the slits as the cards whirled. A series of drawings would be present around the circumference of the card. What the viewer would see was the optical illusion of a moving picture. Plateu introduced this to the US in 1826. Decades later, the advent of computers and software literally changed the way animation was done. Now literally nothing is impossible as far as animation goes. Using current animation software, one can create mind boggling animation. Hollywood is full of animation pioneers.