Types of Animation

Animation Types

• Animation is the rapid display of a sequence of images to create an illusion of movement.
• There are four main types of animation: Traditional Animation, 2D Animation, 3D Animation, and Motion Graphics.

Traditional Animation

• Also known as cell animation.
• Requires the animator to draw every single frame by hand.
• Typically done on a light table to see previous drawings.
• Well-known companies like Disney use this type of animation.
• Still used today on computers with special tablets.

2D Animation

• Refers to vector-based animations similar to those used in Flash.
• Growing in popularity due to accessible technology.
• Allows artists to create rigs for characters and move single body parts at a time.
• Gives more flexibility to beginners in animation, reducing the need for drawing skills.

3D Animation

• Also known as computer animation.
• Currently the most commonly used form of animation.
• Offers flexibility in rendering previews with higher frame rates and larger sizes than the canvas.

Synfig Studio Parameters

• Quality: adjusts the quality of the preview, with a range of 0.10 (lower quality) to 5.0 (highest quality).
• Frames per second (FPS): adjusts the frame rate, with a range of 1.0 to 120.0.
• Use Cairo render: allows choice between two rendering methods of the preview.
• Play/Pause button: plays or pauses the preview render starting from the currently displayed frame.
• Next Frame button: shows the next frame after the currently displayed frame.
• Loop/Don't Loop button: toggles the preview render to play in an endless loop or not.
• Halt Render button: stops the preview render from rendering more frames.
• Re-preview button: re-previews the preview render with different settings.
• Erase Rendered Frames button: erases all rendered frames.

Region Layers

• Parameters: Z Depth, Amount, Blend Method, Color, Origin, Invert, Antialiasing, Feather, Type of Feather, Winding Style, and Vertices.
• Does not have the following parameters: Outline width, Expand, Sharp cups, Rounded Begin, Rounded End, Loopyness, and Homogeneous.

Outline Layers

• Used to hold strokes or edges of filled shapes.
• Gives a cartoon look to an animation when added as the edge of filled shapes.
• Can be used to define folds of 3D drawings.
• Parameters are the same as Region Layers, except for the 7 parameters specific to outlines.

Supported File Formats

• Image files: PNG, PNG with alpha, GIF, JPEG, BMP, XCF, PSD, TGA, PPM, EXR, SVG, and LST.
• Sound files: OGG, WAV, and MP3.