Hello Readers, Today in this blog we are going to compare between Traditional Animation Vs 3D Animation Technique.
Basically there are two types of animations 2Dimensional and 3Dimensional.
Traditional Animation comes under 2 Dimensional Animation where the drawn picture has length and width but no depth.
Before the advance of computer technology Traditional Animation techniques were used in the Television as well as Filmmaking Medium.
Those who want to pursue their career in the field of Animation they should have the knowledge about both 2D and 3D techniques of animations.
Traditional Animation Technique
Traditional Animation is also commonly known as Classical Animation or Hand-drawn Animation.
In this technique of Animation each frame is drawn by hand on a physical medium.
Until the advent of computers this technique was dominant in cinema.
This animation technique is achieved with a series of drawings on the transparent pages.
Traditional Animation begins by deciding a story first.
After the selection of the story, artist prepares storyboard which is very similar to a comic book.
Storyboard shows the sequences of shots with camera angles and framing.
At the storyboard stage animator may require to redo a scene numerous times before the approval of the director.
Series of images helps to create the plot.
Pencil Is The Tool For Animation
The traditional animators draw one picture or frame at a time.
Pencil is the main tool in the Traditional Animation.
Artist draws on sheet of transparent paper which can be fit into the peg bar in their desk.
Peg bar is the animation tool used in traditional animation to keep the drawings in place.
Artist draws character with the pencil only and these pencil drawings are photographed or scanned and synced with the necessary soundtracks.
Artist can review or improve their work before passing the animation to the supervisors.
Colouring The Cels
Each frame of pencil sketched animation is transferred on the animation Cels, Cels or celluloid pages are then painted and overlaid on top of background images.
Background artists usually paint the sets over which action of animated sequence take place.
Background was generally painted with acrylic paint.
Animators study models, dolls, puppets, real life figures for the inspiration.
In Animation Studios, the Lead Animator draws the Key or Main frames of a character.
The lead animator draws the major points of the action and the junior animator fills the in between or missing frames, this procedure is called Tweening.
Movement of the limbs, eyes, mouth of the character is done by the animator on the key frames.
In big-budget animation production group of animators work together, there is one supervisor animator, one small group of Key animators and large group of assistant animators.
Key animators decide the main action of the character.
The approved pencil animation artworks are then photographed on animation camera loaded with black and white film stock.
Voice Recording on Storyboard
Timing is important in case of this type of animation.
Each frame must match with the proper soundtrack.
Character’s shape of mouth should match with the character’s sound as he/she speaks.
Soundtrack is recorded to make the animation synchronised with the soundtrack.
A story-reel usually consists of pictures of the storyboard synchronised with the soundtrack.
Complete soundtrack consists of music, dialogues (performed by voice actors) and sound effects.
We have Disney movies such as Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Pinocchio and Bambi which used traditional animation technique.
In recent time traditional animation is done with computers but most anime and western animated series still use traditional animation technique.
3D Animation Technique
Unlike Traditional Animation 3D is a three dimensional animation technique where a picture has length, width and depth.
3D animation is completely digital animation where computers are used to create character models.
With the development of software like Maya or 3D Max, 3D animation has become user friendly.
In case of 3D animation technique; artists create 3D polygon mesh to make adjustments.
Unlike Traditional animation 3D animation do not need frame by frame animation.
3D objects or models built on the computer monitor can be rigged with virtual skeleton.
Traditional animation lacks the virtual skeleton, it uses separate illustrations and separate transparent layers.
A 3D model usually has many vertices connected by edges and faces to give the visual appearance of 3D object.
The 3D character or model displays full features along with depth.
3D Animators can add colours and textures to the 3D models to make them more attractive and lively.
3D software allows easy control over animations or shots.
3D animation technique is less painstaking compared to the Traditional technique.
Digital 3D characters have been used in many movies as well as video games.
Movies like Toy Story, Moana, Coco, Frozen have computer generated 3D Characters.
Film Toy Story (1995) features all computer generated 3D characters.
3D provides excellent software to sculpt the faces and body of the character.
A person must have in-depth knowledge about digital technology to handle various 3D Software.
The animated 3D Models can display various effects such as simple movement of the eye or lips that can provide great entertainment to the audiences.
3D images can be viewed from various angles and are more realistic.
Not only 3D figures but 3D backgrounds also deliver the sense of depth in the visual content.
In case of 3D animation, artists deal with sculpting, rendering, lighting along with talent of drawings.
Movies That Used Both Traditional and 3D Animation Technique
Disney’s 1999 film Tarzan used both the Traditional technique and 3D animation technique.
Tarzan’s production team developed Deep Canvas that is 3D painting and rendering technique.
With this Deep Canvas technique artists produced CGI background that looked like traditional painting.
Disney’s Treasure Planet is another movie that used traditional animation as well as 3D technique.
Hence here we tried to give an overview about the Traditional Animation Technique and 3D Animation Technique.
Dear Aspirants if you wish to know more about these animation techniques then please contact any of our MAAC Centres in Kolkata.
