Outline of animation

The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to animation:

Animation – rapid display of a sequence of images of 2-D artwork or model positions in order to create an illusion of movement. It is an optical illusion of motion due to the phenomenon of persistence of vision. The most common method of presenting animation is as a motion picture or video program, although several other forms of presenting animation also exist.

## What type of thing is animation?

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Animation can be described as all of the following:

* One of the visual arts
* Manipulation of imagery to give the appearance of movement

## Animation techniques

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* Animation
* Cel animation (= traditional animation)
* Full animation
* Limited animation
* Rotoscoping
* Stop motion
* Puppet animation
* Puppetoons
* Claymation (= clay animation)
* Strata-cut animation
* Cutout animation
* Silhouette animation
* Model animation
* Go motion
* Object animation
* Brickfilm
* Graphic animation
* Pixilation
* Computer animation
* Anime
* Categorization by dimensionality of characters:
* 2D animation
* 3D animation
* Categorization by speed of rendering and capabilities:
* Pre-rendered animation: Motion is developed in the software. There is a delay for the software to render the animation before it can be viewed.
* Talking avatar: The user provides or selects a picture of a character and provides a recording of a voice. The software animates lip movements, facial expressions, and small hand and body motions in the character that remains upright and stationary.
* Examples of software: HeyGen Photo Avatar, Aitubo Talking Avatar, Kreado AI, D-ID, Gooey AI Lipsync Maker, Adobe Express Animate from audio
* Video from text: The user provides a text description of a desired motion, possibly along with other guiding inputs, such as a starting image, a video to transform, or a soundtrack to match. The software interprets the description, influenced by any additional inputs, and generates an animated video from it.
* Examples of software: Raw Shorts, Kaiber, Elai, Pika Labs, Gooey AI AI Animation Generator, Neural Frames, GenMo
* Video from image: The user provides an image file, which the software uses as the starting point to generate an animated video.
* Example of software: Pika Labs, LeiaPix, Meta AI Animated Drawings,
* Motion imitation: The user provides an existing video showing the motion of a person and selects or creates a character. The software makes the character imitate the actions of the person in the video, including facial expressions, hand gestures, walking, and dancing.
* Example of software: DeepMotion
* Full motion: The software can generate an unlimited range and duration of motion based on designs developed by the user.
* Examples of software: Maya, Blender, Adobe Animate, Reallusion Cartoon Animator (2D)
* Real-time animation (= machinima): Motion develops in the software in response to user input. The animation is displayed nearly simultaneously with the input.
* Video game
* Examples of video game engines: Unity, Unreal Engine, CryEngine
* Virtual world (= simulation game)
* Examples: Second Life, The Sims
* Other real-time animation:
* Examples of software: iClone, Adobe Character Animator (2D), Toon Boom Harmony, Blender

## History of animation

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Main article: History of animation

* History of American animation:
* Animation in the United States during the silent era
* Golden age of American animation
* World War II and American animation
* Animation in the United States in the television era
* Modern animation in the United States
* History of anime
* History of anime in the United States
* History of animation in India
* History of British animation
* History of Canadian animation
* History of Chinese animation
* History of French animation
* History of Hungarian animation
* History of Iranian animation
* History of Korean animation
* History of Russian animation

## Computer Animation Software

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* 2D animation
* Adobe Flash
* FlipaClip
* 3D animation
* Autodesk Maya
* Autodesk 3ds Max
* LightWave 3D
* ZBrush
* Rhinoceros 3D
* Cinema 4D
* Houdini (software)
* Blender (software)
* Autodesk Softimage

## Animated films and TV series

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* Lists of animated films
* Lists of animated television series
* List of animated short films
* List of theatrical animated short film series
* Lists of anime
* List of animated Internet series
* List of animated direct-to-video series
* List of live-action films based on cartoons and comics
* List of films with live action and animation
* List of animated films in the public domain in the United States
* List of lost or unfinished animated films
* List of animated package films
* List of adult animated feature films
* List of children's animated films

## Animation studios

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* List of animation studios
* List of animation studios owned by NBCUniversal
* List of animation studios owned by Paramount Global
* List of animation studios owned by Sony
* List of animation studios owned by the Walt Disney Company
* List of animation studios owned by Warner Bros. Discovery

## Some notable artists and producers of animation

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For a more comprehensive list, see List of animators.

* Tex Avery
* Ralph Bakshi
* Hanna-Barbera
* Brad Bird
* Don Bluth
* Bob Clampett
* Quirino Cristiani
* Walt Disney
* Max Fleischer
* Paul Grimault
* Matt Groening
* Ivan Ivanov-Vano
* Chuck Jones
* Mike Judge
* John Kricfalusi
* Walter Lantz
* John Lasseter
* Todd McFarlane
* Hayao Miyazaki
* Joe Murray
* Fred Quimby
* Trey Parker
* Matt Stone
* Jay Ward

## See also

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* Animation portal

* Outline of film

## External links

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Animation at Wikipedia's sister projects

* Definitions from Wiktionary
* Media from Commons
* News from Wikinews
* Quotations from Wikiquote
* Texts from Wikisource
* Textbooks from Wikibooks
* Resources from Wikiversity

Library resources about
Animation

* * *

* Resources in your library

* Experimental Animation Techniques at the Wayback Machine (archived March 7, 2008)
* The making of an 8-minute cartoon short
* "Animando" Archived 2009-10-01 at the Wayback Machine, a 12-minute film demonstrating 10 different animation techniques (and teaching how to use them).

* v
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Animation topics

By country|

* Azerbaijan
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* United Kingdom
* Canada
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* history
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* Hungary
* India
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* Iran
* Japan
* history
* Korea
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* history
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* Silent Era
* The Golden Age
* World War II
* Early TV broadcast era
* Modern TV cable and streaming era
* Vietnam

Industry|

* Animator
* List
* Animation department
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* Story artist
* Animation studios
* List
* Animation database
* Art pipeline
* Biologist simulators
* Animation film festivals
* international
* regional
* Highest-grossing films (Opening weekends)
* Outsourcing
* International Animation Day

Works|

* Films
* Computer-animated
* Feature-length
* Lost or unfinished
* Package
* Short
* Short series
* Stop-motion
* Adult animated films
* Children's animated films
* Series
* Adult animated
* Children's animated
* Computer-animated
* Direct-to-video
* Flash
* Internet
* Television

Techniques|

| Traditional|

* Barrier-grid and stereography
* Flip book
* Limited animation
* Masking
* Rotoscoping
* Exposure sheet

|

Stop motion|

* Claymation
* clay painting, strata-cut
* Cutout (silhouette)
* Graphic
* Model
* go motion
* Object
* Brickfilm
* Pixilation
* Puppetoons

Computer|

| 2D|

* 2.5D
* Flash
* PowerPoint
* SVG
* CSS
* Multi-sketch
* Onion skinning

|

3D|

* T-pose
* Cel shading
* CGI
* Crowd
* Facial animation
* Morph target
* Motion capture
* facial
* hand tracking
* eye tracking
* Non-photorealistic rendering
* Physically based animation
* Procedural
* Skeletal
* Virtual cinematography

Puppetry|

* Traditional puppetry
* Digital puppetry
* Machinima
* Aniforms
* Virtual human
* Live2D
* Supermarionation

Mechanical|

* Animatronics
* Audio-Animatronics
* Linear Animation Generator
* Direct manipulation animation
* Humanoid animation
* Idle animation
* Ink-wash animation
* Magic Lantern
* Scanimate
* Shadowmation
* Squigglevision
* Whiteboard animation

Other methods|

* Blocking
* Character animation
* model sheet
* walk cycle
* lip sync
* off-model
* Chuckimation
* Drawn-on-film
* Erasure animation
* Hydrotechnics
* Inbetweening
* Morphing
* Paint-on-glass
* Pinscreen
* Pixel art
* Pose to pose
* Straight ahead
* Rubber hose
* Special effects
* Sand
* Syncro-Vox
* Zoetrope

Variants|

* Abstract animation (visual music)
* Adult animation
* Animated cartoon
* Animated sitcom
* Animated documentary
* Anime
* influenced
* Educational animation
* Erotic animation
* Independent animation
* Instructional animation
* Virtual newscaster

History|

* Early history
* History of computer animation
* timeline

Related topics|

* Animation music
* Bouncing ball
* Mickey Mousing
* Key frame
* Cel
* Character animation
* model sheet
* walk cycle
* lip sync
* off-model
* Creature animation
* Twelve basic principles
* Motion comic
* Films with live action and animation
* highest grossing
* Cartoon
* physics
* violence
* Most expensive animated films
* List of animated films by box office admissions
* List of animated television series by episode count

* Category
* Portal
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