Character animation has been amongst the living for more
than 5,000 years. Even though the images did not move back then, animated
characters and retelling of stories was still found on the walls of the
cavemen, the tombs of Egypt, and on pottery bowls dating back 5,200 years. As
time progressed so did the technology.
Inventors began to develop methods to display pictures in
motion through technologies such as the zoetrope and the praxinoscope.
Gradually, silent pictures came on the big screen, followed by black and white
movies with sound, and finally, the big kingpin, Walt Disney made its entry,
hence changing the animated movie scene forever.
The Evolving Animation Industry
Animation evolved because technology evolved. The two go
hand-in-hand, as one without the other is impossible. You wouldn’t have
motion-capture animation if it was for the technology that made it a reality.
We have gone from viewing 2D animations to viewing 3D
animation. Some of the tools to make an impact on the evolution of the animation
industry include the tablet, digital pen, and digital sculpting tools. That is
only telling half the story of the ever-changing character animation.
Animators have been able to produce high quality and
high-resolution character is because they have access to the latest 3D
software. The software allows animators to design, render, animate, and color
the character with precision.
In the award-winning movie Inside Out, the entire cast of
animated characters, from the facial features to the body movements looked
uncannily real. Then there is that secret ingredient to add that extra punch to
make the character animation truly brilliant.
The Secret Ingredient
Big budget film studios supply their animators with free
reign to whatever they require to make the character animation superior. They
give them the opportunity to create tailor-made software to include that
additional element to the movie to make it great.
In Every Medium, You Can See Technology at Play
From video games, TV, to movies, you can tell the reason
behind the effortless animation is technology. Before animators drew characters
by hand, drawing each animated sequence by hand, and then keeping track of it,
but now, computers have changed the entire process.
They have made it better.
It has given us animated movies such as Tangled,
Princess and the Frog, Up, Finding Nemo, Toy Story,
Monsters University, and many more.
If you compare modern animation movies with movies such as Snow White, Pinocchio, Cinderella,
and Sleeping Beauty, you will instantly be able to tell how much technology has
influenced the final product of films you see today.
Furthermore, included in the modern technology is 3D
software, allowing animators to create tigers such as in the movie Life of Pi. They generate it from their
computers, using the high-end software, to create a realistic presentation of a
tiger. When watching the movie, it is hard to distinguish if that is a
computer-generated tiger or the real thing.
Animation has become more crisp, more clear, and more
real!
