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Animation
2D Animation
The creation of moving pictures in a two-dimensional environment, such as through "traditional" cel animation or in computerized animation software.
3D Animation
Created by manipulating polygon meshes and molding them into objects, characters and scenes. 3D art is used in everything from print ads, Web sites, television, movies, video games and beyond.
Anticipation
Anything your character does to prepare for an action.
Arcs
The visual path of action from one extreme to another.
Background Design
Designing and placing an image or gradient into the page's background that visually recedes behind the foreground elements.
Character Design
Involves creativity on creating a new character. Characters may be presented by means of description, through their actions, speech, or thoughts.
Digital Animation
Encompasses a variety of techniques, the unifying factor being that the animation is created digitally on a computer.
Exaggeration
Used to accentuate an action or idea. You often must exaggerate a motion or effect to ensure that the audience catches it.
Field
The actual visible range of the drawings captured by the camera, similar in scope to a field of vision
Motion Capture (MOCAP)
Terms used to describe the process of recording movement and translating that movement onto a digital model.
Pixel
Basically the smallest visible unit of measure on your screen; a pixel is a single tiny dot; together groups of pixels create recognizable images. Pixels are used as the general measuring standards for screen sizes (i.e., 1024 pixels wide by 768 pixels tall), image documents, videos, and aspect ratios.
Props Design
Designing the set, usually done by a Production Designer.
Puppet Animation
involves stop-motion puppet figures interacting with each other in a constructed environment, in contrast to the real-world interaction in model animation.
Rotoscoping
a technique, patented by Max Fleischer in 1917, where animators trace live-action movement, frame by frame.
Script
the dialogue and instructions for a film or television programme.
Slow in and Slow out
spacing of the in between frames at maximum positions. It is the second and third order continuity of motion of the object.
Squash and Stretch
technique applied to characters or machinery in motion, giving it a cartoonish feel as opposed to realistic jerky motion.
Staging
presentation of an idea so that it is clear. This idea can be an action, a personality, an expression, or a mood.
Stop-Motion
(also known as stop-action or frame-by-frame) is an animation technique to make a physically manipulated object appear to move on its own.
Storyboard
are graphic organizers such as a series of illustrations or images displayed in sequence for the purpose of pre-visualizing a motion picture, animation, motion graphic or interactive media sequence.
Timing
The speed of an action, i.e., timing, gives meaning to movement, both physical and emotional meaning.
Traditional Animation
The oldest and historically the most popular form of animation. In a traditionally-animated cartoon, each frame is drawn by hand.
Vector
In graphics and animation, a "vector" is a line or a movement defined by end-points or, essentially, the distance between point A and point B