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Animator
 
 
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An animator is an artist
Artist

The definition of an artist is wide-ranging and covers a broad spectrum of activities to do with creating art, practicing the arts and/or demonstrating an art....
 who creates multiple images called frames and Key frame
Key frame

A key frame in animation and filmmaking is a drawing which defines the starting and ending points of any Dissolve . They are called "frames" because their position in time is measured in film frames on a strip of film....
s that form an illusion of movement called animation
Animation

Animation is the rapid display of a sequence of images of 2-D or 3-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, and can be created and demonstrated in a number of ways....
 when rapidly displayed. Animators can work in a variety of fields including film
Film

Film encompasses individual motion pictures, the field of film as an art form, and the film industry. Films are produced by recording images from the world with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or special effects....
, television, video games, and the internet
Internet

The Internet is a global network of interconnected computers, enabling users to share information along multiple channels. Typically, a computer that connects to the Internet can access information from a vast array of available server and other computers by moving information from them to the computer's local memory....
. Usually, an animation piece requires the collaboration of several animators. The methods of creating the images or frames for an animation piece depends on the animators' artistic styles and their field.

Other artists who contribute to animated cartoon
Animated cartoon

An animated cartoon is a short, hand-drawn film for the Movie theater, television or computer screen, featuring some kind of story or plot . This is distinct from the term "animation" or "animated film", as not all follow the definition....
s, but who are not animators, include layout
Layout

selfref|For the Wikipedia policy about articles layout, see...
 artists (who design the backgrounds, lighting, and camera angles), storyboard
Storyboard

Storyboards are graphic organizers such as a series of illustrations or s displayed in sequence for the purpose of previsualizing a motion graphic or interactive media sequence, including website interactivity....
 artists (who draw panels of the action from the script), and background
Background

The term background may refer to:In art:*Background , the part of a scene that appears to be farthest from the viewer*Background lighting, a film technique...
 artists (who paint the "scenery").






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An animator is an artist
Artist

The definition of an artist is wide-ranging and covers a broad spectrum of activities to do with creating art, practicing the arts and/or demonstrating an art....
 who creates multiple images called frames and Key frame
Key frame

A key frame in animation and filmmaking is a drawing which defines the starting and ending points of any Dissolve . They are called "frames" because their position in time is measured in film frames on a strip of film....
s that form an illusion of movement called animation
Animation

Animation is the rapid display of a sequence of images of 2-D or 3-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, and can be created and demonstrated in a number of ways....
 when rapidly displayed. Animators can work in a variety of fields including film
Film

Film encompasses individual motion pictures, the field of film as an art form, and the film industry. Films are produced by recording images from the world with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or special effects....
, television, video games, and the internet
Internet

The Internet is a global network of interconnected computers, enabling users to share information along multiple channels. Typically, a computer that connects to the Internet can access information from a vast array of available server and other computers by moving information from them to the computer's local memory....
. Usually, an animation piece requires the collaboration of several animators. The methods of creating the images or frames for an animation piece depends on the animators' artistic styles and their field.

Other artists who contribute to animated cartoon
Animated cartoon

An animated cartoon is a short, hand-drawn film for the Movie theater, television or computer screen, featuring some kind of story or plot . This is distinct from the term "animation" or "animated film", as not all follow the definition....
s, but who are not animators, include layout
Layout

selfref|For the Wikipedia policy about articles layout, see...
 artists (who design the backgrounds, lighting, and camera angles), storyboard
Storyboard

Storyboards are graphic organizers such as a series of illustrations or s displayed in sequence for the purpose of previsualizing a motion graphic or interactive media sequence, including website interactivity....
 artists (who draw panels of the action from the script), and background
Background

The term background may refer to:In art:*Background , the part of a scene that appears to be farthest from the viewer*Background lighting, a film technique...
 artists (who paint the "scenery"). Moreover, voice actors, musician
Musician

A musician is a person who plays or writes music. Musicians can be classified by their roles in creating or performing music:* An instrumentalist plays a musical instrument....
s and other talent may be added as necessary to give the animation additional depth.

Specialized fields

Among the specialized categorizations of animators are character animators (artists who specialize in character movement, dialogue
Dialogue

A dialogue is a conversation between two or more people. It is also a literary form in which two or more parties engage in a discussion....
, acting
Acting

Acting is the work of an actor or actress, which is a person in theatre, television, film, or any other storytelling medium who tells the story by portraying a Fictional character and, usually, Speech communication or singing the written text or Play ....
, etc.) and special effects animators (who animate anything that is not a character; most commonly vehicle
Vehicle

Vehicles, derived from the Latin word, vehiculum, are non-living means of transport. Most often they are manufactured , although some other means of transport which are not made by humans also may be called vehicles; examples include icebergs and floating tree trunks....
s, machinery, and natural phenomena such as rain, snow, and water).

Inbetweeners and cleanup artists

In large-scale productions by major studios, each animator usually has one or more assistants, "inbetweeners
Tweening

Inbetweening or tweening is the process of generating intermediate frames between two images to give the appearance that the first image evolves smoothly into the second image....
" and "cleanup artists", who make drawings between the "key poses" drawn by the animator, and also re-draw any sketches that are too roughly made to be used as such. Usually, an artist is hired for the first time in one of these categories, and can later advance to full animator status.

Methods

In the past, animating was a long and arduous process; each frame of a given scene was hand-drawn, then transposed onto sheets of celluloid
Cel

A cel, short for celluloid, is a transparent sheet on which objects are drawn or painted for traditional, hand-drawn traditional animation. Celluloid was used for animation and film production up until the late 20th century, however, it burned easily and suffered from spontaneous decomposition, and was largely replaced by cellulose acetate p...
, where they would be traced and painted. These finished "cels" were then placed together and filmed, one frame at a time.

Animation methods have become far more varied in recent years - today's cartoons could be created using any number of interesting methods
Animation

Animation is the rapid display of a sequence of images of 2-D or 3-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, and can be created and demonstrated in a number of ways....
, mostly using computers to make the animation process cheaper and faster. These more efficient animation procedures have made the animator's job less tedious and more creative.

See also

  • Animation
    Animation

    Animation is the rapid display of a sequence of images of 2-D or 3-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, and can be created and demonstrated in a number of ways....
  • Computer animation
    Computer animation

    Computer animation is the art of creating moving images with the use of computers. It is a subfield of computer graphics and animation....
  • Computer graphics
    Computer graphics

    Computer graphics are graphics created by computers and, more generally, the representation and manipulation of pictorial data by a computer....
  • Key frame
    Key frame

    A key frame in animation and filmmaking is a drawing which defines the starting and ending points of any Dissolve . They are called "frames" because their position in time is measured in film frames on a strip of film....
  • Sweat box
    Sweat box

    "Sweat box" is the Animation industry's equivalent to rushes, or dailies. When an animated scene has been approved by the animation lead, it is sent to the Avid....


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