The Ultimate Guide to Animation for Beginners

If you have always been fascinated by watching animated cartoons as a child, you might have wondered how the artists created those functions. Animation is the technique by which still images are made to appear as moving by creating an illusion of the eye. If you are not familiar with the details of pursuing an animation course but would like to, then this blog is for you. Moople Institute of Animation and Design is the leading animation institute in Kolkata which offers myriad courses in the animation and VFX industry. Moople offers state-of-the-art technology in order to facilitate equipping the students with the latest industry knowledge. In this age dominated by visual media, it is absolutely necessary to learn a course in this broad and dynamic industry. The world of animation, Visual Effects (VFX), and graphic designing is teeming with opportunities and the growing industry is in need of relevant animators and artists.

2D and 3D Animation

While 2D animation was prevalent previously, the contemporary age is predominated by 3D animation. The chief difference between the two is that 2D or two-dimensional animation appears as a photograph does, that is, flat but 3D or three-dimensional animation has the added aspect of depth which makes it appear as convincing as real-life characters. While 2D animation is cheaper than 3D animation, the latter is usually more expensive. 3D animation is used in movies, cartoons, and video games whereas 2D animation are used in social media sites, demos, and animated whiteboard videos. We enjoyed 2D animation in the widely popular ‘Tom & Jerry’ cartoon and the earlier Disney movies and we were engrossed by those. As technology has advanced, the taste of the audience too has altered. Currently, almost the entire viewership prefers watching or implementing 3D animation.

Animation Studios & the Animation Pipeline

In order to understand how the work is facilitated let us imagine that the animation industry is a machine that is made up of moving parts. The myriad parts of this machine are departments, people, and projects, and they together produce visual content with a plot line. If we disintegrate the congregation of this machine, the various parts are known as the Film Production Pipeline and divided into three groups –

Pre-Production – This is the first stage in the film and comprises of aspects like scriptwriting, storyboarding, and visual development among others. At this stage, a major chunk of the building blocks is created.

Production – This is the middle stage in the process and includes activities like character modeling, rigging, and animation. Most of the building happens at this level by using those initial blocks to shape the story.

Post-production – This is the final stage and consists of the activities of compositing, VFX, and colour correction. This ultimate step is about the details, polishing the story, and preparing it for the audience.

An animation studio is a place where collaborative endeavours are carried out. This means that although there are separate departments for the sundry activities yet decisions taken by one department affect all the other departments. If you want to be a successful animator, you must possess great cooperation skills along with working in both small and large teams.

Conclusion

One of the greatest advantages of pursuing an animation course is that students are not required to come from a particular background. If you are an artistically inclined individual with immaculate painting or drawing skills, you should definitely consider a career in the field of animation and VFX. Moople would be the perfect choice for you if you are looking to get enrolled in any of the various animation and VFX courses. As the courses provided are practice-oriented, the candidates on successful completion of the course can directly launch their career.