Types of Animation


Task 1 P1,P2,M1

Masking

Masking is using an image over another image to give a 2D or £d look to the image, it is mostly seen in anime and mange, and cartoon art and in most Japanese cartons


Morphing

Morphing is done when you change an image frame by frame into another image, maing it look like the image has slowly change into something else, is found in motion pictures and animations, films like The Golden Child 






 
Movement 

Movement is mostly found in 2D animation, it is where you show an serise of image in quick enough succession but with a slight bit of difference to make it look as if there is movement, is found in almost every animation, and films like polar express
 


 Persistence of Vision

people think that motion and persistence of vision are the same thing in the human brain, this is not true persistance of vision it cause by human perciving an image decat over time but in actual fact it is slowing down faster than we see, we think  that motion and persistacne of vision are the same thing becuse of somene call Max Wertheimer, other people think that persistance of vision is better explained in the Phil phenomena and bata movment

The seeing of 2 rapid lights fired in quick sucsesion and us see the lights in motion is the Phil phenomenon
Beta movementis the seeing of 2 still images flashing fast enough to make it look like there is motion in there

Media uses a lot of persistence of vision, all long of animation are faster than 16 frame per second we cant easily make output the different between the serrate images, this is why most modern films use more that 24 frame per second


Advantages of GIFS P3

The GIF file format has a transparent background, so instead of using a white background say you could have it so that the background as no colour and is transpartent to what even if on the bakc thi s could be use ina a website to try and make it more intresting, it would also go well if you use the GIf format on you website at all .
GIf have a small file size this is usefull beucase it allows for moer to be stored or use in areas that could only host of few
Gifs have a lossless compression system this mean that you could save the file as many time as you want and the file witll not change at all, this makes gif for of distrbution

Disadvantage of GIFS P3

Gifs only have a 256 colour range this is bad if you have tryign to get more colour dpeth in you images or some persific details.

if people have a bad internet connection and they are trying to leod the Gif formation it will be ok to load as long as you connecting is goodand you have sufisicent bandwidth

Gifs will only animation in some browsers of the ones that can use the giff format

Once you have fully made the GIf you cant go back and change or edit it again

most website only let you have a Gif that is a certain time long because otherwise it could become to large

You can not interact with the gif



Diffrent File Formats M2



Dynamic HTML/ dHTML
Advantages:

 dHTML loads content on the go so only when you need it. Your whole page does not loads but only the content part that you are looking as or your changing, so saving the time to make changes to the website.

dHTML Doesn't need plug-ins because most browsers have it prei-nstalled

The dynamic features that dHTML  has help web designers to create Web pages that are small in looks, quick to download, have graphical effects, provides greater functionality and can hold much more text or content all at the same time.

Disadvantages

although dHTML provides great functionality but the editors available for that in market are very expensive, some examples of dHTML editors are Dreamweaver and Fusion.

dHTML coding is long and complex. Usually only the expert JavaScript and HTML programmers can write them and edit them with good degree of functionality.

dHTML suffers problems in different browser.  For example, a code written for Netscape might not work in Internet Explorer. The problem arises due to the different features of browsers.


Flash

Advantages

Flash offers more intractable features than the other formats because of things like games and feedback forms that will create a more interesting website.

Flash is compatible with nearly any browser which gives it use in almost all of the browser  because it doesnt limit itself to any specific browser, the only issue that you will come across is that some browsers will require the latest flash player. 

Disadvantages

A lot of the creation in flash will require the latest Flash player but most people don't like to update their Flash player so it will put of some people to the content that your provide.

A lot of mobile devices cannot access flash content and the people that use mobile for browsing the internet also will not have access to your content this will have an effect on your audience.

Shockwave /SWF

Advantages

SWF is vector based. This means that the content can be scaled without distortion, so they can be zoomed in to or be able onto different size screens, and the file will look clear and play very smooth a unlike bitmap animation.

It was intentionally created small and light to display entertaining animations and could be run on a system which has slower network connections.

SWF uses a lossless data compression method known as DEFLATE. so it doesn't lose quality after being save multiple times

Disadvantages

SWF's major disadvantage is compatibility. SWF cannot be played unless the person has Macromedia Flash installed on their computer.

QuickTime

Advantages
Large files can start streaming before the entire file is downloaded.

QuickTime players are for the most part absolutely free.


Disadvantages
To access QuickTime files you have to stream from the host.

The bandwidth that different users can reach will be a issue, as the user has to stream, poor network connection will stop access to your content. 

RealPlayer

Advantages
 RealPlayer is compatible will many audio files types like for example MP3s, WMA,  AAC. It also support video files like MPEG-4.

Disadvantages

It can be subject to lag if the user's connection does not reach certain requirements.

There are other alternatives that take up less space and use less processing power.


Comparison between GIF and Flash 
Flash is technologically better in very way to GIF it can animate more fluently due to the fact it can store more data this allows more frames so smother animations, using tweening which will save the time of the animator and money for the publisher. Also Flash can use a far larger range of colours than Gif as Gif is limited to only 256, also these colours have to be in larger blocks or it will struggle to run smoothly, where as Flash has alot more which allows more interactive design. Although Gif can load alot quicker on webpages and is more accessible to people with weaker internet connection, but Gifs biggest advantage is that it is accessible by mobiles which is a major issue with Flash so for websites that are designed for mobile web browsing will probably use Gif, but most people now do have good enough connection to use flash over Gif, and the people that dont only use the internet for looking at their emails.


Comparison between QuickTime and RealPlayer
QuickTime streams because of this people with poor internet connection will struggle to access the files because you have to get the files from the host, this is bad if the host have bad upload speeds, but on RealPlayer the files are yours after you have downloaded them and it just plays them. If the host's server goes down then QuickTIme becomes useless because you don't have any files but RealPlayer takes more processing power to use so they both have their advantages and their efficiency, although with Quicktime you can stream without downloading so it is my choice when watching items on the internet


Depending on your project the choice of file format will be based on what you are trying make. If you wish to stream then QuickTime is your best option, if you wish to make a more complex and interactive animation then Flash is a good choice, if your market is on mobile browsing then Gif or dHTML will be the better option due to Flash's mobile limitations.    

 P4 describe software tools

Frames are what the animation is made up of, because each frame is about 0.1 seconds so the longer the animation the more frames will be required, this is where FPS comes from or frames per seconds, FPS is a term mostly used in games to show how smoothly the game will run about 30 will give you smooth game play.

Layers are used to make it easier to find out what images is where and to make it easier to tween images and edity them without changing the whole image.

Control this allows the animation to be played with sound, it is mainly bitmap image after bitmap image

Tweening is where the program moves the image from one play to another while adding the frames between without the animator doing it 

Buttons these are found on the side of the animation tool like adobes flash these are these are there to make it simpler for the animator to draw and create the animation

libraries are used to hold pre-made sounds and interactive components to save time on the part of the animator 

Symbols a symbol is made by the animator to save time it does this by saving any images that you have done and storing it for easy access if needed again 

Integrating other types of media this can save time if your using other clips that you have created  live action claymation 

Factors to consider when making an animation for the web 

There a quite a few facter to worry about when making an animation for the web, size is one beucase if it is to large of a file to will take to long for it to load so people won't hany around to watch it as the longest that people will wait on a page is around 10 seconds, you also have to think about who and what people will view the animation on this could be anything from a moble to a 42in TV, you also need to think about how the animation will be activeted this could include a rollover or e-card or even in a email as an attachment.