Animation for Science Docs

Animation for Science Docs

Stop-Motion Animation

One of the simplest way to create an animation is by taking photographs in a sequence, a process called stop-motion. Often we’ll get approached by filmmakers who have never done any form of animation but want to use it to explain a concept. This may involve setting a camera toward a white board and snapping photos as you draw, or setting up clay figures like Wallace and Gromit.

Fortunately, you can actually get programs that help with the process. They allow you to see how the animation will look as you’re building the sequence.

One of the best programs for the amateur stop-motion artist is iStopMotion by Boinx. It allows you to preview the animation as you create it. It also allows you to do onion-skinning, a technique that shows you the previous frames screened over the frame you’re about to capture. It makes the entire process much easier.

Claymation

Claymation is an extension of stop-animation. It can be extremely tricky to do, but a basic claymation is possible with only a bit of practice. In the past, animators had to calculate the amount of time an animation should last and quickly do the math to get it right. Now there are programs available that let you see the action of the animation as it is being produced.

2D Animation

Most of Disney’s animations are done by traditional 2D animation techniques, where each plate is painstakingly drawn by the animators. Today, computers allow animators to speed up the process with digital format. The computer can create the in-between motion when we want a graphic to move across the frame. Flash and After Effects are the main programs that achieve this.