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Animation post - Film and animation terms Category: Film and Animation > Animation Date & country: 15/11/2007, UK Words: 177

acquisition
the means by which video/film material is originated; a movie film, for example, may be acquired on 35mm motion picture stock, other productions may be acquired on video tape etc

additive (colours)
when colours are added together, such as when coloured lights shine together, this is known as additive colour. A yellow colour, for example, will be seen when equally bright red and green lights shine on one spot

airbrush
the traditional airbrush is a loved / detested paint tool that works similar to a spray can, using compressed air to lay a film of very fine paint droplets down. It is ideal for painting soft fluffy imagery like clouds. Well emulated in digital media

alias vs. anti-alias
bitmap images can appear to have ragged edges in their 'raw' (aliased) state. A technique called anti-aliasing feathers the edges. See the page here for more

alpha channel
means of representing transparency in a computer graphic

ambient light
an overall non directional light source. An example of ambient light would be the appearance inside a very heavy daytime fog; everything will be evenly lit without highlights or shadows

amplitude
term used in sound = loudness

animatic
this is a full length video (or other medium) that is as near as possible to the final production in terms of framing and timing but minus the animation, so it is more like a slide-show. (At its simplest, it may just mean filming the frames of the storyboard). Also refererred to as a 'leica'

animation
a tedious way of making moving pictures

Antics
the great great grandaddy of all computer ink and paint programs

armature
the 'skeleton' of a model such as in clay or plasticine animation that is under the 'skin' and can articulate, usually by means of ball and socket joints

aspect ratio
the relationship of the width of a video or film frame to its height, the two most common being 1.333:1 (4 x 3) and 1.77:1 (16 x 9). UK cinema widescreen is 1.85:1

AVI
picture file format for moving images (including sound) on computers - more common on PCs (see Quicktime). Depending on the codec being used, AVIs can be pure uncompressed imagery or can be heavily compressed

banding
distinct shades seen in colours that should instead appear seamlessly gradated

bar sheet
looking a bit like a dope sheet, but in horizontal format - this is a frame breakdown of sound, usually dialogue or music. (It was called 'bar sheet' because originally it would have been divided into bars of music). This can then be used as the timing basis for animation. A well designed bar-sheet will use frame spacing the same as on the dope-sheets for the same production so that it can be cut up and pasted in to the sound column of the dope-sheet

bg
abbreviation for 'background'

bit depth
the accuracy with which digital information is stored

bitmap
a computer graphic composed of little (usually square shaped) blocks called pixels.

boiling
this is the shimmering effect in hand drawn animation where lines are copied over and over in a sequence of drawings. Originally due just to the mechanics of  trying and failing to copy lines exactly by hand, it is sometimes introduced deliberately as a stylistic feature in computer generated animation - random fluctuations in line quality may make the animation look hand drawn

breakdown
the frame by frame analysis of sound tracks so that animation can be frame accurately synchronised to the sound

camera shake
a traditional animation cliché - when something violent has occurred, such as an explosion, a heavy weight has hit the ground, or door slammed, the entire scene can be seen to shake

cel
traditional: a sheet of clear plastic on to which artwork is painted. A scene would be composed of up to 6 or so layers (levels) of cel.

CGI
computer generated imagery

chroma
colour

chromakey
a means of separating a foreground image from its background by use of chroma. Most often used chromakey colours are blue or green

click track
a recorded beat used to synchronise animation to

clock
a countdown to the start of a film or commercial used to help cue up the start. Often consists of production title, date etc. plus a schematised image of a clock with just a second hand counting down

CMYK
four primary colours (cyan, magenta, yellow and black) of subtractive colour processes. Exclusively used in printed media, not film or video

codec
= compress / decompress - think of a codec as being software on your computer that enables you to record or play a specific type of moving image file such as an AVI. Each codec differs in offering various amounts or methods of picture compression, hence q

colo(u)r bars
a still image of vertical strips of saturated colours used by technicians to calibrate colour fidelity

colour depth
a value which determines the maximum number of colours and shades that can be used in a computer graphic or digitally generated image

colour space
this is a way of describing the range of colours available within graphics systems. There are specialised colour spaces such as Adobe RGB and one widely used colour space called sRGB which has a reduced gamut, but is 'understood' by almost all digital graphics devices

colour temperature
the colour quality of light (whether it is 'warm' or 'cool'); it is measured using the Kelvin scale. The colour temperature of daylight, for example, is approx. 5500ºK. If a camera is using film or sensors for a specific colour temperature and the lighting is not of that colour temperature, the colours will be recorded incorrectly. Colour temperature can be adjusted with filters over lights or the camera's lens. Another, easier, way is to set the camera's white balance for each scene.

component (video)
system of video signal distribution that offers the best picture quality in terms of colour purity etc.

composite (video)
one of the worst forms of video in respect to picture quality. Fortunately dying slowly out

compression
many image files, both still and movie, can be greatly reduced in size using compression. Lossless compression gets rid of redundancy but leaves the image pristine. Lossy compression reduces the size of images by throwing away information that the eye should not miss. Done badly, lossy compression can cause visible artefacts

crossing the line (don't!)
the rule for composing shots where two characters are speaking. Imagine a line joining the characters. For editing to work unobtrusively, the camera must always stay one side of this imaginary line for every shot within the scene

cutout animation
pre-computer: card or paper was animated directly under camera. Computer: programs such as Flash are the digital equivalent

cutting frames
extra frames added at the beginning and or end of a shot

cycle
any repeatedly looped animation e.g using drawings 1,3,5,7,1,3,5,7  etc.

depth of field
photography / live action: depth of field is two numbers which predict how much of a scene will be in focus, given as distance from the camera. The depth of field is affected by how much the lens is 'stopped down' - the closer a lens comes to being like a pin hole, the greater the depth of field (the more will be sharp). This effect can be replicated, with some effort, in animation

diffuse lighting
3D cgi term. Lighting that is directional but soft, like illuminating something made of velvet or very dry skin

dissolve
see mix

dither(ing)
method by which the apparent colour depth of a graphic can be increased; derived from the 19th century pointillism painting style.

DivX
a high quality codec especially good for live action

ease in - out
see fairings

elliotropic
live action term - a slow motion hand-held camera style used to evoke a dream state

exponential
one type of mathematical curve. If you move towards a target at a constant speed, the target seems to be speeding up the closer you get to it - this apparent acceleration is exponential.

fade in - out
a fade in is where the screen starts totally black and lightens until the picture is 100%. A fade out is the opposite. Note that you only come from or go to black in fades. If, say, the screen were to slowly turn 100% blue, this would be dissolving to blue, not fading to blue

fairings - fair in -fair out
acceleration or deceleration at either end of a move, whether of camera or artwork. For instance, a 12 frame fair in means that the move starts from rest, then in half a second accelerates up to speed. The American terms 'ease in / out� are sometimes used

feathering
softening the edge line of an object in an image, usually when the object is to be cut out then composited on to another image

field
a unit of area that is the shape of an animation frame. A 12F, (a “12 fieldâ€?) for example, is a 12 inch field â€` this being its width. The height of the field will depend on the aspect ratio. in standard TV, a frame is made up from two fields - see interlace

field chart
also known as a graticule. A guide printed on to acetate showing the dimensions of animation fields. Field sizes most often used are between 2F and 16F

field render
It is possible in some animation software to render individual fields. This is done to obviate strobing caused by fast animation whose outer lines are too sharp. I would advise never to use it but instead use any available form of motion blur.

fill
filling an area on a cel with colour â€` the job of the cel painters

Flash
vector animation software made by Macromedia (now part of Adobe). Originally developed purely for web use, it is also widely used for broadcast animation work. The newer Flash MX variant, although still an animation tool, is also part of a very complex set of components for highly interactive web content. For straightforward narrative broadcast work, it is far better to use dedicated programs like Anime Studio, Toon Boom and Tab

foley
sound effects that are added after animation has been completed. A classic foley effect is someone treading in a tray filled with gravel to create the sound of footsteps

foot
an imperial measure, equal to 12 inches. When an animator uses the term 'foot�, it means 16 frames. This is a historical throwback to the time when 35mm film ran at 16 frames per second, (before sound!). Since there are 16 frames of film per foot of film stock, the terms “second� and “foot� became synonymous and it is has stuck

footage
the length of a film or piece of film. It is now rarely used as a literal measurement (e.g. '6 feet long') but simply means running time and can be expressed in seconds, minutes etc

frame rate
the number of frames per second a film is intended to be seen at. Silent films ran at 16 frames per second, cinema films are generally at 24 frames per second, European TV runs at 25 frames per second...and so on

frequency
in sound: how high or low a musical note is. This is directly analogous to colour in the visual realm, where different colours are due to their frequency value in the electromagnetic spectrum

FX
abbreviation for 'effects', which in turn usually means special effects

gamma
a setting used that determines the overall contrastiness of images. If in doubt, go for a default value of  2.2. This is suitable for most applications

gamut
the range of colours that any specific device (a monitor, for example) can reproduce - this is never going to be all visible colours

gate
(film only) the small aperture in a film camera in which the frame of film is exposed to light. The equivalent in a modern video camera will be some variant of a CCD array

GIF
bitmap file type best not used for animation - with the exception of specialised use on the web - note that you can have more than one image within one single 'animated gif' and so create very simple looping animation:

grading
the tweaking of colour balance in post production. This can be subtle, as in making the overall image, say, warmer, or be a profound alteration to a scene's appearance. Will usually take place at the telecine stage if footage has been originated on movie stock

graticule
see field chart

greyscale
this is one of two possible kinds of black and white images; greyscale is a black and white image that also has tonal information - that is, it is made of black and white pixels plus a range of greys between them. Compare with 1 bit

HDMI
(High-Definition Multimedia Interface) uncompressed, digital-only audio video interface. HDMI provides an interface between any audio video source, such as a DVD player and an audio and/or video monitor, such as a digital TV over one cable. Backwardly compatible with DVI

HDTV
high definition TV (that is, it's sharper looking and has more picture information than SDTV  - regular TV). Beware! This is not one single standard. Frame rates and actual resolutions vary and there are arguments about the relative merits of interlaced versus progressive scan still to be settled

hold
when an action 'freezes', that is remains the same for more than one frame, it is a hold

HSV or HSB
An alternative way to measure or describe colours to RGB.

hue
another word for colour

inbetweener
inbetweens are the drawings that fill-in between the keyframes. The inbetweener is the person who draws them

inch
an inch is a so-called “imperial� measurement (see foot as well). It is 2.54 cms. Animation field sizes are normally given in inches

ink
US term for trace

interlace
in SD (standard definition) video, each frame is made of two interlaced 'fields'. An SD TV picture has roughly 600 lines; the first field will show lines 1,3,5...etc and one fiftieth of a second later the second field will display even numbered lines 2,4,6..etc. The viewer's brain combines the two fields which are seen as simultaneous frames shown at 25 per second. See also progressive scan. These figures are for the European PAL system. The American NTSC system runs at 30 frames per second, so each field will be seen for one sixtieth of a second.

jitter
an image that shakes or fluctuates rapidly is said to jitter

JPEG
bitmap file type that uses lossy compression. File extension names:

JPEG2000
a newer type of jpeg file. Uses superior compression method plus lossless compression. Can have alpha channel. File extension names:

key frame
a keyframe is a main pose within a sequence of animation. A key animator will draw key poses and indicate the timing and number of inbetween drawings required

layout
a good storyboard frame is almost a miniature layout drawing. The layout should show the placement of characters in a shot, the extremes of their actions, their scale relationships to one another and to the background. It is drawn to the same size as the final animation. If it is not too cluttered, indications of camera moves can also be put on the layout drawing, otherwise the camera moves are indicated on a similar looking but less busy separate camera guide

leica
pronounced like-er. (The name of a German camera). Another word for animatic

lightbox
a box with a light in it. Photographers use them to check transparencies, 2D drawn animators use them to animate on

line test
the animation drawings are shot on film, tape, or disk so that the movement and timing can be checked before colouring takes place

lip sync
the synchronisation of characters` mouth movements to a soundtrack. Usually in animation, the dialogue soundtracks will be recorded before drawn animation commences as it is far easier that way round

live action
it is not always straightforward to distinguish live action from animation, but as a rule: live action is the photographing of subjects in the real world using a camera that runs continuously, the most common speed being 24 frames per second

lossless
see compression

lossy
see compression

luma - luminance
brightness =shade

luma key
a means of separating a foreground image from its background by use of differences in luma

lumage
a form of cutout animation using backlit semi-transparent plastics

master
this is the general term for a first generation tape etc. A digital copy will normally be identical, but in pre-digital days the master was a unique and irreplaceable item

matching
this is where an element of an animation scene must be seen to go behind another element. Often this happens automatically because one element may be in front of another, but there are often instances where one part of a scene is partially in front of and partially behind another part and this is where the bit that would be hidden must be drawn or rendered that way - it needs to be matched

matte - matting
a matte is usually a black and white image. It represents those parts of one image that will be cut out then pasted on top of another. Mattes are derived from alpha channel, luma key or chromakey information.

mix
picture: best thought of as a fade-in happening simultaneously with a fade-out (aka dissolve). The visual effect is of one scene becoming progressively more transparent as, at the same time, a second scene becomes more opaque and replaces the first.

motion blur
this is an effect created in 3D cgi and sometimes faked in 2D; whatever moves in a scene is deliberately blurred. The faster the movement, the greater the degree of blurring. This emulates what happens in live action and can make a scene easier on the eye.

motion capture
key points on (usually) an actor are tracked so that their xyz positions are recorded over time. This data can then be used to transfer realistic movements to computer generated models.

motion control
use of computer to capture the movements of a camera in live action or stop motion. Enables moves to be duplicated precisely for special effects work. Readout data from motion control rigs is used in 3D cgi for matching animation to live action.