Copyright PIXAR
The first step in computer animation is to roughly sketch what you want the animation to look like. Once you have your sketch (say, a table) you then put it on the computer by drawing it in an animation program.
Then you have to model your table behind the computer screen, like building a model car. You put it together piece by piece. This is usually called "Wire-Frame Representation" unless you have a different software program. The next step is to color in your creation.
But it still isn't finished. You have to add in 3D affects. For instance, your table must look like there are four legs. You do this by taking a dark color and gently put a line of darkness on one side. After that, you put dishes on top using a computer pencil. Then color the dishes and the table in.
When you are finished, you should have a cool creation!
Copyright PIXAR
Luxo jumping over a ball, by Pixar.
The slow process in hand drawn animation is to first create what the movie is going to look like. Once you have your idea finished, you draw it out step by step, like a giant flip book.
Copyright Watterson 1990
This is called Cel-animation. Cel-animation is like a huge book of pages that barely have a noticeable difference from page to page. Cel-animation is about the longest animation process that there is!
Disney's Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs was done by Cel-animation.
If you watch an older cartoon you will see the difference between some more recent cartoons. Old cartoons like "Tom and Jerry" look different than something more new such as "Mulan." The colors are not as crisp and clear, and the pictures are rougher.
Now we get to a comparison between the two. Even though hand drawn animation is a slow process, I like it more than computer animation because you have time to rethink your mistakes. But computer animation is very fast. It depends, strangely enough, on how you make whatever you're creating and which process you use.
Written by Paul Meyer