3D CGI Animation

CGI animation is the process used when generating animated images by using computer graphics. It was first used in 1976 for a feature film called Futureworld. was beginning to produce imagery that was of a good enough standard for Holywood. The design work was done by a computer science graduate (Ed Catmul) rather than someone from the film industry and although primitive by today's standards,  this use of 3D CGI was a defining moment in film animation history.

Many other movies were released that used 3D CGI animation, films like Alien by Ridley Scott in 1979 and Star Wars by George Lucas in the 1980's. By 1995 Walt Disney and Pixer both worked together to create toy story which was the first ever full length 3D CGI feature film.

ADVANTAGES - Anything you want can be created, Shorter production time
DISADVANTAGES - Requires good imagination, requires artistic capability, expensive to make

2D Computer Graphic Animation

Towards the end of the 20th century Cel animation was beginning to die out as now animators were using  computers and computer related hardware such as digital scanners, digital cameras, drawing tablet to produce entire feature films. Computer animation uses the same principals and techniques used by traditional animation except the tools used to make these animations happen to be different. The backgrounds and drawings would be scanned into the computer, or drawn in if it's easier.

One of the first feature films to use computer animation was Star Wars created by George Lucas in 1977.

In 1990 the first member of the public was allowed access to the internet and as a result the World Wide Web came into existence this was soon followed by e-commerce websites that made use of an animation program called "flash" to create simple 2D animations. Many other programs have been around that create 2D animations but none will quite compare to flash.

ADVANTAGES - Increases the speed of development, there's flexibility thanks to digital images
DISADVANTAGES - Very sophisticated, Expensive, a lot more skill is needed to use flash.

Cel Animation

Cel, short for celluloid , is a transparent sheet on which objects are drawn or painted for traditional, hand-drawn animation. Actual celluloid was used during the first half of the 20th century, but since it was flammable and dimensionally unstable it was it largely replaced by cellulose acetate.

The invention of Cel Animation is generally attributed to Earl Hurd, who had patented this process in 1914.

Generally, the characters are drawn on cels and laid over a static background drawing. This reduces the number of times that an image has to be redrawn and enables studios to split up the production process to different specialized teams.

An example of Cel Animation.

ADVANTAGES: Quicker to make, Cheaper, Innovative for its time

DISADVANTAGES:Highly flammable, Can't save characters since it's drawn