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Chapter 4 Perspective, Scene Design, and Basic Animation
When a character or object moves on the screen, it is said to be animated.
An
animation
is a series of frames played in sequence with small differences
between each frame. The brain interprets these small differences as motion.
Think of the flip cartoons you may have sketched on the corners of notebook
pages. This is a very basic animation.
Static animation
is where the object retains its original pose while moving.
An example is a stick figure with arms, legs, and head kept in the original
position, but the figure moves across the computer screen, as shown in
Figure 4-39. Since the arms and legs do not move, the figure appears to slide
across the screen. You can try static animation at your desk. Pick up a pencil or
pen and hold it in front of you. Move the pencil up and down while holding it
in the original position. Hurray! Static animation in practice.
Animation
Figure 4-39.
Goodheart-Willcox Publisher
These are frames from a static animation created in Pivot Stickfigure Animator. Notice that
the stick figure moves to a different position without moving arms and legs. The body stays
static as it moves.