Poll: What type of animation do you prefer?
- Thread starter Dreadman75
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That bugs the crap out of me, too, but you know what? That only happens when the animators take the lazy way out. See, Flash has an option where you can create key frames, and the program will generate the frames in between them. Done right (read: used sparingly, with a generous number of key frames made by an actual human), it can make things buttery smooth, like in FiM and Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends (which, interestingly enough, were both done by Lauren Faust.) Done wrong (read: mostly done by the computer, with very little input from an actual human being), and you get this piece of madness that crawled right out of the uncanny valley:[Kira Must Die said:
OT: I prefer hand drawn art, but CG and Flash animation can both be done extremely well, and hand drawn can be done very badly (think 60's Hanna Barbera. They had to cut a lot of corners to save money back in the day.) But I prefer hand drawn at its best to CG or flash at its best.
I clicked hand-drawn but I like MLP:FiM, awww shit.
OT: Hand-drawn animation tends to have more exciting and interesting movements. I study animation myself and it's a delight to watch the older Warn.Brothers stuff.
I animate in Flash mostly, and although professional-standard builds/puppets can give you a lot of freedom to have very interesting animation, nothing can beat the ol' hand-drawn stuff.
OT: Hand-drawn animation tends to have more exciting and interesting movements. I study animation myself and it's a delight to watch the older Warn.Brothers stuff.
I animate in Flash mostly, and although professional-standard builds/puppets can give you a lot of freedom to have very interesting animation, nothing can beat the ol' hand-drawn stuff.
all of them i like equally. Futurama uses a great mix of hand drawn and CGI, and MLP:FiM really shows that flash done right can be a beautiful thing
I think perhaps the biggest problem with CG is as you said, the hardware and talent. Whenever I look at a purely CG show, a lot of the details seem glossed over. During action scenes, the backgrounds look minimal for instance. And let's not forget the overly rounded out features of most of the characters. That's a big issue, when a CG character looks even more fake than one from a 2-D show. A great example of this would probably be the CG and Young Justice Green Lantern, Hal Jordan. To me, the CG version looks...misshapen, while the Young Justice version looks more realistic.Casual Shinji said:
It's not so much the characters and story that makes an animation good (although those play a part) it's whether the technique fits the film and aesthetic. I don't think that Beauty and the Beast would be a very good CG film, and I don't think UP would have had the same impact if it was a flash animation. (although, with a lot of thought and planning it is possible)Dreadman75 said:
I can't see the former being hand drawn anytime soon, nor can I see the latter being in CGI
Your a man after myself my friend. I have written essays on this very topic. It was my dream to be a 2d animator just because 2d animation offers to much more freedom stylistically and animation wise. The only thing I have ever found 3d animation to be better in is realism and efficiency which is why it works so well along side film. You should check out some of the old Max Fletcher superman animations I practically jizzed in my pants so smoothhhhhhhhhhh.Dreadman75 said:
Also a lot of people oddly don't realize that flash only looks bad when it is extremely budgeted and thus the animators are forced to rely on tweens rather than FBF. The colours definitely look a lot different between traditional and flash however since flash is all digital rather than traditional.
Hand-drawn, without question.
This isn't to say that CGI and Flash animation don't have potential, but there will always be something... artificial about them. I guess part of it is that they lend themselves well to a consistent presentation (though one can easily say all formats are equally capable of recycling animations), whereas hand-drawn animations often have a very personal touch added to them.
I guess what really sets it apart from the other animation styles isn't so much the animated foreground... but the beautiful and detailed backdrops.
To be perfectly honest, no one format really "wins" in the foreground. I might be tempted to give the edge in that regard to CGI (though top-notch hand-drawn animation is neck-and-neck with it), but it's not enough to overtake the magnificient hand-drawn backgrounds seen in many older animated works. Disney films, particularly some of the older ones, are a prime source of these; sometimes they even show up in various cartoons from the olden days. Here's a quick sample:
Fantasia - Ave Maria[/youtube]
Flash and CGI simply can't make use of these hand-crafted masterpieces, they just don't mesh well with them; those works which use both traditional animation and CGI have to balance the level of detail just right in the hand-drawn parts so that the CGI doesn't look out of place. Traditional animation on the other hand, is a near-perfect fit. Sure, it doesn't flow quite as smoothly and consistency is a presistent issue... but done right, it's nothing short of magical.
This isn't to say that CGI and Flash animation don't have potential, but there will always be something... artificial about them. I guess part of it is that they lend themselves well to a consistent presentation (though one can easily say all formats are equally capable of recycling animations), whereas hand-drawn animations often have a very personal touch added to them.
I guess what really sets it apart from the other animation styles isn't so much the animated foreground... but the beautiful and detailed backdrops.
To be perfectly honest, no one format really "wins" in the foreground. I might be tempted to give the edge in that regard to CGI (though top-notch hand-drawn animation is neck-and-neck with it), but it's not enough to overtake the magnificient hand-drawn backgrounds seen in many older animated works. Disney films, particularly some of the older ones, are a prime source of these; sometimes they even show up in various cartoons from the olden days. Here's a quick sample:
Fantasia - Ave Maria[/youtube]
Flash and CGI simply can't make use of these hand-crafted masterpieces, they just don't mesh well with them; those works which use both traditional animation and CGI have to balance the level of detail just right in the hand-drawn parts so that the CGI doesn't look out of place. Traditional animation on the other hand, is a near-perfect fit. Sure, it doesn't flow quite as smoothly and consistency is a presistent issue... but done right, it's nothing short of magical.
I've seen all the mediums used to a quality I am pleased by, so I cannot prefer one over the other, they're all great if you know how to use them to the max.
And I love Animation. I rarely bother with 'real life' acting unless it's really good. Animation just grabs me more.
And I love Animation. I rarely bother with 'real life' acting unless it's really good. Animation just grabs me more.
Hand drawn animation enhanced by CGI, Who Framed Roger Rabbit? Style. Dat animation + dat lighting
Even as a Flash artist, I rage over that 'tweeny' Flash style.
Flash is at it's best when it's allowing a single person to unleash a vision that would normally take a team and a budget. It's worse when suits are using it to save money and push out design by committee trash.
No reason beautiful things can't be made with Flash, though.
http://www.newgrounds.com/portal/view/408967
Even as a Flash artist, I rage over that 'tweeny' Flash style.
Flash is at it's best when it's allowing a single person to unleash a vision that would normally take a team and a budget. It's worse when suits are using it to save money and push out design by committee trash.
No reason beautiful things can't be made with Flash, though.
http://www.newgrounds.com/portal/view/408967
Ah, Who Framed Roger Rabbit...good times, great movie. I completely agree with you that Hand drawn + CGI can equal great things.DrNeroCF said:
And I have seen some truly great Flash animation. Newgrounds is a breeding ground for great things. Madness, Stick figures, and all manner of other excellent pieces. Although I do have to ask: What is the 'tweeny' style of Flash you hate?
The right amount of money, and talent, CGI can look AMAZING.
-SEE: Most of Karas and ALL FF7:AC (even if the film itself was 'meh') and FF:TSW.
However, I prefer 'hand drawn' - or even that 'drawn on a computer and off to give it a touch-up) given that you get a lot more detail.
-SEE: Most of Karas and ALL FF7:AC (even if the film itself was 'meh') and FF:TSW.
However, I prefer 'hand drawn' - or even that 'drawn on a computer and off to give it a touch-up) given that you get a lot more detail.