Outline of animation

What type of thing is animation?

Animation can be described as all of the following:

• One of the visual arts
• Manipulation of imagery to give the appearance of movement

Animation techniques

• Animation
  • Cel animation (= traditional animation)
    • Full animation
    • Limited animation
    • Rotoscoping
  • Stop motion
    • Puppet animation
      • Puppetoons
    • Claymation (= clay animation)
      • Strata-cut animation
    • Cutout animation
      • Silhouette animation
    • Model animation
      • Go motion
    • Object animation
      • Brickfilm
      • Graphic animation
    • Pixilation
  • Computer animation
    • Anime
    • Categorization by dimensionality of characters:
      • 2D animation
      • 3D animation
    • Categorization by speed of rendering and capabilities:
      • Pre-rendered animation: Motion is developed in the software. There is a delay for the software to render the animation before it can be viewed.
        • Talking avatar: The user provides or selects a picture of a character and provides a recording of a voice. The software animates lip movements, facial expressions, and small hand and body motions in the character that remains upright and stationary.
          • Examples of software: HeyGen Photo Avatar, Aitubo Talking Avatar, Kreado AI, D-ID, Gooey AI Lipsync Maker, Adobe Express Animate from audio
        • Video from text: The user provides a text description of a desired motion, possibly along with other guiding inputs, such as a starting image, a video to transform, or a soundtrack to match. The software interprets the description, influenced by any additional inputs, and generates an animated video from it.
          • Examples of software: Raw Shorts, Kaiber, Elai, Pika Labs, Gooey AI AI Animation Generator, Neural Frames, GenMo
        • Video from image: The user provides an image file, which the software uses as the starting point to generate an animated video.
          • Example of software: Pika Labs, LeiaPix, Meta AI Animated Drawings,
        • Motion imitation: The user provides an existing video showing the motion of a person and selects or creates a character. The software makes the character imitate the actions of the person in the video, including facial expressions, hand gestures, walking, and dancing.
          • Example of software: DeepMotion
        • Full motion: The software can generate an unlimited range and duration of motion based on designs developed by the user.
          • Examples of software: Maya, Blender, Adobe Animate, Reallusion Cartoon Animator (2D)
      • Real-time animation (= machinima): Motion develops in the software in response to user input. The animation is displayed nearly simultaneously with the input.
        • Video game
          • Examples of video game engines: Unity, Unreal Engine, CryEngine
        • Virtual world (= simulation game)
          • Examples: Second Life, The Sims
        • Other real-time animation:
          • Examples of software: iClone, Adobe Character Animator (2D), Toon Boom Harmony, Blender

History of animation

Main article: History of animation

• History of American animation:
  • Animation in the United States during the silent era
  • Golden age of American animation
  • World War II and American animation
  • Animation in the United States in the television era
  • Modern animation in the United States
• History of anime
  • History of anime in the United States
• History of animation in India
• History of British animation
• History of Canadian animation
• History of Chinese animation
• History of French animation
• History of Hungarian animation
• History of Iranian animation
• History of Korean animation
• History of Russian animation

Computer Animation Software

• 2D animation
  • Adobe Flash
  • FlipaClip
• 3D animation
  • Autodesk Maya
  • Autodesk 3ds Max
  • LightWave 3D
  • ZBrush
  • Rhinoceros 3D
  • Cinema 4D
  • Houdini (software)
  • Blender (software)
  • Autodesk Softimage

Animated films and TV series

• Lists of animated films
  • Lists of animated television series
  • List of animation shorts
  • List of animated short films
  • List of theatrical animated short film series
  • Lists of anime
  • List of animated Internet series
  • List of animated direct-to-video series
  • List of live-action films based on cartoons and comics
  • List of films with live action and animation
  • List of animated films in the public domain in the United States
  • List of lost or unfinished animated films
  • List of animated package films
  • List of adult animated feature films
  • List of children's animated films
  • List of years in animation
  • years in animation

Animation studios

• List of animation studios
  • List of animation studios owned by NBCUniversal
  • List of animation studios owned by Paramount Skydance
  • List of animation studios owned by Sony
  • List of animation studios owned by the Walt Disney Company
  • List of animation studios owned by Warner Bros. Discovery
  • List of animation distribution companies

Some notable artists and producers of animation

Main article: List of animators

• Tex Avery
• Ralph Bakshi
• Hanna-Barbera
• Brad Bird
• Don Bluth
• Bob Clampett
• Quirino Cristiani
• Walt Disney
• Max Fleischer
• Paul Grimault
• Matt Groening
• Ivan Ivanov-Vano
• Chuck Jones
• Mike Judge
• John Kricfalusi
• Walter Lantz
• John Lasseter
• Todd McFarlane
• Hayao Miyazaki
• Joe Murray
• Fred Quimby
• Trey Parker
• Matt Stone
• Jay Ward