Animation Terms

Stepped

Step mode refers to not having any computer interpolation in the animation between the keyframes. An animator would work in stepped mode when they are at the posing stage of their work.

Pencil Test

A 2D animation term, which refers to the process of creating an animation sequence purely with pencil and paper to test a character's behavior or the flow of a shot. It could turn into the final animation or could be used as purely a test.

Scene

A film term that refers to a part of a movie, play or a show that takes place in one place and time.

Boom

A long pole device that carries either a microphone or a camera to create a "boom shot," which is a shot that travels from the ground going high up or the other way around.

Model Sheet

A model sheet, also known as a character board, character sheet or character study, is a document used to help standardize the appearance, poses, and gestures of an animated character.

Dolly

A piece of equipment that allows the camera to move smoothly on the ground to create a seamless motion.

Storyboard

A storyboard is a series of drawings meant for pre-visualizing the movie. It is an essential tool for the director so he could get a sense of the way the movie is going to look and feel. The Storyboard saves time on set. Since the camera angles were determined beforehand, the DP (director of photography) knows exactly what is expected of him during the shoot.

Shot

A take, in part or in its entirety, that is used in the final edited version of the film.

Video Reference

A video shot by the animator before animating a shot to be used as a reference for making the animation process easier and more accurate.

Claymation

A way of describing a stop motion based on clay characters (watch some Aardman films to understand better).

Animation

A way of making a movie by using a series of drawings, computer graphics, or photographs of objects (such as puppets or models) that are slightly different from one another and that when viewed quickly one after another create the illusion of movement

Depth of Field

Also known as focal length, refers to the distance between the nearest and farthest objects from the camera that are in focus.

Keyframe

An animation key frame is a single still image in an animated sequence that occurs at an important point in that sequence. In the traditional work process, an animator would create those keyframes (either by drawing them if they're doing it in 2D or by posing the character if they're doing it in 3D) and then slowly add transition poses and in-betweens to complete the animation.

Moving Hold

An animation term that refers to animating a character standing still without any distinct motion, yet making it seem alive.

Demo Reel / Show Reel

An edited video of the artist's best work. This is the most important piece for getting work in the animation industry. See the full section on demo reel guidelines for more in depth information.

Stop Motion

An old animation technique of taking a still photo of the object and then moving it a little bit before taking the next photo. Then, when played back, the viewers get the illusion that the object is moving. This can be done with different objects such as clay puppets, wooden puppets, paper cutouts and more.

Aspect Ratio / Resolution

Aspect ratio refers to the ratio between the width and length of the screen, while resolution refers to the amount of pixels squeezed into the screen. For example, HD aspect ratio is 16:9, but that could be HD720 or HD1080. Each have a different pixel amount but the same screen ratio.

Zoom

Changing the focal length of the lens in order to make the character appear closer or more distant.

FPS / Frame Rate

How many frames are played per second. Animation is usually done in 24 fps.

Cel Animation

In the old days of animation, cels were commonly used in production as a transparent surface to draw on, and then to be placed on another cel (like a character being placed on a background) to create the final look of the shot.

Concept Art

Initial drawings, sculptures, designs and any form of art that was created to be used as a visual guideline for the look and feel of the movie.

CGI

Stands for Computer Generated Imagery, it is the use of computers to create images, art, designs and animation for all uses.

Pre-Visualization (Previz)

Pre-visualization is the process of making a stripped down version of your film before actually making it. Usually made within the 3D program, a previz is animated very basically, just enough to get the story across.

Editing

Putting the different shots together in a compelling way to best convey the sequences, scenes and the overall film, bringing it together with the music and sound design to create the final movie.

Layout

Refers to the background/environment of a shot and placement of characters within it.

Passing Pose

Refers to the pose of a walk cycle in which the leg is in its transition and the weight of the character is in between shifting.

Animatic

Simply put, an animatic is an animated storyboard. Boards are brought together in an editing program and are cut with the correct timing and pace of the film. They include basic sound effects, dialogue recordings and temporary music.

Spline

Splining is the process of interpolating the motion between the keyframes in a smooth manner.

Rendering

The process of taking every frame in the shot, applying all the render settings and producing one finished singular image at a time, to then be used as an image sequence.

Compositing

The complex process of bringing in different render layers from the animation software (layers such as background, characters, shadows, lights, reflections etc...) and putting them on top of each other or combining them together to create the desired look, effect and feel of each shot.

3D Animation

The creation of moving pictures in a three-dimensional digital environment. This is done by sequencing consecutive images, or "frames," that simulate motion by each image showing the next in a gradual progression of steps, filmed by a virtual "camera" and then output to video by a rendering engine.

2D Animation

The creation of moving pictures in a two-dimensional environment, such as through "traditional" cel animation or computerized animation software.

Light Table

The desk used by traditional 2D animators. It contains a large light panel on which animation paper is placed. That allows the animator to see previous drawings from pages under the current page.

In Between

The drawings or poses that connect the keyframes to complete the movement.

Rig

The final file with the character and the different controls that move it, ready for animation.

Blocking

The next step after posing and before splining (or finessing the animation). Blocking is posing all the in-betweens for the shot until achieving a legible piece of animation, however blocked and choppy. After getting approval on the action in the blocking, the animator moves on to the next step.

Pose

The pose of the character. 'Posing' the character refers to the process of establishing the main poses for the shot before diving deep into finishing the animation. This way, the client or director can approve the action of the shot without having the animator spend many hours finessing the shot.

Lip Sync

The process of animating the mouth of a character to match the dialogue.

Straight Ahead Animation

The process of animating without planning the main keyframes in advanced. The animator draws one frame after another in sort of an improvisational way to create a more spontaneous action.

Modeling

The process of building the model of the character/prop/environment in the 3D software, to later be rigged and animated.

Color Matching

The process of changing the colors of each shot to match one another. It starts with picking one shot as a guide and then going through all the rest of the shots within the same scene and matching their colors to it.

Texturing

The process of creating the digital textures for the models, character, environments and props.

Rigging

The process of taking a 3D model and building a digital skeleton for it to then be manipulated by the animator.

Pan

The rotation of a camera on its horizontal axis (left or right) in order to keep a character or object in view.

Tilt

The rotation of a camera on its vertical axis (up or down).

Timeline

The section of the editing or animation software that shows the progression of time by seconds or frames, to which we edit or animate the film.

Pipeline

The technical order and manner of which 3D tasks are done. Studios have their own specific pipelines they stick to, making sure the process goes as smoothly as possible. For example - first, the models are made, then they are sent to the rigging department. After the rigging is done the animators start working and so forth. Pipeline also refers to the specific software and render engines the studio uses. A new employee is usually trained to work within the guidelines of the studio pipeline upon recruitment.

Script / Screenplay

The written form of a movie that also includes instructions on how it is to be acted and filmed. Any dialogue or action is described in the script to later turn into storyboards, animatic and previz.

Pose to Pose

This is the opposite of straight ahead animation. This is the process of first drawing the keyframe and then drawing the frames in betweens those keyframes.

FK/IK

Two different rigging techniques usually implemented in arms, legs and spines. FK (Forward Kinematics) is animating through the hierarchy of the object. Using the arm as an example, an animator would start by rotating the shoulder, which will move the entire arm with it, then the elbow which will control the forearm, and then the actual hand. In IK (Inverse Kinematics) however, we use the hand to control the whole arm, which feels a bit more natural, as if you were holding a puppet's hand and moving it around.

Sound Design

Unlike score or music, sound design deals with layering the actual sound bits across your film and editing them together (mixing). That includes the sound effects, foley, dialogue, ambiance and the actual music.

Onion Skin

Viewing past drawings while animating the current frame. A light table enabled this in the old days, but even in today's software there's an onion skin option that enables the animator to view previous drawings with less transparency, which makes the animation process easier and more accurate.

Working on Ones/Twos

Working on ones means that there's a new drawing in each frame of the 24 frames/second. Working on twos means there's a new drawing every other frame, which means a single drawing lasts for 2 frames. There's also cases where the animation is done on threes, fours and up, when the character barely moves. That's common in Japanese animation or stop motion.

Motion Capture

the process or technique of recording patterns of movement digitally, especially the recording of an actor's movements for the purpose of animating a digital character. This is mostly used in video games and live action films, and less in animated features.