The creation of 3D animation is no easy process, and there is no universal approach to it. 3D animation allows for the addition of very realistic visuals, like lighting effects, tiny details, textures, and this is considered to be the main difference between 2D vs 3D animation.
The cube (as one of the 2D vs 3D animation examples) is not visualized as flat, has perceived depth and volume, and seems to occupy space, despite the fact that the surface on which it exists is flat. If the analog used to explain 2D was a square, then the accurate analog for 3D is the cube. While 2D uses the dimensions of width and height in objects, 3D adds another dimension – depth (also sometimes called length). Relies heavily on creativity and originalityĪs you probably understand by now, 3D stands for 3-dimensional.Difficult to achieve a high level of realism.
Many 2D animation programs are free and easy to use, so spending just 10 minutes tinkering with such a program can easily convince anyone questioning “Is 2D animation easier than 3D?”. The most popular 2D animation programs around today include Adobe Animate, Toon Boom Harmony, CelAction2D, and Synfig. Today, most animation is created through computer software, as it is much cheaper and faster to make than drawing by hand. Eventually, live action 2D animation films made with this methodology were released. Thus, the first computer-created 2D animation appeared, and it came to be known as vector-based animation due to the fact that movement in the animation was controlled by vectors. In this period, computer use became common among animators, and they began to take advantage of the first animation software.
The tradition of creating drawings for animation by hand remained stable until the 1990s. Notably, the kineograph (now known as the flip-book) was invented in 1868. The first forms of 2D animation appeared in the 19th century, and drawings at the time were hand-drawn and implemented in different instruments to achieve rapid sequencing. 2D animation is also prevalent in advertising, mobile and desktop applications, video games, websites, and most other visual mediums. Most people associate 2D animation with television cartoons and cartoon films, but the usage of the style is much faster. At this speed, the switch between frames happens so quickly that the movement of objects in the frame looks smooth and unbroken to the human eye. Typically, a second of animation includes 24 frames, with every 2 frames consisting of a different drawing. The set of drawings is then sequenced (joined sequentially) to create one second of animation, with longer animations requiring a correspondingly larger quantity of drawings. To begin with, the artist(s) must come up with the animation concept and create all of the unique drawings that will be part of the animation.
So how exactly does 2D animation work?ĢD animation is achieved through sequencing. Naturally, 2D animation often has other characteristics, such as color and movement, but they do not change the “flat” appearance of the objects and animation in general.
Because it has a width (1) and height (2), this is considered a two-dimensional (2D) object. The square has 4 sides, width, and height, but there are no other dimensions or depth to speak of. The easiest way to understand 2D is by thinking of a square on a blank paper. Is it being replaced by 3D and fading away into the history books, or is 2D much more enduring and robust than some give it credit for? How hard is 3D animation vs 2D animation? We will examine these questions and dive into how things stand between the two animation styles. Given this dynamic growth of 3D animation, you might be wondering where this leaves 2D animation.
For example, if you are a movie buff, you have probably noticed how many 3D animated movies come out each year, with some making billions of dollars during their run. Though 3D animation only became popular and widespread approximately 40 years ago, it has become an integral part of the global animation industry and makes up a huge part of the total volume of animation created every year. If you were asked to picture a dragon in your mind, how would it look like? Would it be a colorful and physics-defying beast resembling a Disney cartoon character, or a realistic and textured moving monster akin to the likes of Game of Thrones? 2D and 3D animation can be found practically everywhere we look nowadays, and this miraculous achievement can certainly be attributed to the animations’ flair for capturing our imagination and depicting things both real and fictional in ways impossible to achieve with filming.