Animation has been around for over a century, and it still holds up as one of the most successful and thriving industries to this day. Today, with our technological advancements, there are numerous forms of animation, but only three main ones: stop-motion, traditional, and computer animation. Traditional animation (often referred to as 2D animation) developed from the idea of stop-motion, which means emulating movement by playing back a series of images of slightly different poses. Computer animation (often referred to as 3D animation) is similar to 2D in terms of keyframes, but the processes are very different. Click here to read more about the differences between 2D and 3D animation. In the table below, you can read about the core differences between 2D, 3D, and stop motion animation.
2D Animation | 3D Animation | Stop Motion | |
---|---|---|---|
Requires a lot of physical space? | No | No | Yes |
Requires good drawing skills? | Yes | No | No |
Requires timing charts? | Yes | No | No |
Requires a dope sheet? | Yes | ||
Requires special software/materials? | No | Yes | Yes |
Materials needed |
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Requires good computer skills? | No | Yes | Yes/No |
Time-consuming? | Yes | ||
Demand | Low/Medium | High | (Very) Low |
Where is it used today? | Mainly TV shows and advertisements | Everywhere | Some TV shows, movies, and advertisements |
Flexibility | Most flexible (nearly everything is hand drawn) |
Very flexible (rigs have limitations) |
Not very flexible (mostly restricted to real-life objects) |