Animation means giving life to any object in computer graphics.

It has the power of

injecting energy and emotions into the most seemingly inanimate objects.
The basic idea behind animation is to play back the recorded images at the rates fast
enough to fool the human eye into interpreting them as continuous motion. Animation can
make a series of dead images come alive. Animation can be used in many areas like
entertainment, computer aided-design, scientific visualization, training, education, e-
commerce, and computer art.

Animation Techniques
Animators have invented and used a variety of different animation techniques.
Basically there are six animation technique

Traditional Animation framebyframeframebyframe

Traditionally most of the animation was done by hand. All the frames in an animation
had to be drawn by hand. This consistes of hand drawings called frames.animators
draw the objects which are used in animation..
..Since each second of animation requires 24 frames, the example of this traditional
animation is the older cartoon shows like tom and jerry etc,.
Keyframing
In this technique, a storyboard is laid out and then the artists draw the major frames of
the animation. Major frames are the ones in which prominent changes take place. They
are the key points of animation. Keyframing requires that the animator specifies critical
or key positions for the objects. The computer then automatically fills in the missing
frames by smoothly interpolating between those positions.
Procedural
In a procedural animation, the objects are animated by a procedure − a set of rules −
not by keyframing. The animator specifies rules and initial conditions and runs
simulation. Rules are often based on physical rules of the real world expressed by
mathematical equations.
Behavioral
In behavioral animation, an autonomous character determines its own actions, at least
to a certain extent. This gives the character some ability to improvise, and frees the
animator from the need to specify each detail of every character's motion.

Performance Based MotionCaptureMotionCapture

Another technique is Motion Capture, in which magnetic or vision-based sensors
record the actions of a human or animal object in three dimensions. A computer then
uses these data to animate the object
This technology has enabled a number of famous athletes to supply the actions for
characters in sports video games. Motion capture is pretty popular with the animators
mainly because some of the common place human actions can be captured with
relative ease.

Physically Based DynamicsDynamics

Unlike key framing and motion picture, simulation uses the laws of physics to generate
motion of pictures and other objects. Simulations can be easily used to produce slightly
different sequences while maintaining physical realism. Secondly, real-time simulations
allow a higher degree of interactivity where the real person can maneuver the actions
of the simulated character.

METHODS OF CONTROLLLING ANIMATION

An animation is the illusion of movement which is created by showing a series
of still pictures in rapid succession. There are different ways of controlling
animation in multimedia.

We have many Animation method of controlling are given

1 procedural control - - It is bases on communication between different
objects whereby each object gets the knowledge about the static or
dynamic properties of other objects.
2 full explicit control - This is the simplest type of control. In this the
animator describes all the events which could occur in an animation.
3 kinematic as well as dynamic - Kinematics refers to the position and
velocity of points. The physical laws of movement are taken into
account by Dynamics.
4 tracking live action – used to keep a track of the live action of the
object which we have taken
5 constraint based system - It is used to specify an animation sequenc
6 Manual Recycling - The Manual of Recycling provides the necessary expertise for the
associated objects taken.
 7 Auto-Recycling - The auto Recycling provides the necessary expertise for the associated
objects taken automatically.

8 Create control and “stop” as well as animation controller allows to

“start” (see method start) animations, “pause” (see method pause)
see method “resumes” the objects.see method speed.
9 adjust the animation time (see property time). – in this it adjusts time
for the objects movements.

PRINCIPLES OF ANIMATION
 Squash and Stretch. Considered the most important principle, “squash and stretch”
gives a sense of weight and volume to drawn objects. ...
 Anticipation. Almost nothing happens suddenly. ...
 Staging. ...
 Straight Ahead. ...
 Follow Through and Overlapping Action. ...
 Slow In and Slow Out. ...
 Arc. ...
 Secondary Action.
 Timing
 Exaggeration
 Solid drawing
 Appeal

Squash and stretch[edit]

The squash and stretch principle:

rigid, non-dynamic movement of a ball is compared to a "squash" at impact and a "stretch" during the fall and
after the bounce. Also, the ball moves less in the beginning and end (the "slow in and slow out" principle).

The purpose of squash and stretch,[4] is to give a sense of weight and flexibility to drawn objects. It
can be applied to simple objects, like a bouncing ball, or more complex constructions, like the
musculature of a human face.[5]
Anticipation[edit]

Anticipation: a baseball player making a pitch prepares for the action by winding his arm back.

Anticipation is used to prepare the audience for an action, and to make the action appear more
realistic.[9] A dancer jumping off the floor has to bend the knees first; a golfer making a swing has to
swing the club back first. So all theses type of movements can be managed in this .

Staging[edit]
This principle is akin to staging, as it is known in theatre and film.[11] Its purpose is to direct the
audience's attention, and make it clear what is of greatest importance in a scene; [12]This can be done
by various means, such as the placement of a character in the frame, the use of light and shadow, or
the angle and position of the camera.[13] The essence of this principle is keeping focus on what is
relevant, and avoiding unnecessary detail.[14][15]

Straight ahead action and pose to pose[edit]

These are two different approaches to the drawing process. Straight ahead action scenes are
animated frame by frame from beginning to end, while "pose to pose" involves starting with drawing
a few key frames, and then filling in the intervals later.
Follow through and overlapping action
Follow through and overlapping action is a general heading for two closely related techniques which
help to render movement more realistically, and help to give the impression that characters follow
the laws of physics, including the principle of inertia. "Follow through" means that loosely tied parts
of a body should continue moving after the character has stopped and the parts should keep moving
beyond the point where the character stopped only to be subsequently "pulled back" towards
the center of mass or exhibiting various degrees of oscillation damping. "Overlapping action" is the
tendency for parts of the body to move at different rates (an arm will move on different timing of the
head and so on).
ARC - This technique can be applied to a moving limb by rotating a joint, or a thrown object moving
along a parabolic trajectory. FOR example through a ball like that.

Slow in and slow out[edit]

This considers movement of objects in the real world, such as the human body, animals, vehicles,
etc. needs time to accelerate and slow down. For this reason, more pictures are drawn near
the beginning and end of an action, creating a slow in and slow out effect in order to achieve more
realistic movements.

Secondary action[edit]
Adding secondary actions to the main action gives a scene more life, and can help to support the
main action. A person walking can simultaneously swing their arms or keep them in their pockets,
speak or whistle, or express emotions through facial expressions.[24] The important thing about
secondary actions is that they emphasize, rather than take attention away from the main action.
Timing
Timing refers to the number of drawings or frames for a given action, which translates to the speed
of the action on film.[12] .[28]

Exaggeration
Exaggeration is an effect especially useful for animation, as animated motions that strive for a
perfect imitation of reality can look static and dull.[12]

Solid drawing[edit]
The principle of solid drawing means taking into account forms in three-dimensional space, or giving
them volume and weight.[12] The animator needs to be a skilled artist and has to understand the
basics of three-dimensional shapes, anatomy, weight, balance, light and shadow, etc.

Appeal[edit]
Appeal in a cartoon character corresponds to what would be called charisma in an actor.[36] A
character who is appealing is not necessarily sympathetic, villains or monsters can also be
appealing, the important thing is that the viewer feels the character is real and interesting. [36] There
are several tricks for making a character connect better with the audience; for likable characters, a
symmetrical or particularly baby-like face tends to be effective..