Think back to when you were younger.  What was the first animated film that you ever saw?  What was so fascinating about it?  Do you remember the vivid colors hitting you all at once?  Was it is the catchy music?  Was it the silly sounds and noises that can only come from a human imagination?  Perhaps, it was the funny way the characters talked.  Maybe it was the way they would seem to defy gravity and jump off a cliff and effortlessly land on both feet.

The first time you saw an animated film may have been when you were younger.  Yet, animation is still a captivating art form that is enjoyed by young and old alike.  In our discussion, we will look at the very basics of 3-dimensional computer animated films.  There are many elements involved in making characters and objects come to life.  Only a few will be covered here.  This subject is constantly evolving and expanding.  The information shared here is based on the most current information.

First, we will briefly look at where and how animation began.  Next, we will transition to the beginning of 3-D films.  Finally, an overview of basic techniques will be discussed for setting up a scene and then animating the character itself.

Animation is the quick showing of a series of images of 2-D or 3-D artwork or model positions with the purpose of creating an optical illusion of motion.  The motion picture is the most known method of presenting animation.  There are other forms of presenting animation such as in flight simulators for civil aircraft training.  Traditional animation, also known as classical or hand-drawn animation, is the oldest form of animation.  In a traditional animated cartoon, each frame is drawn by hand.  Computer animation is the creation of moving images by using computers.  Animation is a broad subject to explore.  With that in mind, the focus will be on 3-D computer animation related to motion pictures.

Today, it is more common to use 3-D computer graphics even though 2-D computer graphics are still widely used.  Computer animation is also referred to as computer-generated imagery or CGI.  CGI is the application of 3-D computer graphics to special effects in films and other media.  One of the advantages of using CGI is the results are more controllable.  It is easier to computer generate a town scene with hundreds of people than constructing miniatures and hiring extras for crowd scenes.  Basically to create the illusion of movement, the image is first shown on the computer screen.  Then, it is rapidly replaced by a new image that is similar, but shifted slightly.