What is the difference between multimedia and animation?

April 7, 2021 0 Comments

So what exactly is the difference between multimedia and animation?

The word multimedia is, in itself, explanatory. It refers to the practice of using multiple forms of media, which may or may not include animation, simultaneously, within a given product or project. Multimedia products often combine text, still images, video, movies, animation, and sound in one package.

Multimedia products are often interactive in nature and can generally only be created and accessed on a computing device.

Multimedia now encompasses a wide range of products, projects, and services. Familiar examples are computer-based training courses (CBT) used in education or the typical instructional CD-ROMs that the student’s driver so often prefers.

An artist’s CV, for example, containing a headshot, biography, and portfolio of work, which is then recorded and delivered on CD-ROM, would also be considered multimedia in nature and multimedia is widely used. frequency in the corporate environment. in the form of presentations.

Even the video game enthusiast is not immune to the onslaught of the multimedia revolution as he battles in the increasingly complex multiplayer gaming arena known as MMORPGs.

One of the most important characteristics of the multimedia product or service is that, in most cases, it is interactive in nature. The above mentioned Student Driver Training CD would be a great example as it would require the user to engage with the content at all times.

This type of educational platform also serves as a classic example of non-linear forms of multimedia that require user interaction and participation on the control and delivery of content. Multimedia in its linear form, a simple example being the cinema, offers little or no scope for such interaction or control.

The use of the term multimedia has changed over the years and it was only during the 1990s that it acquired its current meaning. Multimedia can be live or pre-recorded and with the advent of computer tablets, smartphones, advanced gaming platforms, and the like, multimedia is now a ubiquitous force.

Animation, on the other hand, is a “specific film medium” that often uses hundreds, sometimes thousands of still images. These images are combined in sequence over a specific period of time (cinematically speaking) usually 24, 25, or 30 frames per second. When these images, which may vary slightly from each other, are recorded and played back in rapid succession, they create the illusion of movement.

Animations can be 2D or 3D. It can be hand drawn or computer generated. Involve clay models, puppets, shadows, or cutouts. Some animations can include all of these elements and more. Good cinematic examples of 3D animations are Toy Story, Shrek, The Incredibles, and The Croods.

3D animation is a very complex area with terminology that is uniquely yours. Essentially, 3D animation begins with the creation or modeling of a 3D mesh of the object or character to be created. The modeler can then refine the mesh before manipulating it and programming it for movement. 3D animation requires at least some basic drawing skills, is highly technical, and relies heavily on the use of 3D textures and lighting.

Traditional 2D animation, on the other hand, involved processing thousands of individual images copied from original drawings on paper onto transparent acetates known as Cels. Each Cel was then carefully colored and placed on a painted background before being photographed one by one with the help of a tribune camera.

This method of making movies bought us classics like Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, 101 Dalmatians, and Lady and the Tramp.

The Stopmotion animation is similar to the previous one, with the only difference that a physical object, such as a doll or puppet, will appear to move on its own when manipulated little by little between photographed frames.

Today, the animation process is much less cumbersome, as much of the animation is created and edited on computers using vector or bitmap images with sophisticated software used for coloring and moving the camera.

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