• Cartoon and Animation Studies
• /
• s.36
• /
• pp.147-165
• /
• 2014

Around the turn of 21st century, there has been a major technological shift in the animation industry. With development of reality-based computer graphics, major American animation studios replaced hand-drawn method with the new 3D computer graphics. Traditional animation was known for its simplified shapes such as circles and triangle that makes characters' movements distinctive from non-animated feature films. Computer-generated animation has largely replaced it, but is under continuous criticism that automated movements and reality-like graphics devaluate the aesthetics of animation. Although hand-drawn animation is still produced, 3D computer graphics have taken commercial lead and there has been many changes to acting of animated characters, which calls for detailed investigation. Firstly, the changes in acting of 3D characters can be traced from looking at human-like rigging method that mimics humanistic moving mechanism. Also, if hair and clothing was part of hand-drawn characters' acting, it has now been hidden inside mathematical simulation of 3D graphics, leaving only the body to be used in acting. Secondly, looking at "Stretch and Squash" method, which represents the distinctive movements of animation, through the lens of media, a paradox arises. Hand-drawn animation are produced frame-by-frame, and a subtle change would make animated frames shiver. This slight shivering acts as an aesthetic distinction of animated feature films, but can also require exaggerated movements to hide the shivering. On the contrary, acting of 3D animation make use of calculated movements that may seem exaggerated compared to human acting, but seem much more moderate and static compared to hand-drawn acting. Moreover, 3D computer graphics add the third dimension that allows more intuitive movements - maybe animators no longer need fine drawing skills; what they now need is directing skills to animate characters in 3D space intuitively. On the assumption that technological advancement and change of artistic expressionism are inseparable, this paper compares acting of 3D animation studio Pixar and classical drawing studio Disney to investigate character acting style and movements.

• Cartoon and Animation Studies
• /
• s.48
• /
• pp.45-67
• /
• 2017

Many of the modern animations have 3D technology, and as time goes by, their production technology becomes more diverse and sophisticated. When John Alan Lasseter insisted on studying CG animation technology, he might have taken our jobs to the computer in the near future, as many people were worried about. It may be premature to worry that an unstable future may become a reality at this point, but I do not think there will be any difference in the fact that many animations are being produced using 3D technology. Since the Toy Story was screened in 1995, the 3D animation production technology has started to develop rapidly and now it has been elaborately developed so that it can not distinguish the part where computer graphics technology is applied from the live film. On the other hand, Disney's 2D animation part falls into the decline path because the appearance of 3D animation was perceived as a new expression technique at that time, and the efficiency of the work process was superior to the 2D animation in addition to receiving the attention from the audience. Is it necessary to accept the retrogression of 2D animation technology, reflecting the environment of the animation industry that 3D animation production technology has become mainstream in the first 20 years since the first theatrical works appeared? Since 2D animation technology has a long history and is still attractive to the audience, it is not hard to find an attempt to combine 2D and 3D animation technology. In this paper, I want to study 2D hand - drawn character in 3D animation. Through this, it is hoped that animation convergence technology will be applied more actively in the future.

• Cartoon and Animation Studies
• /
• s.46
• /
• pp.85-106
• /
• 2017

With the media's shift into the digital era in the 2000s, comic book publishers attempted a transition into the new medium by establishing a distribution structure using internet networks. But that effort shied from escaping the parallel-page reading structure of traditional comics. On the other hand, webtoons are showing divers changes by redesigning the structure of traditional sequential art media; they tend to separate and allot spaces according to the vertical scroll reading method of the internet browser and include animations, sound effects and background music. This trend is also in accordance with the preferences of modern readers. Modern society has complicated social structures with the development of various media; the public is therefore exposed to different stimuli and shows characteristics of differentiated perceptions. In other words, webtoons display more relevant and entertaining characteristics by inserting sounds and using moving texts and characters in specific frames, while traditional comics require an appreciation of withdrawal and immersion like other published media. Motions in webtoons are partially applied for dramatic tension or to create an effective expression of action. For example, hand-drawn animation is adopted to express motions by dividing motion images into many layers. Sounds are also utilized, such as background music with episode-related lyrics, melodies, ambient sounds and motion-related sound effects. In addition, webtoons provide readers with new amusement by giving tactile stimuli via the vibration of a smart phone. As stated above, the vertical direction, time-based nature of animation motions and tactile stimuli used in webtoons are differentiated from published comics. However, webtoons' utilization of innovative techniques hasn't yet reached its full potential. In addition to the fact that the software used for webtoon effects is operationally complex, this is a transitional phenomenon since there is still a lack of technical understanding of animation and sound application amongst the general public. For example, a sound might be programmed to play when a specific frame scrolls into view on the monitor, but the frame may be scrolled faster or slower than the author intended; in this case, sound can end before or after a reader sees the whole image. The motion of each frame is also programmed to start in a similar fashion. Therefore, a reader's scroll speed is related to the motion's speed. For this reason, motions might miss the intended timing and be unnatural because they are played out of context. Also, finished sound effects can disturb the concentration of readers. These problems come from a shortage of continuity; to solve these, naturally activated consecutive sounds or animations, like the simple rotation of joints when a character moves, is required.