Those who are considering enrolling into animation courses, need to look at this stream of animation studies wholly from different perspectives. Animation courses are basically based on the art of animation as was developed many years ago. At that time, in the absence of technologies, people created animation in the simplest form by generating the illusion of movement with a series of images. The persistence of vision is a phenomenon which is relied upon in animation whereby when objects are moved rapidly before our eyes, the illusion of movement is created since the image of an object lies for a fraction of a second on our retina. Today, the same principle is applied and produced through computers and rolling cameras.
Thus, modern day animation courses would entail having a passion for the original art of animation and thereby, understanding of the modern techniques which are used to create animation films and animated projects. There are two distinctive aspects of these courses – the artistic creativity that is required to come out with novel themes and characters and the understanding of modern techniques, filming, computer applications which can help one with computer generated animation.
A closer study of animation reveals that it is a rapid movement of related images which could be drawn on a 2D or even 3D framework and these are then represented as motion pictures to successfully create the illusion of movement of the objects or characters.
If you look at the history of animation, it goes back to the Paleolithic age when mankind experimented with animation by drawing the same object in different positions of movement to depict a moving object with respect to time. As the art of animation caught on, the film industry employed artists who would sketch various frames of an object with the position of its limbs and other parts of his body changing slightly in every frame. These frames, when run in a sequence, made the object or character seem to be moving, talking and other such activities.
Today animation courses focus on 2D as well as 3D animation. While 2D animation uses low bandwidth and are easier representation of an object or a film series, 3D animation take a step further from the 2D illustrations on the drawing board of an animation unit. The 3D animation, which is being done in computer generated films, enhances the lifelike characteristics of the characters and the surroundings, thus enlivening the animation experience even further.
Animation courses prepare students to embark on this wonderful journey of animation. By combining the creative and technical aspects of animation, these courses prepare students to work in animation studios around the world, be entrepreneurs with their own projects or any of the varied employment opportunities that come in this career stream.