← Animation Glossary

Motion blur

Motion blur is a special effect used in animation to make things look like they are moving really fast. It works by making the edges of objects look blurry as they move, just like when you take a picture of someone running and their legs look blurry.

Please note that Motion blur is not directly applicable to Brush Ninja.

Motion blur is a crucial aspect of animation that can make or break the quality of the final product. It is used to create the illusion of movement by blurring or smearing the image of an object across multiple frames.

Creating motion blur involves blending multiple frames together to produce a trail or streak behind moving objects. The amount of blur applied can be adjusted to produce different effects, from subtle blurs for slow movements to more pronounced blurs for fast movements. This technique conveys a sense of speed and momentum that would be difficult to achieve with static images.

There are several methods for creating motion blur in animation, including vector blur, pixel blur, object blur, and camera blur.

  • Vector blur applies motion blur to the edges of objects while leaving their centers sharp.
  • Pixel blur applies motion blur to individual pixels, resulting in a more realistic effect.
  • Object blur applies motion blur only to specific objects in a scene while leaving others sharp, allowing animators greater control over how much motion blur is applied.

Camera blur is another popular method used in animation that simulates the effect of a camera capturing a moving object. This technique involves adjusting the shutter speed of the virtual camera to capture multiple frames per second, which are then blended together to create motion blur.

Motion blur is an essential aspect of animation that enhances the realism and fluidity of movement. It helps convey a sense of speed and momentum that would be difficult to achieve with static images alone. Animators have several methods at their disposal for creating motion blur, and the appropriate method will depend on the desired effect and the specific requirements of the animation. Without motion blur, an animation can appear choppy and incomplete, detracting from its overall quality.

Animation Terms

2

2D Animation

3

3D Animation

A

Alpha Channel

Ambient sound

Animation

Anti-Aliasing

Anticipation

Aspect Ratio

B

Bezier Curve

Bitmap

Blue Screen

Bone Animation

Bounce

Broadcast Standards

C

Camera Angle

Camera Shake

Casting

Cel Animation

Character Animation

Character Design Sheets

Cinematic lighting

Claymation

Clean-up

Close-up

Color Correction

Color Grading

Compositing

Composition

Concept Art

Continuity editing

Cross-cutting

Cut

Cutout nimation

D

Depth of Field

Dialogue

Dissolve

Distributed Rendering

Dolby Atmos

Dope Sheet

Dutch Angle

E

Easing

Emitter

Exaggeration

Eyedropper

F

Foley

Follow through

Forward Kinematics

Frame Rate

Frame

Framing

Freeze Frame

G

Ghosting

GIF File Format

Golden Ratio

Graph Editor

H

High key lighting

Hue and Saturation

I

Inertia

Infographic Animation

Inverse Kinematics

J

Joint

JPEG File Format

Jump cut

K

Keyframe Interpolation

Keyframe

Kinetic typography

L

Layers

Lens distortion

Level of Detail

Lighting

Line of action

Lip syncing

Low key lighting

M

Match cut

Matte painting

Montage

Morphing

Motion blur

Motion capture

Motion graphics

Motion path

Motion trail

Mouth shapes

MP3 File Format

MP4 File Format

N

Network rendering

Non-linear editing

O

Occlusion culling

Onion skinning

Overlapping action

P

Pan

Parallel rendering

Particle system

Persistance of Vision

Phonemes

Playback speed

Plot

PNG File Format

Pose-to-pose animation

Props

Puppet animation

R

Render farm

Rendering

Resolution

Rigging

Rotoscoping

Rule of thirds

Run cycle

S

Safe zone

Scene

Score

Screenplay

Script

Shot

Silhouette

Skeletal animation

Slow Motion

Smears

Sound Design

Sound effects

Soundtrack

Special Effects

Split screen

Squash and Stretch

Staging

Stop Motion Animation

Storyboard

Straight-ahead Animation

T

Time Remapping

Timeline

Timing

Title Card

Title Sequence

Tracking shot

Tweening

V

Vector graphics

Visemes

Voice acting

Voice-over Narration

W

Walk cycle

WebM File Format

Weighting

Wide shot

Z

Z-depth

Zoom

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