← Animation Glossary

Smears

Smears in animation are quick drawings that show a character in motion. They are used to make the movement look smoother and faster.

Smears are an essential technique in animation, used to create an illusion of fast movement and add more energy and dynamism to action scenes. Smears help to show rapid movements that would be too fast to perceive in real life.

In hand-drawn animation, smears are created by stretching and distorting the shape of a character or object. Sometimest the animator draws multiple limbs or features to suggest motion blur. These exaggerated shapes are only visible for a few frames, but they create the illusion of a lot of extra frames being added. Hand-drawn animators use smear frames to emphasize the speed and intensity of a character’s movement. For instance, during a fight scene, smears can help depict the swift movements of the characters.

Stop-motion animators also use smears to add more energy and dynamism to their animation. Although stop-motion is known for its smooth and realistic movements, adding smears can make the animation more visually appealing. Stop-motion animators often use smear frames for fast camera movements or when objects move past the camera quickly.

In 3D animation, smears are created using software tools that allow animators to stretch and distort objects or characters’ shape. Animators often use these tools to create motion blur effects in fast-moving scenes. 3D animators commonly use smear frames for fast-moving car chases, fight scenes, or when characters move quickly through space.

Smears are not only effective in creating dynamic and exciting action scenes but also in expressing emotions. For example, a smear frame can be used to show the rapid change in facial expression when a character goes from happy to angry.

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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