← Animation Glossary

Voice acting

Voice acting is when someone uses their voice to bring a character to life in an animated movie or TV show.

Voice acting is a fundamental aspect of animation that brings the characters to life through their voice alone. The importance of voice acting cannot be overstated, as it can make or break an animated series or film. The job of a voice actor is to create a character and give them a unique personality and voice that audiences can connect with.

One of the essential skills required for voice acting is acting itself. Voice actors must have strong acting abilities that allow them to convey emotions and personality through their voices. This is especially important in animation, where the characters are two-dimensional and rely heavily on their voices to express themselves.

Another vital skill for voice actors is vocal range and control. They must be able to create different voices for different characters while maintaining consistency throughout the series or film. This requires good vocal range and control, which can be developed through practice and training.

Voice actors must also be able to read and interpret scripts effectively. They must understand the character’s motivations and emotions in each scene to deliver a compelling performance. This requires a deep understanding of the character’s backstory, personality, and motivations.

Additionally, voice actors must be able to take direction from the director or producer effectively. They may need to perform multiple takes of a line (sometimes dozens of takes) or scene to get it just right. This requires patience, focus, and a willingness to collaborate with others in the creative process.

The best voice actors are those who can bring their own unique style and personality to their performances while staying true to the character they are portraying. They must be able to infuse their performances with emotion, energy, and humor when called for.

Voice acting is an essential aspect of animation that brings the characters to life through their voices alone. Voice actors require strong acting skills, good vocal range and control, the ability to read and interpret scripts effectively, and a willingness to take direction from others in the creative process. The best voice actors bring their own unique style and personality to their performances while staying true to the character they are portraying.

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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