← Animation Glossary

Concept Art

Concept art is the process of designing the different elements that make an animation. It is deciding what the characters, backgrounds, and objects in the cartoon will look like before they are animated. Concept art can help animators figure out how to make their cartoon world feel real and exciting!

In animation, the importance of concept art cannot be overstated. It sets the tone for the entire project and is essential in bringing the director’s vision to life. Concept art can also be used as a tool to pitch an idea or secure funding for a project. In this way, it serves as a crucial step in the pre-production process.

Character designs are an integral part of concept art. They are often the first thing that comes to mind when people think of animation. Character designs must be both visually appealing and functional. The design should reflect the character’s personality and traits while also allowing for ease of movement and expression. This is where concept artists come in, creating sketches and illustrations that give animators a clear idea of what the character should look like.

Concept art is often not final art, a lot of it can be ideas that are never used. It’s a way for the director to get their ideas out there and see what works and what doesn’t. Sometimes designs will be made for one thing, and then used for something totally different.

Background art is another important aspect of concept art. It helps establish the world in which the characters live and creates a sense of atmosphere and mood. Background artists must consider factors such as lighting, color schemes, and perspective when creating their work.

Props are another element that concept artists create designs for. They include objects such as weapons, vehicles, furniture, and other items that characters interact with in the story. These designs must be consistent with the overall style of the animation.

Color schemes are also key in concept art. The colors used can evoke emotions and set the tone for a scene or even an entire project. Color theory plays an important role here, as certain colors have specific meanings and associations.

Concept art is an essential part of animation production. It provides direction for animators and ensures consistency in design throughout a project. Concept artists use various techniques and tools to create highly detailed artwork that reflects the director’s vision for the project. Whether it’s character designs, background art, props, color schemes or lighting, concept art plays a vital role in bringing an animation project to life.

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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