← Animation Glossary

Pan

In animation, a "pan" is when the camera moves smoothly from side to side, showing a wider view of the scene. It's like when you turn your head to look around in real life, but in animation, it's the camera moving instead.

Please note that Pan is not directly applicable to Brush Ninja.

In animation, a pan is a useful way to make a scene feel more alive. It involves moving the camera sideways across the screen, giving viewers a sense of depth and motion. This smooth movement helps keep the audience engaged and directs their attention to specific parts of the scene.

One main use of panning is to follow something that’s moving. Whether it’s a character running or an object flying, panning helps viewers keep track of the action and feel like they’re right there with the characters. It adds excitement and energy to scenes like chase sequences or peaceful walks through landscapes.

Panning can also reveal new things in a scene. By slowly showing different parts of the scene, it builds suspense and makes viewers curious about what’s coming next. It’s like uncovering hidden surprises, whether it’s a character lurking in the shadows or a beautiful view just around the corner.

Besides, panning helps set the scene by showing the environment. Sweeping across the scene, it gives viewers a sense of the space and surroundings, like the layout of a city or the details in a room. This helps viewers understand where the story takes place and adds depth to the animation.

In summary, panning is a key technique in animation that adds movement, excitement, and depth to scenes. By using pans effectively, animators can make their scenes more engaging, evoke emotions, and transport viewers to captivating worlds.

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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