← Animation Glossary

Skeletal animation

Skeletal animation is a technique used in animation to create movement in characters. It works by creating a digital skeleton inside the character and then moving the skeleton to make the character move.

Please note that Skeletal animation is not directly applicable to Brush Ninja.

Skeletal animation is a popular technique used in computer animation that has revolutionized the way 3D models are animated, and has even made it’s way into 2d animation. It has become an essential tool for animators in various fields, including video games, film, and television.

The process of skeletal animation involves creating a skeleton that serves as the underlying structure of a 3D model. The skeleton is made up of interconnected bones that define the model’s shape and form. The animator assigns movement to different bones within the skeleton, which creates the illusion of movement and flexibility in the model. The skeleton is then rigged to the model, allowing it to move in response to the animator’s commands.

One of the significant benefits of skeletal animation is its efficiency. Animators can manipulate the position and orientation of individual bones, which then affects the rest of the model accordingly. This makes it easier to create complex animations with fluid motion without having to manually adjust every point on a model.

In video games, skeletal animation is especially useful because it allows for real-time rendering and manipulation of 3D models. This means that players can interact with game characters that move realistically and respond to their actions in real-time.

Film and television animation also benefit from skeletal animation techniques. Animators can create complex scenes with multiple characters moving simultaneously by manipulating individual bones within each character’s skeleton.

Skeletal animation has become an essential technique in computer animation because it allows for efficient rendering and manipulation of both 2D and 3D characters. Its ability to create lifelike movements in character animations has made it a valuable tool for film, television, and video game industries. With the continued advancements in technology, it is expected that skeletal animation will continue to play a critical role in the future of computer animation.

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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