If you are an animator or an animation student, you might already know the difference between 2D and 3D animation films. And, of course, anyone can tell the difference quite easily by the appearance of the characters. But, if you want to become a professional animator, you might need to go into these subjects a bit more. Let’s look at some differences between these two.
Skills Required – 2D Vs 3D Animation
Now, you might already know that 2D animation is a quite traditional method and it existed from the 1800s. On the other hand, 3D came up during the 1990s.
2D animation requires a lot of drawings. This means that the animator must also be an artist or a cartoonist. So, in the traditional 2D animations, the animator actually sits down and makes doodles after doodles of the characters.
Also, these drawings usually contain only the parts of the character that’s seen by the audience. For example, if the character has closed eyes in a scene, the cartoonist doesn’t draw the eyeballs at all.
On the other hand, in 3D animations, all the parts of the character are present all the time and the animator must be aware of this. Also, unlike in 2D animations, 3D animators don’t make doodles. Instead, it uses a 3 axis system which is controlled by graphs and curves. And, this is how he/she makes the character move.
Frame Rate – 3D Vs 2D
Another major difference between 2D and 3D animation is the frame rate. Now, you might already know that films normally have 24 frames per second.
In the same way, 2D animations have 24 drawings in a second. But, if the character is moving slowly in a scene, the 2D animator might use 12 drawings in a second which is exactly the half of the normal frame rate.
‘Working on 2s’ in 2D animation means that you make 12 drawings in a second instead of 24. It’s used in scenes where the character moves slowly.
While this is so in 2D animations, 3D animators cannot follow this method. In fact, it’s very challenging for a 3D animator to do a ‘moving hold’ in the film.
A ‘moving hold’ means that the character is doing nothing.
2D Vs 3D animation In General
So, to sum up, there are quite a lot of differences between these two methods of animation. Moreover, each has its own pros and cons. The software used for 2D and 3D animation methods is also different. For instance, 2D animators use Adobe After Effects, Adobe Flash Professional and Toon Boom, 3D professionals use Autodesk Maya, Cinema 3D, Houdini, and Blender.
Examples of 2D animations are Bugs Bunny, Snow White, Tinkerbell, and Mickey Mouse.
Some 3D animation movies include Shrek, The Good Dinosaur, Tangled, Brave and Moana.
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Source credits: Wikipedia, www.bloopanimation.com, medium.com, www.admecindia.co.in
