The main types of animation are traditionally grouped according to how the moving images are created. Major categories include traditional hand drawn animation, cut out animation, stop motion animation, puppet animation, clay animation, object animation, pixilation, two dimensional digital animation, three dimensional computer animation, motion graphics and experimental or mixed technique animation. These categories can overlap because modern productions frequently combine several methods.
For example, a film can use three dimensional computer characters with two dimensional effects, photographed live action with digital animation, or stop motion puppets enhanced with computer generated imagery. The classification therefore describes production techniques rather than rigid genres, and individual works may legitimately belong to more than one category.
Traditional animation, historically called cel animation in its major twentieth century industrial form, creates movement through individually produced drawings or painted images. Artists traditionally drew key poses and other artists produced intermediate drawings, which were transferred to transparent sheets called cels and photographed against painted backgrounds. The process allowed backgrounds to remain unchanged while only moving elements were redrawn and photographed. Earlier and independent forms could photograph drawings directly. Traditional animation is fundamentally two dimensional and can create highly stylised movement, but it can also produce detailed realism. Digital drawing tablets and software now reproduce many traditional workflows without requiring physical cels, while retaining frame by frame drawing principles.
Stop motion animation creates movement by photographing physical objects one frame at a time while changing their position between exposures. It includes several important subtypes. Puppet animation uses articulated figures that can be repositioned between frames. Clay animation, often called claymation in some contexts, uses malleable modelling material. Object animation moves ordinary objects or specially constructed objects. Cut out animation uses flat pieces of paper, card, fabric or similar materials, historically photographed from above or against a background. Pixilation applies stop motion techniques to human performers, who are photographed in incremental positions to create movement that differs from conventional live action.
Two dimensional digital animation uses computer software to create or manipulate flat visual elements. It can reproduce workflows similar to traditional drawing, allowing artists to create individual frames or use digital interpolation between keyframes. Vector based animation represents shapes mathematically, allowing them to be resized without the same type of pixel based degradation associated with raster imagery. Raster animation works with pixel based images and can produce painterly or hand drawn appearances. Digital 2D animation is widely used in television, web media, advertising, educational content and feature films. It can be entirely frame by frame or rely heavily on automated interpolation and reusable assets.
Three dimensional computer animation creates digital models and environments that can be viewed from virtual cameras. Objects are represented as geometric meshes, surfaces can be assigned materials and textures, and virtual lights can illuminate the scene. Characters often use skeletal rigs that allow animators to manipulate body parts through controls. Keyframe animation establishes important poses, while software can calculate intermediate motion through interpolation. Rendering converts the three dimensional scene into two dimensional images. Three dimensional animation can produce highly realistic or highly stylised results and is used extensively in feature films, television, games, advertising, visualisation and virtual production.
Motion graphics are animated graphic elements such as typography, logos, diagrams, shapes and abstract visual designs. They are common in title sequences, advertising, television presentation, information graphics, user interfaces and online media. Motion graphics may use two dimensional or three dimensional software and can incorporate compositing, particle systems and other effects. They differ from character animation in emphasis rather than in fundamental technology because both can involve keyframes, interpolation and digital compositing. Experimental animation encompasses techniques that do not fit neatly into established categories, including direct manipulation of film, paint on film, sand animation, pinscreen animation, photographic manipulation and combinations of analogue and digital methods.
Many animation techniques are distinguished by the role of the animator and the amount of movement calculated automatically. Frame by frame animation requires the artist to determine successive images manually, while keyframe based systems allow software to generate intermediate frames. Rig based animation allows a character to be controlled through an underlying digital structure, reducing the need to redraw every image.
Procedural animation uses rules or algorithms to generate movement, while physics based systems can simulate forces such as gravity, collisions, fluid behaviour or cloth movement. Motion capture records the movements of performers and transfers information to digital characters, although the resulting data normally requires animation processing and does not eliminate artistic decisions.
The main types of animation are best understood as a technological and artistic spectrum rather than as mutually exclusive categories. Traditional hand drawn animation emphasises drawn frames, stop motion manipulates physical objects, 2D digital animation works with digital flat imagery, 3D computer animation constructs virtual spaces and objects, and motion graphics focuses on animated graphic information. Hybrid productions can combine all of these with live action cinematography and visual effects. The choice of technique depends on desired appearance, movement style, production budget, schedule, available expertise, distribution format and narrative purpose. Understanding the production method helps explain why different animated works have different textures, movement qualities, lighting systems, compositing methods and visual conventions.
