Editing Computer animation (section)

{{short description|Art of creating moving images using computers}}
{{split|3D computer animation|2D computer animation|date=June 2019}}
[[Image:Activemarker2.PNG|right|thumb|300px|An example of computer animation which is produced from the "[[motion capture]]" technique]]

'''Computer animation''' is the process used for digitally generating [[Film|moving images.]] The more general term [[computer-generated imagery]] (CGI) encompasses both [[still image]]s and [[moving image]]s, while computer animation {{em|only}} refers to moving images. [[Virtual cinematography|Modern computer animation]] usually uses [[3D computer graphics]]. 

Computer animation is a digital successor to [[stop motion]] and [[traditional animation]]. Instead of a physical model or illustration, a digital equivalent is manipulated frame-by-frame. Also, computer-generated animations allow a single graphic artist to produce such content without using actors, expensive set pieces, or [[Theatrical property|props]]. To create the illusion of movement, an image is displayed on the [[computer monitor]] and repeatedly replaced by a new similar image but advanced slightly in time (usually at a rate of 24, 25, or 30 frames/second). This technique is identical to how the illusion of movement is achieved with [[television]] and [[Film|motion pictures]].

To trick the [[visual system]] into seeing a smoothly moving object, the pictures should be drawn at around 12 [[frame rate|frames per second]] or faster (a [[Film frame|frame]] is one complete image).{{sfn|Masson|1999|p=148}} With rates above 75 to 120 frames per second, no improvement in realism or smoothness is perceivable due to the way the eye and the brain both process images. At rates below 12 frames per second, most people can detect [[jerkiness]] associated with the drawing of new images that detracts from the illusion of realistic movement.{{sfn|Parent|2012|pp=100–101, 255}} Conventional hand-drawn cartoon animation often uses 15 frames per second in order to save on the number of drawings needed, but this is usually accepted because of the stylized nature of cartoons. To produce more realistic imagery, computer animation demands higher frame rates.

Films seen in theaters in the United States run at 24 frames per second, which is sufficient to create the appearance of continuous movement.