6 Types of Animation: Which Is Right for Your Project?
Animated video production offers a great way for businesses to create accessible and compelling marketing videos that help them build their brands, expand their audience, and maximize their marketing ROI.
While planning your animated video project, it’s important to consider the specific type of animation you want to use. Depending on the type of video you’re creating, your brand image, and your target audience, certain animation styles may be more effective than others in helping you achieve your goals. To help you plan your animated video, here are six types of animation to consider for your next project.
Digital Spark Studios can help you create an exciting and informative video in a variety of animation styles. Contact us today to learn more about our animated video production services.
6 Styles of Animation
There are several types of animation styles that are commonly used for marketing videos, including:
Traditional animation
2D animation
3D animation
Motion graphics
Stop motion
Typography
Each of these styles offers unique advantages that are better suited for different types of marketing videos. To help you pick the right style for your video project, here’s a closer look at the differences between these animation styles.
Traditional Animation
Traditional animation, also called cel animation or hand-drawn animation, is a type of 2D animation that involves animators drawing each frame by hand. After drawing each frame, the drawings are transferred onto sheets called cels to be hand-painted.
This type of animation is commonly found in traditional media created before the 1990s, including movies like Peter Pan and Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.
Keep in mind that, while traditional animation may help you achieve a unique style for your marketing video, it is a lengthy process as it requires artists to draw every single frame by hand.
2D Animation
Digital 2D animation is a more modern form of 2D animation that uses digital technologies to speed up the animation process.
Artists may use programs to draw and animate frames or use 2D digital puppets, which can be manipulated like 3D character models. Digital 2D animation is often a preferred alternative to traditional 2D animation as it is easier to make adjustments to frames and takes much less time to complete.
3D Animation
3D animation is a much more modern animation solution that allows animators to create detailed character models with skeletons that can be easily controlled and manipulated. After creating these character models, animators pose the models for each frame and let the computer render the final product. With 3D animation, you can create more immersive and realistic digital experiences.
3D animation is perfect for everything from commercials and social media videos to short films and full-length movies.
Motion Graphics
Motion graphics is a type of animation that involves using programs like Adobe After Effects to animate graphic elements, like illustrations and text.
Motion graphics can be made in 2D or 3D and are often used for explainer videos, commercials, product guides, and similar types of marketing videos. Motion graphics animation does not include character animations, but it can be easily combined with other animation styles to create dynamic marketing videos.
Stop Motion
Stop motion animation involves utilizing real-world objects and adjusting them for each individual frame to create smooth animations. Animators often use puppets, clay models (claymation), action figures, cut-outs, and other objects to create stop motion animation projects.
3D animation has largely replaced stop motion animation as it offers a faster and more convenient way to create 3D character models and environments. However, due to the unique style it offers, animators often choose stop motion animation to create videos with more interesting and memorable visuals. Examples of stop motion animation include popular titles like Coraline and ParaNorman.
Typography Animation
Typography animation is a type of motion graphics animation that involves animating text. Typography animation is often used to create interesting title slides and transitions.
This type of animation can also be incorporated into explainer videos, employee training videos, brand videos, and commercials to create more varied visuals.
Work With Digital Spark Studios
At Digital Spark Studios, our experienced creative team develops memorable stories and experiences that help our clients accomplish the unthinkable. Our creative team will help you understand your options and choose the animation style that best fits your project needs. Contact us today to learn more about our professional animated video production services.