Definition
Animation is realistically affecting any visual change in a scene with respect to time. The variables may include position, size, orientation, color, transparency or surface texture of the graphics object. "It is all about timing and positioning"
Frame Animation
Normally 30 to 60 frames of a 3D scene is to be rendered per second for a convincing animation. Although game engines usually expose a setFrameRate() interface for controlling frame rate, the efffective framerate depends on the scene complexity.
Character Animation
It deals with creating the moving pictures of the actors in the scene. In game development, it is done using two techniques: - Morph animation and Skelton animation.
In skeletal animation, a character is represented in two parts: a surface representation (skin) used to draw the character and a hierarchical set of bones used for animation only. By using skeletal animation one can control of every joint, bone, and muscle of the character's body to alter the shape of its skin.
Morphing is the transformation of one shape to another using some kind of interpolation. It is the kind of animation used for modeling character's expressions and lip synchronization.
Every type of animation requires key frames. Pre calculated key frames add the realism of character animation. 3D artists work with models using packages such as Maya or use motion capture for this purpose. Simulation of rigid body is not enough for certain situations. Descriptions of object behavior under the influence of force are generally referred to as physics based modeling. Some examples for these objects are cloths, ropes, soft bodies etc.
