Department: Multimedia and Graphic Design

2D animation started in the 1950s, based on vector graphics devices. It is mainly used in applications that were originally developed upon traditional printing and drawing technologies, such as typography, cartography, technical drawing and advertising. In those applications, the two-dimensional image is not just a representation of a real-world object, but an independent artifact.

In many domains, such as desktop publishing, engineering, and business, a description of a document based on 2D computer graphics techniques can be much smaller than the corresponding digital image. This representation is also more flexible since it can be rendered at different resolutions to suit different output devices. For these reasons, documents and illustrations are often stored or transmitted as 2D graphic files.

Everything in 2D animation need to be drawn. Even if the animated images are hand drawn, they are often colorized and transferred to the cells using computers.

3D animations are graphics that use a three-dimensional representation of geometric data that is stored in the computer for the purposes of performing calculations and rendering 2D images. Such images may be stored for viewing later or displayed in real-time.

When it began, 3D animation was used mainly in the making of movies. Pixar’s Toy Story came out in 1995, and there have been many offerings since then. Now the use of 3D animation is branching out into fields as diverse as medicine, business, architecture, interior designing, stage shows, gaming and filmmaking.

Even the most boring of visuals and text can be brought to life with great quality 3D animation. But that is depended upon the quality of the software the expertise of the creator. Human eyes tend to believe that the portrayed pictures are moving but in fact, they are just a sequence of pictures that are passed very quickly.

The main benefit of 3D animation over 2D animation, beyond the obvious ability to create a more lifelike character with realistic textures, is that 3D objects, once created, can be treated much like a physical object or an actor. All 3D animation with the exception of stop motion animation is created using computer software applications.

2D animation is conventional wherein every single change in a sequence of pictures is carefully hand drawn and then played back sequentially to create the illusion of movement. This process is laborious and sometimes not so accurate as 3D. But in 3D animation, drawing, exporting and just about everything is handled by powerful and advanced software. Therefore, this technology is a lot more immaculate and efficient.

2D refers to a painting and 3D refers to a sculpture. 3D offers tangibility, increased credibility and portrays a more life-like image when compared to 2D. Therefore, 3D animation involves the process of creation of 3D models that are the objects in a specific scene. Layout that explains the location and positioning of the various objects and rendering that explains the final result.