The VES Handbook of Visual Effects, 2nd Edition

9

COMPLETE ANIMATION

 

 

 

WHAT IS AN ANIMATION PROJECT? Stephan Vladimir Bugaj

Full Animation versus Visual Effects

In contemporary filmmaking, the line between an animation project and a visual effects project has become blurred. At one time distinctions could more reasonably be made. Visual effects could be described as animation done in support of live-action plates, whereas full animation could be described as an artificial, created world; or, put another way, visual effects is primarily about environments and noncharacter dynamics, whereas full animation is primarily about character dynamics. But consider, for example, the Star Wars prequels. Those films have animated characters in nearly all of the shots and essentially all of the environments ...