1. Stop Motion Animation

It is a style where physically the animators manipulate objects, which makes it look like these objects are moving by themselves. So an exact sequence is played back, generating an image of movement and action.

2. 2D Animation

This is the traditional way of drawing for animation. Its function is to produce storyboards, backgrounds and characters in an environment of two dimensions. Now due to computers, it is mostly done on software. But earlier, everything was hand drawn. Though 3D is on the rise, 2D is still in demand.

3. 3D Animation

This is a revolutionary technique. In this style, objects appear in three dimensions. They have the ability to move and rotate. 3D animation is used in feature and short films, television commercials, brand or corporate videos, etc.

4. Mechanical Animation

This is utilised to show assemblies, modus-operandi and configuration of mechanical products. Explaining the functions of machines using this style of animation makes it easier to understand.

5. Cutout Animation

This animation is a form of stop motion. They move paper cutouts under the lens to tell a story. But with innovations in the industry, computers can now easily cut and animate images.

6. Animatronics

This is a robotic animation. This idea belonged to Walt Disney Imagineering, which they created to welcome guests at their theme parks. Many companies later began using this style of animation for their brand’s purposes.

7. Whiteboard Animation

It is also known as an explainer video. Due to its minimalistic design, it allows your audience to keep his/her focus on what is being shown on the screen without getting distracted by the visual effects. In this animation, a story will be told using a whiteboard to the audience using drawings. It is good for an educational purpose.

8. Clay Animation

A kind of stop motion were pieces of clay are used to form various characters. Here water based or oil based clay are used. It is a time-consuming process. That is why clay animated movies are much shorter than other animated ones.

9. Rotoscope Animation

In this technique, the footage is software-traced using the rotoscoping tool. It’s an early animation style. This equipment was developed by Max Fleisher, a Polish-American. Although computers create this animation now, it is still known by its previous name.

10. Typography Animation

In this style, there is both motion and text. This is used in cinematography during the title scene of the movie. If creating font faces is what you like, then this could be your favourite animation style.

At Magic Elements Studios, we are on a mission of making this world a better place, one film at a time.

Despite their experience and action of over three decades, November 2016’s “Moana” was a new chapter, a new accomplishment for the director duo. This went on to be Musker and Clement’s first film with 3D animations.

The last Disney 2D movie was 2009’s “The Princess and the Frog”. It was directed by the duo. All animation used were hand-drawn at their studios. In “Moana” lot of traditional techniques were used for production and pre-production, especially with the Mini-Maui character who was entirely drawn by hand.

Moana’s character was drawn using a computer and not by human hands. However, the character of Mini-Maui is a mix of 3D and 2D animation. The film’s Mini-Maui character travels using Maui’s body. This character represents a big technical accomplishment, as it is a 2D character who seamlessly interacts with the 3D animated world all around.

Animation is an art. For a film, after the artist adds the final touches to the drawings then the technical animation team takes over to draft the animations to the 3D model. Now unlike paper, our body is not flat and has curves. The skin moves and the muscle flex, which moves alongside the character. So to avoid any warping or stretching, the technical animators whipped a whole new technology. This would preserve old-fashioned and modern-day animation.

During the film’s production, the adjustments between 3D and 2D techniques did not always go smoothly. At times Musker and Clements asked for some changes, which made the animators push their limits. In fact, as the movie progressed, the team discussed as to how to make the movie more interesting. Now as 2D animators produced new drawings and the computer animation team had to frame and rearrange digital objects.

Combining a balance of modern as well as traditional animation and also of the techniques and ideas wasn’t easy, but in the end, was really worth it. The audiences and the critics agreed that this was the most advanced technologically animated movies ever produced. Not to mention that it had the same humour, charm and warmth for which Disney has been known and loved for over 100 years.

At Magic Elements Studios, we are experts of 2D and 3D animation styles. We appreciate good pieces of art. Disney’s Moana blended the freshness of 3D animation with old-fashioned 2D, creating a new cult. What a masterpiece!

Well, Story, Character strengthen and support each other and are created in parallel during the concept development stage. A good character can be developed from a story. A good character can in turn inspire a story. While Story is the important element in animation films (or live-action for that matter). Creating appealing characters to tell it is the other most important thing. But then, which element should the animator develop first?

Development is an awe-inspiring process in which the journey itself is as important as the destination. It’s what you do, and also how you do it!
In this blog, we’ll discuss the elements of the animation process, in as detail as possible. Going beyond the cliché saying “actor with pencils (or mice for the digital artist)”, ‘cause I personally feel that term does not cover what an animator really does.

Click here for more such thought provoking articles.

These small sketches, combined with brief notes, capture ideas for a story or character so that the memory is not lost. Thumbnails can be worked up into a finished drawing at a later time.

Always work rough before going clean. Do not render or model final drawings at this stage. Draw a new thumbnail if you can stage something better. Thumbnails allow you to change the drawings and your mind.

Remember character designs and storyboards both start out as rough and simple thumbnails. And for Animators they can portray different stages of the animated action.

Producing any Commercial, TV Show or Movie is like building a house. There are many elements to design! And in order for the house to stand, all the elements need to work together.

Every house needs blueprints before it can be build and blueprints are the architect’s vision. You can tell someone what kind of house you want, but everyone will see it differently in their head. What kind of floors you want? what are the doors? Where do you want the bathrooms? There are a thousand details of building a home, that needs to be detailed in order to get the construction crew know what to do.

Storyboards are the blueprints of any production, and the director is the architect.

Where do we put the camera? How much of the set are we seeing? What do you want the special effects to do? Which door do they go through? The Storyboards answers these questions so everyone knows what they need to do.

Every department relies on storyboards to prepared for their of the production. Budgeting and scheduling of many scenes are completely dependent on storyboards. A Script may describe what may seemed like a simple action. But the director’s vision may be bigger than what has been described on the page.

For example: a mere two-three lines of script can turn into a huge action sequence. There is no way the production department can plan without a storyboard to work from. Once that scene is storyboarded the art director then knows what needs to be designed. The set crew will know what needs to be build and dressed! The props crew will know what they need to purchased and rig, and the wardrobe department would know whether they need extras of certain outfits or to rig for tearaways! The stunt crew would need what they need to get prepared for ! The Special effects crew know what to expect and can provide the producer an estimate of both time and cost. And the camera crew could of course could know what equipment they need for the shots.

During the process of storyboarding, the story artist would know how the director and the crew-heads plan to accomplished the various elements of the production. And the notes on the storyboards needs to contain details to share it with the entire crew. Once the production team has all the information from various departments, they can finalized a production schedule and a budget. And none of this is possible without completely planning the stunts, special effects and hard to achieved shots with the storyboards.

A single problem on the set could easily costs the production thousands of rupees an hour or over and a good storyboard can save any production from many of these potential problems. STORYBOARDS CAN SAVE THE PRODUCTION MUCH MORE THAN THEY COST.

To sum up there more efficient storyboards are the more efficient the storyboards will be! They are a guarantee against the crores of investment put in to any production. And for getting just that you can get a quote from us here.

The omnipresent question every animation wannabe faces.

In all Practicality…..

The job assurance which the institutions gives is again depends upon the quota they get from the studios requirements. These institutions impose this quota on the students who are categorized as per the quota list. Unfortunately not according to the students aspirations, molding them into mere production making workers in this creative industry.

You’ll be wasting a lot of money as well time as most of them dictate what is better for you. Rather than what you like the best even if you are not good at it, learning is always an option.

You better back off from doing any course at such a place.

The artist is reduced to a piece of frustration, after all the years of toiling hard to excel and gathering accolades from peers and mentors he now has to face this bit of reality. We can simply start blaming that the client has no appreciation for art, has no taste, etc, etc. While all of this is true, we also have to bear with the fact that we still have to come face to face and confront this situation and stop ranting about it.

However irritating this might be we need to widen our scope of thinking for our own sake, if not for art. After all we Artists can create art at any given time which we know from deep below has the subtlety, fundamentals and more over one which you enjoyed doing.

We focus on what matters most

Beautiful visuals, a snappy soundtrack, and a smooth voice-over are all part of a successful video, but they’re not the most important. When it comes to producing a video that effectively tells your story and delivers a compelling message, you need a solid foundation. You need a creative concept that is unique and on brand along with a script that addresses the key benefits of your product or service and drives action.

Before we even get to work, we take the time to understand your business and analyze your brief. Whether it’s a product that’s difficult to explain or a business that seems boring, we do what it takes to distill each concept into a simple message that’s easy to understand and connects emotionally with customers. Whether it’s a conference call with you and your team, or a direct meeting, we want to ensure everyone is on the same boat and working towards the same goal.

Fixed pricing

We understand that pricing is extremely important. For that reason we work to fixed prices based on the type of video you would like and it’s requirement. This fixed price includes everything you need for a complete and professional video so there will be no extras down the line. We feel this is important so you know you are getting everything you need for one fixed price.

We have experience

The older we get, the more we appreciate people with experience. My parents call it wisdom, and not only does it help you get things done faster, better, and more efficiently, it helps you avoid the mistakes you made in the past. Each and every day we’re working on videos and learning something new, what works and what doesn’t.

We want to be your video partner

As we’ve matured as a company, we want to partner with you, not just produce. There’s a big difference. Producing means taking what you’re told and executing someone else’s vision. Partnering means being intimately involved in the creative process and working closely together to bring a bring a shared vision to life. And while we may have spent thousands of hours creating video, you have thousands of hours with your business, which means a true partnership is the only way to create amazing work.

Fixed turnaround times

We work to fixed turnaround times so you know when we will provide the next part of your project. Our turnaround times are 3, 5 or 8 working days depending on the stage your project is at. When you work with Magic Elements Studios you will be given specific and realistic dates for each deliverable.

We work differently

Most studios have an in-house team of designers, animators, and cinematographers. Not the case here. We intentionally wouldn’t hire a full-time creative staff. Instead, we partner with some of the most talented creative individuals on a project basis. That scares some people off, but hopefully our work speaks for itself.

Instead of being constrained to a limited range of styles and capabilities, this model gives us the flexibility to assemble a small team around your project that can provide a nearly limitless range of creative styles (e.g. clean, modern, cartoon or corporate) and techniques (e.g. animation, live action). And let’s face it, most of the best creatives are freelance anyway !

And lastly…

We have a small but mighty team here, and I think it works to our advantage. Because small also means we can find ways to get things done in a time crunch and on a tight budget. No big overheads or posh office, just a small, fun-loving, talented group of hard workers.

We know Magic Elements Studios isn’t going to be the right partner for everyone, but if these reasons resonate with you, please get in touch. We’d love to chat with you!