The digital millennium has brought many empowering changes to the way we live our lives, and how we experience creativity as well. With the advent of computers, and software for them to replace bulky equipment as well as teams of specialists, people are able to embark upon creative projects previously out of reach.

Among the many creative things individuals are now free to explore, animation ranks at the top. Animation is a popular form of art, which has been both embraced and admired by the masses since the turn of the century. In previous times, it took teams of people specializing in complex tasks and operation of intricate equipment to produce even the lower qualities of animation that could be achieved.

The process of making hundreds or thousands of frames, to be sketched, painted and positioned was a laborious task, and an expensive one. But, with today’s technology, there are alternative methods that can allow you to create cartoons as a one man … or lady … army!

There are many choices for technique, software and methodology when it comes to making your animations. It really depends on how patient you are, what kind of artist you might happen to be, and how you want the animation to look.

Even with the streamlined nature of modern animation technology, it’s still possible to do a frame-by-frame animation process for a smooth, organic animation. But, this is time consuming and laborious. There’s also the option of designing vector objects, and rigging them to a skeleton. This is called inverse kinematics, and its downside is it can look a bit “puppety”.

But, there is an animation technique that blends these, and if done properly, it can look fantastic. First, you need a scanner capable of high definition scans. Also, you need Adobe Flash CS4 or higher, though CS5 is far less bloated and bulky than CS4.

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