Drawn animation vs. non-drawn animation

[amymadison182]

Don't say animation isn't a drawing by nature, animation by nature is a 2D drawing, a 3D rig or a stop-motion model, animation comes in all shapes and forms.
It's a valid fact that 2D animation is a drawing or a 2D rig that is from a 2D drawing since you heard people say it in documentaries or articles online and you seen photographs of animators drawing the 2D animation behind the scenes and it's a valid fact that 3D animation is a 3D rig and it's an also valid fact that stop-motion is photographed with models shot with 1 frame at a time, We all know the difference between drawn animation and non-drawn animation, what are the advantages and disadvantages of drawn animation and non-drawn animation?

[BoomerZ]

2D animation doesn't have a lot of set up and pre-animation work. After the designs are done you can move forward. 3D animation has a lot of pre-animation work. Creating the models, rigging them and texturing them. But once you are done, you can use the same rig over and over. So 2d is back-loaded, while 3d is front loaded with work.

[amymadison182]

2D is backloaded and 3D is frontloaded with work, that's good to know.

[NickRowler]

A lot if the issues currently with 2D hand drawn animation is that they are teaching it less in the US which leads to a lot of the work being out sourced.

People ask why Disney doesn’t return to 2D movies, and the simple answer is they no longer have studios or trained animators for it. Versus places like France or Japan where these types of studios are still available. Tho some anime is still out sourced to places like Korea, China, or the Philippines.

When it comes to what studios pick, I’ve hear that stop-motion is the most difficult to work with. 3D can be pricey however it can result in very detailed work. I think the reason why it is so popular with US studios is because they want their films to be a visual spectacle. There are some cheaper 3D animation software which has allowed smaller studios to pop up because all they need is a few computers.

2D puppet animation might be the cheapest and easiest to work with. That is why it is so popular with television shows and web animation.

Honestly, I think the nicest looking animation was during the 90s and early 2000s at Disney and Dreamworks. They had hand drawn animation with digital coloring and used 3D to enhance some scenes. I feel now that mix animation just looks better. Like in the Spiderverse films or tv shows using a mix of 2D puppet and hand drawn.

[amymadison182]

There's countless web animation that uses paperless hand-drawn animation and countless independent animated short films.

[BoomerZ]

This is a little bit wrong. In school for animation, which I have my degree in, you learn 2d animation first. The principles of animation are still taught through 2d hand drawn animation. The myth you don't have to know how to draw to be a 3d animator is just that, a myth. The only reason 3d is the animation of choice is its cheap and 1000 times easier. It's like doing stop motion but the doll is in the computer and the you only need to pose key to key and then do clean-up after the program does all your in-betweens. With 2d you need assistants to draw all those in-betweens. Even the Simpsons used to outsource that job to the philippines, as you don't need to know how to draw to do in-betweens, just how to judge between two lines. And 3d also allows you to use assets over and over. So a tv series with Mickey and friends, you only need to make those rigs once.

[amymadison182]

It's called Mickey Mouse Clubhouse but it's called Mickey and Friends in whatever native language you have.

[NickRowler]

I never said you don’t have to learn how to draw to learn 3D animation.

I am talking about that schools are less likely to teach the technicals of 2D animation production. And that major studios like Disney and Dreamworks has totally gutted their 2D animation departments in favor of 3D animation. Yes, I am aware that they still do animatics. And I also mentioned that some shows use a mix of puppet animation and hand drawn.

I also studied animation in school, probably much more recently where things were definitely shifting away from hand drawn and more towards computer aided animation.