Animation creates an illusion of motion. This is done by displaying images rapidly. The images can be 3-D or 2-D. Because of the persistence of vision the images look as if they are in motion. Motion pictures are the most common form of presenting animation.
Traditional animation involves the images being painted by hand onto transparent sheets called cels. Each image is slightly different from the previous one. These are then photographed with a camera and shown in a sequence.. With the advances in technology, images can now be drawn on the computer screen with a stylus or scanned. Traditional animation has multiple different styles. These include limited animation, full animation, rotoscoping and live-action animation.
Stop motion animation is another type of animation where real objects are used. These objects are physically manipulated and transferred onto the film by photographing them. Depending on the kind of media used, stop animation can be very versatile. Cutout, clay, puppet and pixilation animation are types of stop motion animation.
Computer animation is the most widely used type of animation these days. The entire process involves the use of digital technology. This makes it fast and convenient. 2-D as well as 3-D images can be created using this technology. Computer is used to create and edit 2-D images partly or wholly. 3-D animation on the other hand is often created and manipulated by an animator. Other techniques used for animation include flip-book animation, sand animation, pin screen animation, paint-on-glass animation, multi sketch animation, special effects animation and drawn on film animation. | 
