What is the Difference Between Animation and Visual Effects?

Before we start discussing what is the difference between animation and visual effects lets first know what they are, what they do, how they are used and where they are used?

What is Animation?

The word ‘animate’ has generated from latin word ‘animare’ which means to make alive or to fill with breath. 

So, animation basically means rapid display of sequenced images which creates an illusion of movement. 

Old cartoons are the best example of this type of animation. The first animated film was created by a British Filmmaker J. Stuart Blackton who created the silent animated film named” The Enchanted Drawing” in 1900 with different light exposures and drawings. 

Nowadays animation is done by different computer software which has made the animation process less time-consuming 

Animation can be done in 2D and in 3D most animated films we see produced by Disney, Pixar or Sony are 3D animated which gives viewers a better experience. 

Software like Adobe Animate, Cinema 4D, Adobe Edge Animate, Blender, Keyshot, etc. are used for animating characters.

Explore the best animation courses offered by ADMEC Multimedia Institute.

What is Visual Effect (VFX)?

Visual Effect means combining real-live action footage and computer-generated imagery (CGI) together to make a sequence.

VFX also known as “Special Effects” was first developed by Oscar Rejlander in 1857 who created a montage by combing different parts of 32 negatives and creating a single sequence. 

In 1950s and 1960s the special effects became most popular, in 1968 2001: A Space Odyssey made a new bench mark in film industry for special effects. 

VFX has become the most important aspect of cinema production today because it is a best way to cut cost and production time. 

The production of the movie can be done in some other state or country but in the movie the scene will be shown from different state or country. 

This is done by chroma cutting; Chroma cutting is not only done in movies but also in other television area like news channels. 

We all have watched movies where the Big Apple or New York has been destroyed numerous times or car and humans flying all these are done via special effects. 

Software used for special effects are Adobe Creative Suite, Blender, Autodesk Maya, Nuke and other.

To assimilate we saw what is the difference between motion graphic, animation, and visual effect how and when they were invented, what is the purpose of these in a industry, what are the different software used. 

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