Computer animation
art of creating moving images using computers
Computer animation is the process used for digitally generating moving images. The more general term computer-generated imagery (CGI) encompasses both still images and moving images, while computer animation only refers to moving images. Modern computer animation usually uses 3D computer graphics.
Computer animation is a digital successor to stop motion and traditional animation. Instead of a physical model or illustration, a digital equivalent is manipulated frame-by-frame. Also, computer-generated animations allow a single graphic artist to produce such content without using actors, expensive set pieces, or props. To create the illusion of movement, an image is displayed on the computer monitor and repeatedly replaced by a new similar image but advanced slightly in time (usually at a rate of 24, 25, or 30 frames per second). This technique is identical to how the illusion of movement is achieved with television and motion pictures.
To trick the visual system into seeing a smoothly moving object, the pictures should be drawn at around 12 frames per second (which, when animating on 24 frames per second, is called "animating on twos”) or faster (a frame is one complete image). At rates below 12 frames per second, most people can detect jerkiness associated with the drawing of new images that detracts from the illusion of realistic movement.
The public source identifies “Computer animation” as art of creating moving images using computers. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Computer, animation and creating.
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Vocabulary and entity names are the principal evidence signals here, because they determine the precision of every later search. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 8, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q1401416. None of the 0 selected statements returned an explicit reference.
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This entry incorporates text from “Computer animation” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.