What is Animation?

There Are 5 Types of Animation

Traditional Animation. (2D, Cel, Hand Drawn)----Traditional animation or cell animation are sequences of sketches drawn by animators. Hand drawings are called frames and have between 12-24 frames depending on the speed of the action. Japanese Animation or Anime run on slower frames to give it the Anime effect.
2D Animation. (Vector-Based) 2D Animation is Vector Based or Flat Animation. (ie. Simpsons, Family Guy) Vector based animation has become popular amongst animators. The reason why it is so popular is because Flash is a great accessibility application for intermediate users and allows you to rig the body of your vector for each frame instead of hand-drawing in each frame. It is one of the best and popular forms of animation as it is quick efficient, and the application is reasonable. 2D animation doesn't require professional art skills like traditional Animation. How ever you should know how to create a flash in a flash application before creating the 2D animation. Most 2D animations is normally done in Adobe After Effects. It doesn't require skills but requires technical competency.
3D Animation. (CGI, Computer Animation) 3D Animation or Computer Animation is the most common form of animation. The difference with 3D animation, unlike 2D animation is that you are able to create the character for every single frame rather than two frames as in traditional Animation. You are able to rig the body of the animation in 3D, like on 2D, but with 3D you get the entire view or 360 capabilities to move the character in any position you want. However you have to observe all parts to the character and make sure it is all in the frame. The frames always moves smoothly in 3D animation at 24 frames er second to give realistic life to the animation in every movement.
Motion Graphics. (Typography, Animated Logos) Motion Graphics is the art of creatively moving graphics or text usually for commercial purposes. It requires knowledge of good composition and camera motion.
Stop Motion. (Claymation, Cut-Outs) Stop Motion is the sequence of moving an object and taking a photo each time and putting the photos together to create the illusion of movement. One of the most common forms is Claymation. Silhouette was an earlier form of Stop-Motion. Pixelation is another form that takes sequence of photos in real time. Puppets and cutouts are also used in Stop Motion.