Traditional 2D Animation

The main technical tool in traditional 2D animation is the line tester, which is a simple system that allows one to scan/shoot the drawings on video to then experiment with the right timing. There is an infinite variety of easy-to-use, fully digital and/or camera-based line test systems on the market. Every 2D software has manageable line test systems that can test scanned/digitally imported drawings very easily during production. With hand-drawn animation, the animator is completely free in designing each frame of the film. In the case of 3D computer animation and stop motion, predefined virtual or real puppets are simply modified frame-by-frame. The most obvious drawback of the artistically satisfying technique of traditional hand-drawn 2D animation is the incredible effort, with which it has to be done: Each single frame has to be completely redrawn – that is, 24 animations per second in the case of single frame animation; in two-frame animation, it is still 12 drawings per second.