The animation is a wide and versatile subject. There are numerous animation programs available both on the Internet and in universities. These programs are a great way to begin with if you have a niche to work with visual effects using your creativity and like to manifest your imagination on the paper and screen. However, before you begin your journey to become an animator, there are various types of animations that you should be aware of.

Here are six different types of animations that you can specialize in and grow your career as an animator:

Simple animation
This is the most primitive type of animation. Simple animation used animated pictures before the filming technology was invented. Flipbook animation, for instance, is a perfect example of simple animation. The Zoetrope also works on the same principle. It is a wheel that has a number of static (hand-drawn) pictures. It gives the viewer an illusion that it is a motion picture as the wheel moves. Most animation programs begin their course with simple animation before students get hands-on experience in different animation software.

Traditional animation
This form of animation was most prevalently used in the 20 ^th century. Also called as hand-drawn animation or cel animation, it had a lengthy procedure. Thousands of pictures were drawn entirely on acetate sheets or celluloid. Each celluloid or sheet was photographed on a separate frame of film and when the reel was played, it gave an animating effect. Traditional animation was famously used in films like Space Jam and Who Framed Roger Rabbit.

Computer animation
Extensively covered under most animation programs, computer animation uses a wide range of software to apply different animation techniques. Animators make a digital 2D animation using programs such as Flash, After Effects, CelAction, and TVPaint. These types of software have various levels of intricacies right from stick-animation to different layers of build up pictures. For digital 3D animation, there is a bunch of software that helps in creating intricate details of human anatomy. Motion capture uses 3D digital animation as life-like as possible.

Stop motion
A simple but time-consuming form of animation, slow-motion animation involves objects to be manipulated physically and filmed frame-by-frame. Other forms of stop-motion use artistic objects and Claymation, which uses plasticine and clay for animation. Most of Tim Burton’s animated movies use stop motion and Claymation. Aardman Animation’s Chicken Run is currently the highest grossing stop-motion film ever made.