How to Create Your Own Animation in 10 Minutes: special edition for eLearning developers

In an era where attention is the hardest currency, “How to Create Your Own Animation in 10 Minutes” is not just a title; it’s a promise of swift mastery in the digital arts — a lure for the time-starved modern caveman and cavewoman. Yet, as we momentarily resist the siren call of immediacy, let us delve deeper. Beyond the allure lies a rich tapestry of theory and history, threads that, when woven together, form the robust fabric of moving images.

What do we perceive as animation? Is it merely a sequence of meticulously crafted frames, or is there a more profound narrative at play? What do the zoetropes have in common with the silent choreography of computer pixels? Understanding the fundamentals — the ‘why’ and the ‘how’ of animation — unlocks the potential to captivate and educate in ways that static images and text cannot.

So let us embark on a journey through time and thought, exploring the ontological roots and the epistemological branches of animation. By peering into its past and unraveling its principles, we prepare ourselves to harness its full power in the realm of eLearning.

Defining Animation: Technology and Perception

At its core, animation is an illusion — static images are made alive by an important feature of visual cognition: apparent motion.