2.02D Computer Animation Software and Design Guidelines
2.02 Develop Computer Animations
Common Terms in Animation Software
Stage: the part of the animation program window where the animation’s content is composed and manipulated.
Library: stores frequently used graphics, movie clips, and buttons.
Timeline: the part of the animation program window that organizes and controls an animation’s content over time using layers and frames. In video-editing software, where source clips, transitions, and audio files are arranged to create the video.
Frames: hold the content that the movie displays or plays at that point in time. The number of frames determines the length of the animation. The higher the number of frames, the longer the animation.
Regular Frames: contain one image or frame.
Key frames: shows where the key (most important) actions occur. Shows where tweening will occur.
Playhead: vertical red marker in the timeline that shows which frame is the current frame.
Scrubbing: dragging the playhead across the timeline in order to preview the animation.
Frames Per Second (FPS): the number of frames that appear in one second of the animation. If the animation program creates movies at 12 fps (frames per second) by default, inserting a keyframe and change once every 12 frames results in a change in action for every second. A project with 60 frames results in a 5-second movie.
Layers:
Motion Guide Layer: layer on which a motion path is drawn. Objects on