Digital
Animation and Interactive Technologies
The animated GIF
was one of the earliest types of animation on the net. This type of animation
displays individual GIF images in sequence at timed intervals to give the
illusion of motion, similar to video. GIF animation generally requires a fairly
large amount of bandwidth, depending on the number of images used in the
animation sequence. All browsers can process GIF animation without the need for
additional plug-ins.
The introduction
of Java, developed by Sun Microsystems, allowed the web developer to
use applets (small computer programs that were understood by Netscape 2 and
later browsers) to add increased interactivity and a new dimension of animation
to web pages. In 1995 Sun Microsystems and Netscape announced the
introduction of Javascript,
a client side scripting language that functions similar to HTML or other
languages that run on the clients computer. This gave web developers the
ability to apply simple animation to text, images, backgrounds and other
elements of a web page without the need of additional downloads from a server.
Javascript is a versatile scripting language with many uses. It allows the
developer or artist to control movement, color change, scalability, visibility,
opacity and other attributes of the various elements in a web page with
automatic or interactive animation. In 1996 Microsoft released version 3.0 of
their Internet Explorer browser and within a few month version 4.0 of Netscape
was released. These were the first browsers to process Cascading Style Sheets (CSS)
commands. CSS gave the developer the ability to work in layers, allowing
various objects to be stacked and manipulated with a dimension of depth. CSS
also presented a quicker (although fairly limited) way to manipulate some of
the color and characteristics of text, objects, the cursor and other elements
to create interactive animation.
Scaleable Vector Graphics (SVG),
uses XML as a platform. It is used to create vector images by describing
parameters such as shape, color, content, location and other defining qualities
of the image. SVG images can also be created in digital imaging and drawing
programs such as Adobe
Illustrator. Because they are text based SVG files are small, yet capable
of creating high quality images. SVG supports animation and scripting so the images
can contain be interactive or can contain other objects such as text or raster
images. SVG is an open source standard developed by the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C). All browsers
require a SVG
viewer plug-in to view SVG images (Scalable
Vector Graphics. Explore the Possibilities of SVG).
SVG viewer plug-in
Click here
to see an example of a SVG image
More Information
on Scaleable Vector Graphics
Flash and
Shockwave animation, both made by Macromedia, are the two most popular software
programs used to create animation for the internet. Flash files are created by
Macromedia’s Flash software while Shockwave files are created using a
Macromedia software program Director. Flash is the more popular of these two
programs. In 2003 98% of all browsers were flash enabled and almost 60% have
Shockwave plug-ins (The difference between flash and shockwave animation). By
comparison 88% of browsers can process Java, Real Player video is supported by
58% and Quicktime video can be seen on 53% of browsers (The Flash Video Resource).
These two
programs are similar in many ways. The primary similarity is that they both use
timeline technology to control timed movements and changes in various graphic
elements that are used to create animation and interaction. They are both
capable of utilizing vector and raster images and both can play a variety of
video and audio formats. Both use layers and path as animation techniques to
allow the control of many elements of an animation at any one point in time.
Either of these programs is capable of producing attractive and complex
interactive animation with a very small file size and fairly quick download
times. Director has been around longer than the internet. It was originally
designed to add interactive content to CD’s. Flash was designed to create files
for the internet. Macromedia used a vector art animation program called Future
Splash Animator as the basis for the Flash software design. Director is the
more versatile of the two programs. It offers more animation features and
recognizes more file types than Flash, and it support the ability to create
complex actions through the use of a scripting language called Lingo. Flash files
are typically smaller than director files they download quicker and the initial
cost of the software is about half of the cost of Director. Both programs use
streaming technology to minimize the wait time as a file downloads.
With each
software update, the two formats more similar.Flash gets more of the features and versatility of Director
and Director's Shockwave files become more Internet compatable.It appears that eventually the two formats
may merge into one software program that will contain the best qualities of both programs.
3D Animation
Three-dimensional
(3D) graphics that could be displayed over the Internet had their inception
with the specification release of Virtual Reality Modeling Language
(VRML) in 1994. This standard was based on the Open
Inventor software component developed by Silicon
Graphics (SGI) (VRML). SGI relesaed the first version VRML of in 1995,
and VRML v.2 was released in 1997. VRML is an open standard technology that is
used to create 3D graphics, primarily for the Internet. It is often used to
create virtual “worlds” that a user can navigate (AKA: “fly through” or “walk
through”) in 3D. These worlds offer a high degree of interactivity and are
often multi-user based, allowing any one user to interact with many others.
VRML has many other uses including Computer Aided Design (CAD),
data visualization (converting numerical data into a visual environment),
interface creation, scientific visualization and more.
VRML has had
limited success as a medium for the Internet. It creates heavy files and the
VRML plug-ins available are generally cumbersome to use and have a limited
utility. VRML never caught on with the average Internet user. It reached the
peak of its popularity and use in the late 1990’s with the creation of online
virtual worlds such as CyberTown,
which offered multi-user interactivity including 3D chat. The 1997
release was the last version of VRML (Scott). Currently a new standard for VRML
is being developed. It is called X3D. The Web 3D Consortium describes X3D as
an “…XML enabled 3D file format to enable real time communications across all
network applications…”. The specification standards for X3D are expected to be
released later this year (X3D
Overview).
Since the release
of VRML Internet 3D development has been tried on a multitude of platforms. 3D
modeling from Alias Software’s
Maya 3D modeling program or 3D
Studio Max are becoming more popular for delivery over the Internet as
bandwidth technologies improve. Adobe produced a 3D program called Atmosphere, but it was discontinued in
2004. Various trade organizations advocate different platforms as the basis for
future Internet 3D development. The Web 3D Consortium supports X3D as the
development platform while the Khronos Group
supports Macromedia’s Director 3D format as the new standard platform. At this
moment Director 3D is the most popular 3D player on the Internet. The major
advantage Macromedia has in this area is that the same player that plays
Director 3D files also plays Director’s conventional Shockwave movies.
3D is considered
the cutting edge of interactive technology and virtual reality programming. The
development of this technology for use on the Internet has been plagued by
several problems. Bandwidth has long been a drawback to net 3D, but technology
is slowly catching up to this problem. Another obstacle in 3D development has
been the lack of a widely accepted standard or platform from which developers
could base their creations. The 3D standards in use all require the use of
players of plug-ins. With the wide variety of 3D formats available most users don’t
bother with the 3D players and tend to perceive the technology as too much of a
hassle to use efficiently. Since most Internet users are not equipped to view
3D files very few commercial sites are willing to pay for 3D content and very
few developers have any motivation to work in any of the multitude of 3D
formats. As these issues are worked out 3D animation is the most promising
medium yet for Internet animators.
Online
multiplayer games. MaidMarion.com
Gorzilla-Director 3D Game
Examples
of Shockwave 3D
Download a
Shockwave Player
Download a VRML
Browser
Examples
of VRML Modeling
A Link Page of
VRML Models and Worlds
Examples of 3D
Studio Max Modeling
Examples
of Adobe Atmosphere
