For a show like South Park, the animation is very straightforward and would undoubtedly be more expensive were it done in 3D. There are times when more practical aspects come into play, such as budget. Cherry, Director of the Oscar-winning Hair Love, decided his short film would be better suited to 2D animation. If you are creating a new video game, TV show, web series, or even a static medium such as a comic book, you might decide that one type suits the premise better. The type of animation you pursue will mostly come down to your artistic preference. Or how about the original 2D animated version of The Lion King (1994) versus the 3D animated version (2019)? Both films have their own different appeal - the 2D animated version is wonderful because of its unique artistic style and the 3D animated version is impressive because of how realistic it looks. Neither of these games suffers because of their art style-both are great games! On the other hand, classic Super Mario has no use for a 3D Animator because the art is two-dimensional. To take a classic video game example, Mario 64 needed 3D animation as it used a 3D game engine. While 3D animation is tasked with creating movement via 'rigs', where a 3D model is essentially given a skeleton that can be manipulated in a virtual 3D space. 2D requires a large amount of illustration, as every frame needs to be drawn, either on a digital tablet or hand drawn.

The main difference between 2D vs 3D animation, for animators, is that 2D animation is more artistic and 3D is more mechanical/technical. Another key difference is that 2D animations are based on frames whereas 3D animations are based on movements. On the other hand, objects in 3D animations have height, width, and depth (three-dimensional) which means they can be viewed from any angle. In 2D animation, all characters, props, and backgrounds are drawn or created flat (two-dimensional) which means they can only be viewed from one side and must be redrawn to show them from another angle.

But what is the difference between 2D and 3D animation, and which style of animation should you dive into?įirst things first: neither 2D nor 3D animation is objectively “better'.

With film, TV, and video game fans all over the world hungry for fresh content, there are more opportunities than ever before for aspiring 2D and 3D Animators.

Autodesk 3d animation