Keyframes

A “Key Frame” (or keyframe) in animation and filmmaking is a drawing which defines the starting and ending points of any smooth transition. frames are filled with “inbetweens”.



A sequence of keyframes defines which movement the spectator will see, where as the position of the keyframes on the animation defines the timing of the movement. Because only two or three keyframes over the span of a second does not create the illusion of movement, the remaining frames are filled with inbetweens.


In the workflow of traditional hand-drawn animation, the senior or key artist would draw the keyframes, then, after testing and approval of the rough animation, hand over the scene to his assistant. The assistant does the clean-up and the necessary 'inbetweens', or, in really big studios, only some breakdowns which define the movement in more detail, then hand down the scene to his assistant, the 'inbetweener' who does the rest.


In computer animation this workflow is basically the same. The animator creates the important frames of a sequence, then the software fills in the gap. For example, in Adobe Flash, the animator can specify, in keyframes, the starting and ending position of an object, such as a circle. Flash smoothly translates the object from the starting point to the ending point. This is called tweening. The animator can correct the result at any point in time, shifting keyframes back and forth to improve the timing and dynamics of a movement, or change an 'inbetween' into an additional keyframe to further refine the movement.

A very simple animation created by keyframing. The animation lacks smoothness because each frame is completely independent of any other frame.

There is also an animation technique known as keyframing. Contrary to tweening, every frame of a keyframed computer animation is directly modified or manipulated by the creator, such that no tweening has actually occurred. This method is similar to the drawing of traditional animation, and is chosen by artists who wish to have complete control over the animation.