Cut-Out Animation

We all have seen the comical hilarious cartoon South Park haven’t we, that’s the most known example of what cut out animation is and the transition from old style to computer software is also a proven fact that this style still has a long way to go.

Cut-out animation is one of the oldest and simplest animation techniques and has many forms and variations. Essentially, cut-out animation involves producing animations using 2-D characters, props, and scenes cut from materials, such as paper, card or fabric. Animators divide characters into smaller segments, piece together the individual cut-out shapes and move them in small steps, taking a picture — with a film camera capable of taking single pictures — at each step, to create the illusion of movement. The old school animation style, the ones you see extensively on websites and social media pages by restaurant’s and magazines, Yes, what you consider OLD is no doubt the king of animations because that’s how it all began and it’s still reviving itself with improvisations.

Now, it’s all done with Adobe after effects, those days are gone when it was done with drawings. Adobe after effects are versatile when it comes to this style, stretch them beyond their traditional uses and employ some creative problem-solving.

• Designing shape layers in a cutout style
• Creating a paper-like texture
• Building cutout type
• Animating elements for a stop-motion look
• Adding imperfection and randomness with wiggle expressions

Cut-out animation lends itself well to decisive, rapid movement or even frenzied, continuous action, which disguises some of the limitations of cut-out characters. Cut-out animation is also a highly personal experience; the animator essentially portrays a character, mood or idea just by moving cut-out shapes around, using only his judgment and experience to do so. The advantage of this type of animation is that it requires little drawing or application of complex animation principles. In the hands of advanced animators, the technique can produce awesome results.

On the other hand, the cut-out technique has a number of limitations. Objects and characters look relatively simple and are limited in terms of animation flexibility. As a result, the overall animation looks very simple when compared to traditional animation or 3D.  Additionally, cut-out animation doesn’t work well for facial close-ups. Cut-out animation is a popular technique because it saves production time and leads to smaller investments when compared to full cell animation. It enables character animation and it’s the most popular solution for explainer and other marketing types of videos.