What’s the Difference Between Multimedia and Animation?

What is Multimedia?

Multimedia defines as multiple sources and forms of media such as, text, audio, animation, videos, graphics and any other variation of media. It is mainly used to deliver and convey all sorts of information, to a group or platform. Animation on the other hand, is actually a type of multimedia, that is consisted of a sequence of images that are directly stimulated one after the other.

Multimedia and Animation
Figure 1: Example of multimedia. Image reference:

Difference between Multimedia and Animation:

The main difference between multimedia and animation is the many various forms, that multimedia comes in. Multimedia is used for many different purposes such as industry use of presentations, special effects/audio in entertainment, online training courses/software’s in educational environments, editing/footage in journalism, designing/research in engineering, social media in communication, virtual surgery and research in medicine and many more. The majority of the human population use multimedia on a daily basis such as, magazines, television and even using your computer. A key product of multimedia is video and computer games, which consists of multiple uses of media such as audio, animation, special effects and graphics and relies heavily on multimedia to function effectively.

What is Animation?

Animation is consisted of 2D and 3D animation and is a factor of multimedia. Its main purpose is to bring life and movement to a still image by directly sequencing multiple images together. It can be hand drawn, made from sculptures or computer stimulated with various software’s. 2D animation consists more of a sequence and is usually hand drawn, whereas 3D animation is usually mastered on the computer bringing more life to its characters and including complex details. Animation is directed by 12 key principles in order to work effectively such as, squash and stretch, anticipation, staging, straight ahead action and pose to pose, follow through and overlapping action, ease in and ease out, arcs, secondary action, timing, exaggeration, solid drawing and appeal. Animation is used ideally for entertainment purposes such as cartoons like ‘The Simpsons’, and films like ‘Toy Story’.

Multimedia and Animation
Figure 2: Example of animation. Image refernce:

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