Refers to the way our eyes retain images for a split second longer than they actually appear, making a series of quick flashes appear as one continuous picture.

What appears to be continuous motion is actually a series of many different frames.  Each frame shows the same graphic with a timy amout of position change to simulate motion.

Usually involves 2-D images that can be hand-drawn and scanned into a computer or drawn directly into the computer using graphics tablets.

All images, objects and animation are created on the computer.  Typically adds two steps - rendering and modeling, to the process.

Also called Vector animation.  An object follows a path which is a line, or vector, inserted by the animator.

A technique in which one image is gradually turned into another.

The type of animation that requires knowledge of a programming or scripting language.

Also called mouseovers.  When the mouse is moved over an image, it changes to a different image so quickly that it looks as if the change has occured in a single instant.  They are created in scripting languages.

Process of manipulating real-world objects nad photographing them one frame at a time.  Very popular method with the film industry until computer generated imagery became possible.  Now used mainly in clay animation.

The part of the animation program window where the animators content is composed and manipulated.

A frame in an animation that shows where the key (most important) actions occur.

The part of the animation program window that organizes and controls an animation's content over time using layers and frames.

Used to store frequently used graphics, movie clips, and buttons.

The vertical red marker in the timeline that shows which frame is the current frame when previewing an animation.

Dragging the playhead across the timeline in order to preview and animation.

An animation process in which frames are created between the keyframes that are needed to create the illustion of movement.

The process of reducing the space required to store data by efficiently encoding the content.

A standard format for music files sent over the Internet that compresses music.

The standard format for sound files on Windows-based computers.

A program file that can cause an application to run on your computer when it is opened.

A hardware or software application that adds a specific feature to a browser.

A program that can work independently of a browser to play audio or video files.

The amount of data that can be transmitted over a network in a given amount of time.

A procedure for transmitting media files so they can start playing as soon as a computer begins receiving them rather than waiting for the complete files to download first.

The rate in frames per second at which the movie is downloaded.