Grantastic Designs: Glossary of web page animation terms

home > animation glossary

Glossary of web page animation terms

A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I | J | K | L | M
N | O | P | Q | R | S | T | U | V | WXYZ

Animation

The process of taking a series of individual pictures - called frames or panels - and stringing them together in a timed sequence to give the appearance of continuous motion.

Bitmap graphic

A graphic imange which is composed of a pattern of dots. The individual dots are stored as data on a computer. An example of an animation that is a bitmap graphic is a GIF animation.

Frame

A single complete graphic image that is displayed chronologically with other complete graphic images. A single frame makes up a static image, while a series of frames make up an animation.

Flash

A vector-based rich media drawing and animation program from Macromedia™. Flash banners have more features than standard GIF Animation banners, including advanced animation, quicker downloads, and streaming functions. Flash files are represented by the .fla or .swf extension. (The .fla is the original editable Flash file, while the .swf is the web-ready version.)

Frequency cap

Number of times a banner repeats its animation sequence - or loops - -before stopping.

GIF animation

An animation that is created or exported as a GIF (Graphics Interchange Format) image. GIF animations can only support 256 colors.

Keyframe

A frame in an animation that marks a key point of change or action.

Layer

A level or plane where a graphic or graphics can reside, creating a sense of space and overlapping. Objects or graphics in can reside in the same layer, or they can reside on different layers, or they can move between layers.

Live Motion™

Web design software program from Adobe™ for creating graphics, animations, and entire web pages in a vector graphic format. Files exported from Live Motion are usually in the SVG format.

Loop

The cycle of animation from start to finish. A banner may loop only one time, a fixed number of times, or forever.

Motion tween

Tweening that changes position, size, rotation, skew, color, and tint of images.

Mouseover

Another word for a "rollover."

Panel

Another word for a frame.

Rollover

An area on a Web page that triggers an event when the user moves their cursor over it and/or clicks on it. The event can appear directly over the original item or on another area of the page. The event May include visual effects or sounds events. Every rollover has a a Normal state (no action), and one or all of these states: Over (mouse over), Down (mouse down), or Out (mouse up). Also known as a “mouseover.”

Rich media

Term describing advanced technology used in graphic design, going beyond static images or animated GIFs. Rich media can include streaming video, programming that allows for user interaction, and special effects.

Shape tween

Creates an effect similar to morphing, making one shape appear to change into another shape over a fixed period of time. Aspects that can be changed include the location, size, and color of shapes.

Shockwave

An animation and authoring file type established by Macromedia™. Shockwave differs from Flash in that bitmap images are used instead of vector graphics, making Shockwave better suited to those with fast internet connections.

Static graphic

A graphic with no animation or frames. Usually a GIF or JPEG file.

Streaming

The flow of data from a server to the visitor’s own computer. Streaming allows for a graphic animation to start right away while the rest of the file downloads in the background, rather than waiting first for the entire file to download before viewing.

SVG

Abbreviation for Scalable Vector Graphics. A vector graphic file format developed specifically for the Web by Adobe™, producing smaller file sizes with faster download times. The SVG format supports fills, gradients, blends, animation, and interactivity in both vector and raster graphics. Special features include: searchable text and zooming. The SVG plug-in is required to be installed in a web browser for viewing.

SWF

Original abbreviation for Shockwave Flash Format. (Now it is referred to simply as “Flash File Format.”) SWF is a Flash-based vector format used to export animations. Most suitable for animations with solid-color areas and sharp-edged objects. Saves only solid-color backgrounds. (Read by most browsers, which come pre-installed with the Flash plug-in.)

Symbols

A graphic with a series of instructions that can be duplicated, modified, and reused to help keep file sizes small and more easily editable throughout a file or files.

Tweening

The addition of frames in between keyframes in an animation. Tweening is used to simulate motion and morphing.

Vector graphic

A graphic image drawn in shapes and lines, called paths. Images created in Illustrator and Freehand (graphic design software) are vector graphics. They can be exported to be bitmap images in GIF animation.

A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I | J | K | L | M
N | O | P | Q | R | S | T | U | V | WXYZ