Draw a picture then draw a slightly different picture and keep going for as long as you like then play 20 pictures a second and you have an animation.
More than a basic animation course there is an animation education process. The normal first step is to study 2d animation to learn how to make simple animations, then pass to 3d more advanced concepts.
Flash is used for both simple and complex animation, as well as game creation.
i thing it means As a simple, understandable definition that can be understood by the public as a whole: Animation: The movement of objects or live creatures in a way that is believable and understandable. - The Endeavour but i am not sure
It renders out an animation images frame by frame in a specific format that is needed to stream the animation. Less complicated and realistic renderers can render out simple avi files while more complex renderers can make more detailed and realistic images in an image sequence. In other words it builds the final look to your animation.
Try looking into Toon Boom, Synfig, and Flash for 2D animation software. Autodesk 3D Studio Max and Maya are well known for 3D animation.
Rollers are like other simple machine like pulleys and others.
Not every animation on the web is Flash but currently the majority is. There exists simple GIF based animations as well as other technologies for animation such as Silverlight and HTML5. Most believe HTML5 will eventually replace Flash. If you right click on an animation and see a context menu choice about Adobe Flash Player then it is a Flash animation.
As a simple, understandable definition that can be understood by the public as a whole: Animation: The movement of objects or live creatures in a way that is believable and understandable. - The Endeavourer ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- DO NOT DELETE ANSWER - ADD TO IT -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
animation
There are dozens of types of computer animation or animation in which computers assist. There's what is called "Comic style" (which refers to graphic novels not humorous styling) where drawn animation is scanned into a computer and photoshoped (essentially) into a series of moving frames. There are simple kinds of animation using 2D animation programs and extremely complex 3D rendering, texturing, coloring and physics engine programs. Similar 3D rendering software is used in video game production. An excellent source of answers to the specifics of this question would be Youtube. Just search around a while and you'll find a real expert who does computer animation for a living!
Cell animation Hand Drawn animation frame by frame traditional animation
There are lots of animation schools, both physical and online. Computer animation, especially 3D animation, has a great future.