Artificial intelligence is changing the game when it comes to animation. By harnessing the power of AI, animators can create more realistic and lifelike animations that will engage and captivate audiences. Here are some ways that AI can help you create better animations.
The Role Of AI In Animation
For the sake of simplicity, I would like to think of AI as the under-the-structure of animation software. Although it does not have all the attributes that humans have, it can be a great asset to your project.
Statista predicts that the worldwide animation business will expand from $259 billion in 2018 to 270 billion by 2020.
A few years ago, many animators found themselves locked in their animator rooms for hours or days at a time without even being able to see their finished products. AI can help you get out and see your animation even though you are working on it from home in your PJs. You may even be able to create characters that look like they were created by an actual human being and not just a computer program.
AI Animation Software

AI animation software is used to create animated films, character animation, and facial animation. There are many different types of animation software, each with its own strengths and weaknesses. Some of the most popular animation software programs are Adobe After Effects, Blender, and Maya.
Rotoscoping is an animation technique that involves drawing each animated segment over the appropriate live-action sequence.
1. Create Random Motion
It is no secret that animators, especially those working in 3D, are always looking for ways to make their animations more lifelike. One of the things most human is their ability to do something unplanned and random.
AI can be used to create more realistic motion by adding elements of randomness. Your animations will look more like life if you incorporate flailing, small actions and other unpredictable movements.
2. Removing Redundant Work
For the first time, Disney used this tactic extensively in Snow White and the Seven Dwarves.
One of the biggest problems in animation is not having enough time or people to complete a project. You can use AI automation to drastically reduce the amount of work needed on your project by removing redundant tasks. For example, you can use AI to automatically create all of your keyframes, removing the need to manually create each one.
3. Creating Realistic Motion Using Human Motion
Sometimes animators will want to include human flesh in their animation rather than using completely computer-generated characters. It can be a difficult task, but if you have AI automation doing it for you, then you have infinite possibilities. If the motion is realistic enough, it will be difficult for the audience to tell if it is real or computer generated.
I’ve seen animations where the character was animated by hand and then imported into a computer-generated animation program where they were further edited or painted on top of that. Here are a few technology options that can help you create realistic human flesh in your animations:
Sculpting For Animation
You can use an open source program made for making 3D animations to make skin and muscles. This is a great technique that is simple, fast and free.
Skinning Characters
Another option is to use a program called Mocha Skin which will let you sculpt the face, body and even clothing of your character in real-time, letting you play around with different shapes and finishes until you find the one that best suits your needs.
3D Printing
Using a program that makes animation of human flesh, you can import the model into Maya and assign an animation to the body part in question. The program will then move the muscles and bones accordingly.
4. Combining Animation Styles

Sometimes you may want to incorporate several different styles of animation in one video or film project. For example, you may want to do something that includes both human and computer-generated movement, or you may want to combine both traditional 2D and 3D animation in your project.
AI can be used to create seamless transitions between different styles of animation as well as combining them with real-time renderings. The technology can even be used to mix both new and old animation styles with computer-generated imagery.
5. Making Animated Characters Look Real
Sometimes films or advertisements involve animated characters that look too perfect. The key to making them look real is in the motion and facial expressions of the characters as well as their overall silhouette. AI can help with this by making the character’s movements look more lifelike and fluid, as well as by giving them a more realistic facial structure and body shape.
6. Creating Great Animations From Scratch
Deep learning and computer vision are two of the most cutting-edge technologies in the gaming industry today. By harnessing the power of these technologies, game developers are able to create stunningly realistic animations that bring their games to life.
Motion capture is another key technology that is used to create realistic animations. By capturing the movements of real-life people, developers can create animations that are incredibly lifelike.
It is sometimes easier to use AI to create all of your keyframes, instead of doing it yourself by hand. This will save you a lot of time and let you concentrate on more important things, such as the story and setting of your video or film.
7. Creating Animations Of Any Length
AI can make animations that last for any length, from seconds to hours or even days. This can be very useful in commercial advertisements where an advertisement may need to be shown over and over again.
An AI capsule can be programmed to have certain movements or pauses based on a specific number of times it is shown. You do not have to worry about how long the animation will actually be because AI can figure out how long it takes for each action to happen.
8. Combining Old And Culturally Important Media
Retro video games have become very popular lately, with many people using them as a source of memorable quotes, fonts or even design ideas. However, you may need the graphics from these older games to be fixed or remastered so they can be used in a modern-day film or game. AI can combine old media with new media in a seamless fashion, giving you a final product that looks and feels like it has been there all along.
9. Creating Customizable Characters
It is hard to design a character that will appeal to everyone. Sometimes an animation studio will want to create characters for all different types of people and backgrounds, ranging from toddlers to senior citizens.
Benefits Of AI In Animation

The animation industry is a global business that creates and produces animated films, television programs, video games, and mobile apps. The industry employs a variety of professionals, including computer graphics artists, animation generator, and producers.
LAIKA, the acclaimed company behind films such as Coraline, ParaNorman, Kubo and the Two Strings, and The Boxtrolls, has worked with Intel to develop tools that will expedite rotoscope activities by combining machine learning and Artificial Intelligence.
The animation industry has seen significant growth in recent years, due in part to the increasing popularity of computer-generated animation. This type of animation is used to create complex motor skills and realistic textures, making it a popular choice for professional animators.
1. It’s Predictable
AI is predictable because it makes mistakes all the time. This can be a good thing because it prevents mistakes and gives the animator some extra time to actually finish the work at hand.
AI programs may make small errors, such as making a character stumble, trip and fall over something, which can give the animator a chance to then go back into their footage and make adjustments.
For example, if you have your AI catching your protagonist in mid-air while they fall somewhat gracefully, this may result in your character’s legs looking unnatural when they land on the ground.
2. It’s Like A Natural Extension Of Your Own Hands
Many animators have been traumatized by the thought of working with a computer program. However, by making sure that you are comfortable with your AI, which is made for you, it will feel more like an extension of yourself.
3. It’s Cheap And Free
Although it may not seem as though it is as cheap as using hand-drawn animation, you can still get good AI from sites such as Poser and DAZ Studio for free. I’m sure there are more advanced and expensive options out there to purchase, but anyone can experiment with a different bug or the possibilities of online animation sharing on the Internet to see what works best for them.
4. It’s Everywhere Around You
Whether you are watching a nature documentary or looking at the design of a building, technology has been all around us and integrated into our daily lives. Even if you are not going to use it in your next film, it pays to know where it is going and what your options may be down the road.
5. It’s Super Flexible
Disney researchers have presented a nonlinear 3D face-modeling system based on neural architectures.
AI can be used with any type of animation style, such as 2D and 3D animation, film animation and live-action footage. Although there are many other programs that can help with all these tasks, using AI lets you focus on your actual project instead of learning more about other programs.
6. It Can Use Real-Time Rendering
Live-action footage is often chosen because, although it might not look as real as an animated shot, it does require less work to get it to look realistic. Live-action video can be filmed in any environment, whether it’s outdoors or inside a house that has multiple levels.
This means that the animator can come up with all kinds of different shots and angles during the filming process and then easily tweak them in post-production. You do not have to worry about 3D adding any extra time or money to your project if shooting live action out of camera (OC).
7. It Can Be Used For Virtual Reality
Animators have been using so many different mixed media in the past few years that they need to find ways to make them all work together in a believable, realistic way. The more you use AI and other programs that are based on 3D, the easier it will be to add them into your animation projects. Although it may seem strange at first, using these programs and technologies eventually becomes second nature to you, making it easier for you to create realistic animations.
8. It Creates More Realistic And Lifelike Animations
Jiayi Chong, a former technical Pixar director, used his skills to develop Midas Creature, a new programme that automates sophisticated 2D character animation.
We are always looking for something that makes us feel like we are seeing the scene as if we were actually watching it on screen. AI can help you create this feeling even if you are watching your animation in real time. You do not have to go back into your footage once you have completed it, only to discover that it just does not look like what you had in mind.
Final Note
With the rise of computer-generated animation, traditional hand-drawn animation techniques are becoming increasingly rare. However, there are still a few animation studios and animated movies that continue to use these methods.
One of the benefits of traditional animation techniques is that it can be used to perform complex motor skills that are difficult to replicate with computer animation and machine learning.
Film animation and game design have used AI for many years, but the technology is still very new in the world of animation and design. You do not necessarily have to be working with your own AI program or create your own designs from scratch, as most computer-generated images (CGI) and animations are ready to use in their original form. There may be a few tweaks here and there that you would like to tweak, but this can all be done within minutes.
Last Updated on September 29, 2023 by Priyanshi Sharma