Limited Animation

Limited Animation: Bridging the Gap.

Limited animation is a process or method which can be employed to make animations that do not rely on redrawing entire frames, instead animating elements within images to give the impression of life.

The original intention for this style of animation was to form a method of animation that could emulate the cinematic experience of a traditional animated feature without the heavy production costs. Animation studios also commented on the comparison of cost; “Look, every time I move my arm, it costs the Cartoon Network forty-two bucks! (evil laugh) Look, look!” (moves his arm back and forth repeatedly) “42, 84, 126.” (Space Ghost: Coast to Coast).

Limited animation has been used to great effect in anime, the stylised Japanese animation form. Isaac Kerlow described use of Limited Animation in anime as an “abundance of motion holds; embellishment of static scenes with wind effects; minimal animation of facial expressions on static bodies; camera POVs [point of views] with extreme perspectives; looped character animation cycles over looped background motion” (Kerlow, 2009).

Limited animation has become a popular vehicle through which computer games companies convey their narratives. One early example of this can be seen during the “CODEC” conversations between Snake and his superiors in Konami’s “Metal Gear” game series. Konami also used limited animation to create elaborate motion comic style cut scenes in their PSP additions to the series “Metal Gear Solid: Portible Ops” and “Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker”. These were produced by illustrator Ashley Wood who’s art style is reminiscent of the series long running concept artist Yoji Shinkawa. 

MGS Peace Walker Cutscene 1

Blizzard employed Limited animation with great success when producing promotional material for “World of Warcraft: The Mists of Pandaria”. Blizzard’s story and illustration teams wanted to tell the story of the last Emperor of Pandaria in an engaging and fresh way. When asked why the Burdens of Shao Hao was not a fully animated feature Doug Gregory explains: “It was a stylistic necessity of the project. And that limitation actually made it wonderful, because it gives you the -- you just have these brackets at the very beginning -- we're not the cinematics department.” The "storybook" aesthetic that was achieved through this en devour really is something to behold.
The six part feature was well received by players of World of Warcraft, readers of the series lore as well as by many who have never played the games. I myself have not played any Warcraft based games since Warcraft 3 but this animated series not only made me very interested in the lore but also opened my eyes to the capabilities of this medium.

Burdens of Shao Hao 1 - Doubt (3D until 3:12)

Blizzard took this further, using these techniques to introduce expansions to their universe in "The Warlords of Draenor".

Warlords of Draenor - Kargath (3D until 1:27).

As seen in both of the above examples, limited animation is incredibly flexible when it comes to art styles. Even the most detailed and expressive styles can be brought to life with a consistency that would require tremendous resources to achieve were they to be done traditionally.
In 3D animation the issue of consistency may be overcome but this may require costly investment to develop the technology to achieve the required aesthetic.