Look at some of the websites that are on the internet today. There are so many that have amazing layout designs with tasteful animation. With competition high to get and keep customers on their website, companies will no doubt continue to demand user friendly websites with a bit of "eye candy." Some of this is evident in the way designers create animation and animations flash, etc. They want their sites to stand out and mesmerize the "online" crowd.

Early animations started appearing around 1910 and were normally drawings that were photographed one at a time. It was a very intensive and long process, as there were literally hundreds of drawings for each minute of film. Of course, improvements were constantly being made with Walt Disney leading the pack. He was the first to add sound to his cartoon animations and produced the first, full-length movie animations film, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. Then, with the introduction of computers, animation began to take on a whole new meaning.

2D or 3D animations are the result of generating computer animations and the goal is to make them appear as life-like as possible. If you intend to use a computer to create animation, then it is a good idea to get the fastest processor available, as well as additional memory, as it will make things a little easier for you. Also, these graphics, new animations and pictures that you generate build up quickly, so you may want to consider a larger hard drive for your computer to allow more space for your work.

Of course, if you plan to work on a computer it is also advantageous to learn about photography, lighting and movement. You will need to visualize how the pictures animations, 2D animations or 3D animations will look and then have the know-how to make that inanimate object move. There are many different software programs that offer both tutorials and downloadable programs. The tutorials are very important, yet each software program will likely have a different interface, different menus, palettes and toolbars etc.

To run 2D or 3D animations software programs you will need a computer that has sufficient system requirements, such as memory, to run them, which will eliminate the need for any paper and pencils. However, some of the graphics, such as 2D animations cartoons still require penciling by hand before scanning to the computer. The basic tools needed to create animation by computer are a system that will be able to run the software programs you will need, and of course the ability to use the programs.