1.

Introduction When it was realized that both the internet speed and computer technology at

the time cannot handle graphics and animated imagery that the community on the internet started to demand, vector-based softwares were developed. To add, White (2006, p.392) made a mention that the invention of vector graphics is indeed a big leap in digital art technology. This is when Macromedia Flash, the first vector-based software is first introduced and completely revolutionized web animation as it offers both greater capability of motion-based imagery as well as the inclusion of sound. According to Greenberg (2007, p. 115), vector graphics are made of geometrical methods such as points, lines and curves which are all based on mathematical equations. While a vector image is capable of looking identical to hand drawn images and pictures, compared to them it is very small in file size thanks to its mathematical nature; meaning that it is processed like an equation rather than as image-based matters. This ultimately reduces the load on the computer. To continue, the invention of vector graphics later give emergence to vector animation, which can be defined as a sequence of a series of vector images that provides an illusion of movements, in contrary to traditional animation, it utilizes vector graphics instead of raster (pixel based) images. But White (2006, p. 392) also focuses on an issue stating that vector animation differs from traditional, conventional ones and therefore requires a different approach. As an evidence, in its earliest version Flash is actually a website development tool that just happens to have a very economic animation capacity meant to create slightly animated images for web pages. The resourcefulness of traditional animators however adapted its use and this defined a new industry standard for animation. Its pioneers do admit that significant limitations do exist, however. Ever since Flashs earliest time, vector animation technology has advanced tremendously, such as the emergence of the more traditional-styled vector software ToonBoom which is unlike Flash whereas it is specifically made for animation. However, the economic approach to animation that Flash offers still remain as the choice of some studios.

The emergence of vector animation owes itself to a dark history as can be seen in the words of Young & Young (2010, p. 166), where the two of them retell the story of the declining of Americas golden age of animation after the World War II era, where the cost for animation technology and crew increased drastically. The pressure studios put on production companies to minimize production budget made things worse. As a result many animation companies got shut down, putting an end to the golden age and stunted animation development. Bidgoli (2003, p. 655) however mentioned that the emergence of vector animation revived the production of cartoons and animated shorts by making the process of production much cheaper and more accessible to all. However due to low budget allocation the animations that came out were still of much lower quality than what it used to be. This never gave vector animation the chance to be shown to the public as an equally competitive method for animating despite its potential capability. Still, animation continues to be developed in the United States and as a result some studios like Hanna Barbera both innovated and flourished in the arts of limited animation as mentioned by White (2006, p. 394), creating animations that give viewers the illusion of seeing full animations despite the actual work only containing limited movements unlike those that can usually be found during the Golden Age. This innovation continues to thrive further, giving birth to memorable cartoon series in the later years such as Dexters Laboratory, Powerpuff Girls, and El Tigre among others. However, none of them reached Wakfus level of quality. (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/Wakfu) Wakfu The Animated Series is one of the few known productions that makes full use of vector animations capabilities. Produced in France, the series is not aired internationally and yet it has gained a following cult from all over the world thanks to the quality it demonstrates, especially as a vector animation. There are animated features such as Sylvain Chomets Triplets of Belleville, The Illusionist, as well as Tomm Moore and Nora Twomeys The Secret of Kells which are done via vector means whereas while all three overshadow Wakfus quality, they are of feature length in nature and therefore require a different kind of budget and production process. In its class, Wakfu stands peerless as an animated series in terms of quality of animation for the time being.

The plot of Wakfu follows Grougalolagran, a powerful dragon who feels a bad premonition coming and decides to put his human offspring, Yugo under the care of someone trustworthy to keep his son safe from an expected danger and until the right time comes, Yugo is to be kept away from searching for his real father. With his magical eyes that can see through a living beings soul and intent, Grougalolagran finally finds in a village, Alibert, a benevolent and retiring bounty hunter who stands for his people before the law. Following his finding, Grougalolagran picks a nearby Tofu, a kind of bird that Yugo later named Az, to be his companion and to encrypt a message within Alibert that will tell him what to do when the time comes. With it, Grougalolagran left both Yugo and Az to be picked up by Alibert, who later takes care of them both without hesitations. Yugo grows up well under Aliberts care, and has become a great cook of the restaurant Alibert opened prior to his retirement as a bounty hunter. One day, in a kitchen accident Yugo used his power which involves teleportation portals unintentionally. He proceeded to experiment and play around with it. This, along with some other following commotions attracted the arch villain Nox that has been searching for Yugo. Nox proves to be too powerful for Yugo and his companions both old and new to handle. Adept in time magic, Nox single handedly stops the time around him and tries to claim Yugo, the person with an abundant essence of life that he seeks. But through strong will that is born from fatherly love, Alibert manages to fight against the effect of Noxs spell and shatter its source. Nox is unharmed and escapes the fight safely however, while Alibert becomes old as an effect to fighting against the spells effect. It is later that the message Grougalolagran imprinted in him is decrypted and commands Yugo to seek his real father. 2.0 Objectives

Inspired by its success, this study will focus on various aspects of vector animation like quality of animation, cost in both money and time, as well as animator workload so that the results from doing this search could shed a new light on the true capabilities of vector animation techniques that could revolutionize the animation industry, especially in low budget productions.

3.0

Problem Statement Despite looking clean and optimized, vector animation do pose a number of

problems to animators. One of which White (2006, p. 392) made mention of is a problem where vector animation being substantially different compared to traditional animation in both looks and how it works. Technically it requires some time for traditional animators, no matter how expert to become adept at adapting the use of vector format in the production of an animation and even then it is still challenging to ensure the animated movements are both smooth and looks as good as those that can be found in a traditional animation. This problem is especially true for Flash as made clear by Young & Young (2010, p. 166), where as the two stated, it has resulted in many skilled animators favoring the use of a more traditional oriented animation software which only high budget studios can afford. As a consequence, this leaves Flash animation to the less funded ones that can only afford to pay Flash animators that are more or less fresh to the scene and cannot animate as well as their better skilled and funded adversaries. To add, White (2006, p. 392) also said that vector animation is also rather known for the fact that its file is tough to manage and to make sure it is under a controllable environment. A vector graphic file with too much complexity but with a poor management would prove to be very heavy to the system. As a result, animating fluid movements would be much more challenging considering the lack of sources. A similar problem in the most recent history occurs in the times of Hanna Barbera, where the budget for most animation productions had been cut extensively, allowing them with only limited sources to work with. With Flash however, this limitation is more severe since even with a better budget, Flash can only handle so much. With a less experienced crew to work with, this becomes almost impossibly challenging to achieve. Few studios have thrived under Flash based productions, and even fewer in number are those that are able to make quality animations with it. As can be seen these days, Flash is usually used to produce animation series charting only mediocre quality as can be seen in animated series like Southpark and Fosters Home For Imaginary Friends.

White (2006, p. 393) also stated that when Flash was first introduced, it was actually meant as a website creation software with economic animating capacity originally designed for minimal animated elements like those can be found in a websites button or logo. Past the golden age of animation however, resourceful animators had put it to a good use to publish their minimalistic production on the web. Still, it can only handle and transfer so much of complicated animated sequences to viewers on the internet. Ever since that time, Flashs animation capabilities has been improved by a mile, even though it is still not suited for an all out animation in compliance to keeping its original use intact. Regardless, Ankama Groups for reasons yet unknown has chosen Flash as its primary animation software for the production of Wakfu despite the many shortcomings Flash posses. Whereby normally few top brass animation studios would opt the use of Flash as their main animation software considering how it is not suited for an all out production series. Which is a strange case considering that Flash techniques still have significant limitations as stated by Cantrell, Hall, & Torrone (2002, p. 168) Whereas with every embedded animation element, file size increases and and even the fastest of processors can only handle so much. This results in lower playback rates, which can pose a problem in a production. Failing to make use of what little resources available look convincing (especially in the production of a television-broadcasted animation) would result in either a very stiff or expressionless style of animation. Choosing to expand the number of available frames to increase materials to work with in this case would ultimately pay a toll in file size as well as the requirement of working memory. All these tight limitations are contradicting the requirement of a good Flash animation in itself, yet without breaking any of it, one would find that it is almost impossible to create a good Flash animation, let alone an excellent one with very fluid animations (or one that projects an illusion of quality animation for that matter) surpassing even that of any animations produced via means much closer to traditional mediums. At most, generally one would find that by not breaking the limitations, one could only create animations of very minimalist nature. On the other hand, if they are to be broken, one would find that the file size would increase in addition to it consuming too much working memory and by chance would even overwhelm as well as crashing the processor due to overloading.

4.0

Significance of Research Although it generally takes time for a traditional animator to get accustomed to

vector animation techniques, often is the case where a well-educated animator would find this technique to be providing sufficient aide in animating, thus reducing the workload on animators and this eventually increases an animators productivity rate. To add, since work rate is hastened, more time can be allocated for both the quality and detail level of an animation production. White (2006, p. 286) regarding this matter elaborates on his opinion saying that most modern animation software certainly makes it easier to animate in technical terms up to the point where a person does not even need to know how to draw in order to animate. To animate creatively well within the bounds of a modern animation software however, White (2006, p. 294) further adds that an animator who is of innately or well trained artistry can be trained to eventually learn how to work and animate digitally in an accomplished way. As to which, it can be seen in Whites opinion that digitized animation processes do have many benefits and any problems that is associated with differences from working traditionally can be overcome one way or another in the hands of any good animator. While file management is a quite a problem in vector animation, given the animators are specialists in vector file managements this can be advantageous seeing as vector file sizes, especially Flash files, are really small in size as written by Parsons & Oja (2011, p. 448). This can benefit in many ways. For example, these files can be transferred much faster across various platforms. On top of that, it would also require much less computer resources to work with. With fewer requirements across various issues, studios can invest excess money somewhere else in making sure that it is running smoothly in the production of an animation project. A well-rounded investment within an animation studio would ensure a project will see a bright end. The animating process is also likely to present itself with much less computers overloading in the work process in consort of the small work file size. The small file size would also ease the process of storing work files since the files would only require minimal space. In addition to that, small file size can result in the possibility of increasing the graphical details available within a vector animation substantially relative to file size increase. 6

Although Flash isnt originally meant for creating animations, White (2006, p.406) also said that at the same time it offers a very economical way of working with animation wherein he mentioned the fact that vector animation can be resized and reused indefinitely without compromising on the quality of the resized element. This process is also very minimalist in terms of resource usage and can be committed without much hassle. In the animation industry, this is an invaluable aspect as any scene that requires recurring animation of a particular element but of a differing shot distance, for example, can be reused indefinitely regardless of the original size the element is drawn at. Greenberg (2007, p. 115) thus made a statement that in the case of 2D animation, this is only possible with vector animation because the created images are actually made of mathematical calculations. Whereas with every change in size is to occur, the processor would only need to recalculate certain elements and render the resized element in full quality. Aside from advantages in resizing, the mathematical nature of vector animation also renders it as very light as compared to raster animations. All of these advantages when combined ultimately reduce work time. To continue, White (2006, p.394) also said that although vector animation, especially Flash animation, has many limitations, it is at the same time also has its own value and can be considered to be of a class of its own. Seen from a certain point of view, Flash animation cultivates creativity by presenting its animators with the challenge of creating maximum results out of the least resources. In the light of this issue, this fairly difficult innerworking of Flash often push animators to their limit and thus capable of making them coming up with new animation techniques as in the times of Hanna Barbera. As mentioned earlier, one of the best examples of Flash animation that made the most out of limited resources is Wakfu The Animated Series where it clearly shows that Flash animation does not have to look cheap nor badly done up to the point that it does not even have to look like the general Flash animation that comes out on television like El Tigre, for example. Few however has dared to venture into the heights that Wakfu did in fear of not having the manpower skilled enough to undertake the animation process. This shows that if taken seriously, Flash can be a very effective medium for animation.

5.0

Scope of Research

The research scope of this study will first focus on a scene found in Episode one, at minute 3:32. In this scene, Noxs robotic bug is shown to be draining the life energy of a tree in the foreground while the arch villain Nox confronts the dragon Grougaloragran for the first time. In the draining process, all of the trees numerous leaves are shown to be falling from it.

Following the first scene, the second scope will focus on a scene yet found in Episode one, at minute 4:52. This scene shows that after Nox stops time in his battle with Grougaloragran, he begins to leap from one falling rock to another consecutively in a fairly complex and very fluid maneuver in order to retrieve his sword which got thrown in the air in an explosion caused earlier by Grougaloragran, all the while leaving trails to show an effect of Noxs swift movements. 8

The third scope focuses on a scene found in Episode 3, at minute 2:37. The scene shows the protagonist Yugo getting excited seeing the wares offered at a stall he is checking out. In the background is an anonymous woman who is seen carrying a basket of meat from the left towards the right end of the frame. Although chronologically she appears first in Episode 3 anonymously, both the character and the very same movement is actually rehashed as the mother of a character named Goultard in a special episode 23 episodes apart entitled Goultard Special, at minute 0:37. In the Goultard Special episode, her animation however is seen mirrored where she is shown walking from right to left instead of her former appearance in episode 3 as can be seen in the screenshot of said scene below.

6.0

Findings In episode one, at minute 3:32 of Wakfu The Animated Series, numerous leaves

are shown withering from a tree. Back then in the days where animation is done traditionally, scenes like this are considered to be very tedious work as each element on each frame has to be animated individually on translucent cells arranged together to create a scene. Rearranging each individual cell the leaves are on whilst replacing them with the progressed frames each time ought to take a lot of time. With a modern animation software like Flash however, all that is needed to be done is to create a single leaf and a variety of other frames for it in one single dictated instance. The leaf animation can then be done in one stationary position by dictating which frame should be shown at what time, before appointing it to fall in the way intended. It can then be resized, copied and pasted to be further edited to create other variations of the falling leaf animation. When enough variations are done, all that the animator has to do is repeat the steps and carefully place each falling leaf animations in place and Flash should do the proceeding work of animating the leaves by itself. This is just one of the many examples of how a modern animation software is worth mastering as it would prove to be a great aide for any traditional animators, as stated by White (2006, p. 286) earlier. Following the first noted scene, in the same episode at minute 4:52, the arch villain Nox is shown performing complicated combat maneuvers mid air. Although this scene seems overly complicated to animate, through the creative use of Flash and knowledge in animation it is made much easier to animate and with much less work too. Instead of creating full animations, the limitations that Flash comes with as stated by White (2006, p.394) has cultivated the creativity of Wakfus animators to turn it into an advantage, which is actually done by creating illusions of fluid movements whereby most of the time rehashing of the same frames which are just slightly moved occur. This is especially true for the trails that follow Nox, which is just a repositioned copy of the original animated instance and are especially used to create an illusion of fluid movements when the actual animation is far less fluid. As the process of animating Nox in one stationary position is done, the rest is put into motion by using the same methods as the falling leaves mentioned in the previous paragraph. Of which, this scene shares many of the same benefits as the scene on 3:32 does. Here 10

it can be seen how even limitations can prove to be beneficial as can be seen as well in the earlier times of Hanna Barbera, the pioneers of limited animation as can be seen in The Flintstones. Wakfu however takes limited animation to another level by utilizing it to overcome even full animation techniques by tricking viewers eyes into seeing it as being even better than a fully animated sequence. While the third scope focuses on both scenes found in Episode 3, at minute 2:37 and another in a special episode 23 episodes apart entitled Goultard Special, at minute 0:37 where an obviously rehashed model is used on the latter episode as a fairly important supporting character. It is apparent in this scene that no matter how much skill a vector animator has, one will either find oneself bounded by Flashs limitations or enticed by Flashs simplification of digitized animating process eventually. The rehashed models found in these two scenes show inclination towards the latter whereby whether the problem is time or money related, it shows a sign that due to permitting condition, the animators have chosen to rehash the same character model just to see it done without making much effort to differentiate between the two. Even though it may be largely unnoticed due to how far apart the episodes are, when compared side by side it certainly shows in a cheap, negative way. Here it appears that what White (2006, p. 392) said regarding Flash files being tough to manage seems to have come into play which in turn results into this noticeable problem. The severe limitations seem to have kept up in preventing the animators from creating a genuine character for each of the scenes, especially the latter one.

11

7.0

Conclusion Based on the research that has been done on Wakfu The Animated Series, a

conclusion has been made in the form of an idea that enforces the assumption that vector animation is definitely capable of revolutionizing the 2D animation industry. Even though bigger production houses may prefer pitching in money into a 3D animation production, smaller studios can start small and utilize part of their incomes to train their animators to better understand the vector animation software of their studios choice, either Flash or other vector based animation programs. This would pay in the end as animators with better mastery in their working software would definitely perform better and more efficient in each upcoming production and would ultimately bring the studio good in the long run. From there, quality of productions would increase, therefore creating more interest in 2D animation and when that happens, the industry will regulate by itself. Areas of study for animation would be expanded, and the animation workforce will grow naturally, bringing further prosperity to both the company they work for and the industry itself. Although, for this to happen, producers of animation companies need to consider this matter and give it a chance to happen. Otherwise, animation students could try to innovate by creating their own animated shorts. With enough effort and ingenuity, a five to ten minutes short of something that is similar to Wakfus quality should be achievable even when done alone. With enough time spent on it, an animated short of satisfying quality should be able to be produced and published on the internet for example. From there, one might find oneself being offered jobs by various companies. Or one could even try to apply for his or her short to be screened at a film or animation festival. When these steps of innovation are practiced by not only a small number, but by a whole community of animation students, it would surely attract attention in the long run and bring with it various forms of fortune. Students could even collaborate with each other to create an independent production of much greater stature, which could possibly possess a bigger value whether in terms of points of interest or even as a showcase of skill.

12

References Bidgoli, H. (2003, November). The Internet Encylopedia (Vol 2). Cantrell, C., Hall, B., & Torrone, P. (2002, May 14) Flash Enabled: Flash Design and Development for Devices. Greenberg, I. (2007, June 1). Processing: Creative Coding and Computational Art (Foundation). Parsons, J.J. & Oja, D. (2011) New Perspectives on Computer Concepts 2011. Wakfu. (2011). In Television Tropes & Idioms. Retrieved Feb 11, 2011, from http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/Wakfu White, T. (2006, August 4). Animation from pencils to pixels: classical techniques for digital animators. Young, W. H. & Young, N. K. (2010, September 17). World War II and the Postwar Years in America: A Historical and Cultural Encyclopedia Volume 2.

13