inbetweening

Inbetweening is a technique commonly used in animation, film, and video production to create smooth transitions between keyframes or frames. The process involves inserting additional frames between existing ones to enhance fluidity and realism in motion. This method is particularly essential in traditional animation, where each frame is hand-drawn, but it is also applied in digital animation, motion graphics, and even some video editing workflows.

The core idea behind inbetweening is to fill the gaps between key poses or actions, ensuring that movements appear natural and continuous rather than abrupt. Animators often use a variety of methods to achieve this, including manual frame-by-frame interpolation, software tools like Adobe Animate, Blender, or Maya, or automated algorithms. In traditional animation, artists would draw intermediate frames by hand, often using techniques such as the "tweening" method, where they sketch in-between shapes based on the surrounding keyframes.

In digital animation, software programs provide automated inbetweening tools that can generate frames between two points in a sequence, adjusting proportions, angles, and other visual elements to maintain consistency. Some advanced systems also allow for dynamic inbetweening, where the software can simulate physics-based movements, such as fluid or elastic deformations, to create more lifelike animations.

While inbetweening is most commonly associated with animation, it can also be applied in other creative fields, such as video editing, where it helps smooth out transitions between clips or effects. However, in these contexts, the technique may be less about motion and more about visual continuity and aesthetic flow. Proper inbetweening is crucial for maintaining the integrity of a scene, whether it is a short film, a commercial, or a detailed character animation.