Cast-Based Animation

Cast-based animation, which also is called sprite animation, is a very popular form of animation and has seen a lot of usage in games. Cast-based animation involves objects that move independently of the background. At this point, you may be a little confused by the use of the word "object" when referring to parts of an image. In this case, an object is something that logically can be thought of as a separate entity from the background of an image. For example, in the animation of a forest, the trees might be part of the background, but a deer would be a separate object moving independently of the background. Each object in a cast-based animation is referred to as a sprite, and can have a changing position. Almost every video game uses sprites to some degree.