What is tweening in the context of animation?

Tweening, short for "in-betweening," is a fundamental concept in animation, particularly in digital animation. It refers to the process of generating intermediate frames between two key frames, which are explicitly defined start and end points in an animation sequence. By establishing these key frames, animators can create smooth transitions and motion by allowing the software to interpolate the movements, positions, and transformations that occur between those points.

For example, if an animator wants to create the effect of a ball bouncing from one side of the screen to the other, they would set a starting position (key frame) of the ball on the left and an ending position (key frame) on the right. The tweening process generates the frames in between, resulting in a fluid and natural movement across the screen.

This technique is essential in animation because it saves time and effort, allowing animators to focus on the main actions without manually drawing every single frame. In contrast, the other options focus on different aspects of animation, such as looping, applying special effects, or color adjustments, which do not specifically relate to the core idea of tweening.