Line #21 ArtEvolution/Webanimation


1	* ''WebAnimation/ADayWithBowserJr''. The series began with sloppy Flash videos before slowly improving in quality. Today, the videos are animated in crisp 3D animation.
2	* ''WebAnimation/DeathBattle'' initially started off rather cheaply, with fights limited to rather stiff sprite animations using pre-existing sprites and both Wiz and Boomstick being [[TheVoice not being depicted in the flesh]]. Over time and as the budget increased, the sprite animations began becoming much more fluid and willing to use tailor-made sprites, and other styles such as 3D animation (e.g. "[[Franchise/TheLegendOfZelda Link]] vs. [[VideoGame/FinalFantasyVII Cloud]]"), cartoon animation (e.g. "[[ComicBook/{{Invincible}} Omni-Man]] vs. [[ComicBook/TheBoys Homelander]]") and even live action (e.g. "[[ComicBook/CaptainAmerica Winter Soldier]] vs. [[ComicBook/{{Batman}} Red Hood]]") were introduced, alongside both Wiz and Boomstick being shown during in-between segments.
3	* ''WebAnimation/HazbinHotel'': The designs of the main characters have changed a lot since their original conception. Originally Creator/VivienneMedrano drew them in the ''Webcomic/{{Zoophobia}}'' art style with very wavy and fluid linework, since they were originally intended to appear in an arc of that comic, before distinctualizing their designs for the release of the pilot. In the series proper, the characters received some minor revisions to their designs and the artstyle of the show was tweaked to be slightly simplified[[note]]An easily pointed out aspect of this is the definition on Alastor's teeth in the pilot which is not present in the show proper[[/note]]. Additionally, a prototypical [[WebAnimation/HelluvaBoss Blitzo]] can be seen in the background of one shot and looks entirely different from both the pilot and actual series, due to him and Moxxie originally being conceived as recurring ''Hazbin'' side characters.
4	** Its sister show ''WebAnimation/HelluvaBoss'' also has one. The [[Recap/HelluvaBossS1E0Pilot pilot]] already had some pretty good animation but vastly improved by the release of the official first episode, being a lot more fluid and clean by comparison.
5	* ''WebAnimation/HomestarRunner''. This is [[LampshadeHanging lampshaded]] in the eponymous flashback in the Strong Bad Email [[http://www.homestarrunner.com/sbemailahundred.html flashback]]; it features crudely-animated art based on that in ''The Homestar Runner Enters the Strongest Man in the World Contest'', a children's book made by the series' creator before their website was established. In the Email [[http://www.homestarrunner.com/sbemail135.html lady...ing]], Strong Bad presents a clip parodying the crude animation style and personalities of the very, very early Homestar Runner short ''Marshmallow's Last Stand''.
6	** The Homestar wiki even has [[http://hrwiki.org/index.php?title=Category:Character%20Evolution articles about it]].
7	* ''WebAnimation/{{Eddsworld}}''. Just compare one of [[http://www.newgrounds.com/portal/view/165274 Edd's first flashes]] to the [[http://www.newgrounds.com/portal/view/596857 last he finished before his death]].
8	* ''WebAnimation/FairyFoxes'' has gone under Art Evolution throughout its 6 episodes. The foxes started out as cute little chibis. However, their designs changed to an anthro look and stayed that way since episode 3.
9	** And since episode 7 came out, [=StickFreeks=] (the creator of ''Fairy Foxes'') has switched from UsefulNotes/MSPaint to Adobe Photoshop Elements 7.0.
10	* Much like the ''Fairy Foxes'' example above, ''Wolf Dragons'' also started out different than it is today. Here are examples of the pilot episode: [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KLe9h50_c4g Before]] and [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9U6AHIw2vgI after]]. Additionally, voices didn't appear in the first version until around episode 3, while in the better version, there were voices from the start.
11	* ''WebAnimation/BananaNanaNinja'' has improved in both art and audio quality from [[http://www.banana-ninja.com/episodes/BananaShopOfHorrorsPt1.html this]] to [[http://www.banana-ninja.com/episodes/FeastMasterVol5.html this]].
12	* ''WebAnimation/MadnessCombat'' started with the characters looking identical aside from one or two accessories and cartoonish-looking blood. Over the course of the series, the character designs became increasingly more elaborate and the violence more visceral.
13	* Alex Crish, creator of ''WebAnimation/MinecraftForNoobs'' has greatly changed his drawing, voice acting, and animation abilities, having smother drawn characters, and a less harsh voice. a comparison of the original and remastered versions of the 1st episode shows that drastically.
14	* ''WebAnimation/OverSimplified'': The characters in his earlier videos are mostly just {{Palette Swap}}s of his own avatar or any variant thereof, with males and females used to sharing the same body type and having relatively limited, simplistic animations. Starting with World War II however, many important characters began receiving increasingly detailed heads and varied body shapes that visually correspond to how they looked in real life, and their animation quality had been vastly improved as well. By the point of the Prohibition video, it's escalated so much that ''the intro itself has been changed to fit the escalating animation quality.''
15	* ''WebAnimation/RedVsBlue'' had a unique form of evolution: through the first few seasons, the voice acting and video quality improved somewhat, from the low-quality early episodes to much better sound and video by Season 4 or 5. In addition to progress with equipment, though, the series gained significant upgrades with the release of each new ''Franchise/{{Halo}}'' game, and by ''Revelation'', also features extensive CGI thanks to Creator/MontyOum joining the crew. It comes full circle with the release of remakes of the first 5 seasons, re-filmed in HD.
16	** It was stated at one panel that as their sound equipment gradually became better, fans started to complain that the voices sounded "too good" and the team decided to work the audio a bit to maintain the low quality feel. Somewhat justified in that the characters are supposed to be speaking either through communicators inside their helmets or through their helmets, [[TheCoconutEffect so sounding crystal clear comes across as rather odd]], given the convention of [[RadioVoice voices through communicators being slightly distorted]].
17	** Another panel had one of season 17's co-directors saying the season revisiting old events made them consider just using the original footage. But the image quality improved so much since the Xbox and Xbox 360 that the footage "looked like it was smeared with vaseline", hence they just recreated using the ''Halo'' remasters from ''[[UpdatedRerelease The Master Chief Collection]]''.
18	* ''WebAnimation/Nameless2005'' progressed from relatively crappy quality to quality rivaling that of some professionally-made cartoons in a few episodes.
19	* The ''Toys/{{Bionicle}}'' Flash episodes (which consisted of [[CutScene cutscenes]] from the ''Mata Nui On-Line Game'' and a short series of non-game animations) went through some degree of evolution:
20	** At first, both the animations and the game blended rough 3D graphics with crude 2D Flash animation. Some of the movements had many individually rendered frames showing off bodyparts/machinery from slightly different angles. The characters had a lot of shading, and the backgrounds were immensely detailed, though some of the textures were low-quality jpeg images. Characters were also often OffModel, since their sprites were based on bad quality photos of Franchise/{{LEGO}} pieces and primitive 3D models. As the game progressed, the visuals changed to standard 2D imagery, with simplistic ClipArtAnimation. The characters only had a few basic angles and barely any shading that matched their environment, which also became less detailed but more stylized and "uniform". So when you went back to the first areas of the game, characters suddenly looked out of place.
21	** The Kanohi Pakari, the type of mask worn in the game by Onua, Kapura, Hafu and Onepu. When Onua first appeared, his mask looked really close to the real piece. By the end of the game, he and all other Pakari-wearers were outfitted with a completely OffModel-looking mask that barely resembled the original. This is due to the game designers confusing the Pakari with the Ruru (mask of Whenua and Taipu), and created an odd mix of the two. They even switched the masks of Hafu and Taipu, and incorrectly gave Kapura a Pakari. Faulty reference images and miscommunication with LEGO are likely to blame. Beginning with the second episode of the web animations, the animators thankfully settled on a new design that looked exactly like the Pakari.
22	* ''WebAnimation/AnAkatsukisLife''. From its somewhat crudely animated and muffled-sounding [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jmVJp0O-MN4 beginnings]], it eventually evolved into [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0NhKX6Lgpdo this]]. The latest episodes contain a handful high frame-rate shots that (aside from the obvious pixels) wouldn't look too out of place in an actual cartoon show.
23	* One could say the art style for ''WebAnimation/NeuroticallyYours'' went through this, starting from very rough design and animation and it now a lot smoother.
24	* The WebAnimation/CastleSeries. Just look at [[http://www.deletionquality.net/flash/view/castle-i the first part]] versus [[http://www.deletionquality.net/flash/view/castle-ii the second part]].
25	* The art in ''WebAnimation/HappyTreeFriends'' became less stiff and more "cute" over time, mainly by making the eponymous Tree Friends overall a little rounder and cartoonish. The overall animation quality also improved, thanks to [[TechnologyMarchesOn technological advancements in the show's usage of Flash animation]]. A more specific example is the appearance of Flippy's evil SplitPersonality. In his very first episode, he looked exactly like normal Flippy. After that, he gained greenish-yellow eyes, CreepyShadowedUndereyes, and crooked teeth. This would remain for a few episode before the crooked teeth were replaced by [[FangsAreEvil fangs]] in late season 2, finalising the design.
26	* Ashley in ''The Crazy Kids of Grade 5'' has went through a character redesign. Compare [[http://s1220.photobucket.com/albums/dd451/bga4ever10/?action=view¤t=ashley1.png this]] to [[http://s1220.photobucket.com/albums/dd451/bga4ever10/?action=view¤t=ashley1.png#!oZZ1QQcurrentZZhttp%3A%2F%2Fs1220.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fdd451%2Fbga4ever10%2F%3Faction%3Dview%26current%3Dashley2.png this ]].
27	* ''WebAnimation/CowOfTheWild'' has gone through this over three years. In the [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GmxdtlF9_yo first episodes]], the feet were large in comparison to the rest of the body, several wolves had a lot of facial hair (i.e. Alari's bangs), eyes were one color with white highlights, and cat characters were frequently mistaken for wolves, or vice versa. In the [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qcNsH35sBjQ&feature=channel&list=UL more recent episodes]], the feet have gotten a bit smaller, the eyes are multicolored, and there's a distinct difference in the basic character design of different species. The lineart and shading have also become much more refined.
28	* In ''WebAnimation/DaAmazinOTAdvenchr'', most characters were drawn as obese until around Appisote 5, when they became stickmen as a result of art changes. Of course, [[StylisticSuck due to the nature of the show itself]], none of the art in the show is very good anyways.
29	* ''WebAnimation/DSBTInsaniT'': While it still keeps its simplistic style, there is a BIG jump in quality from episode 1 to episode 2.
30	** Starting from Episode 4, the characters became more expressive and gained FourFingeredHands, both of which had been implimented from the start in ''WebAnimation/{{Dreamscape}}''.
31	** Starting from Episode 6, the art style for the characters gets a complete overhaul by being designed in Adobe Illustrator. The same goes for ''WebAnimation/{{Dreamscape}}''.
32	** Starting from Episode 7, the art makes the biggest jump yet with the character models being created in Anime Studio, allowing for much better movement and expressions. The same goes for ''WebAnimation/{{Dreamscape}}''.
33	* The music videos for Music/{{Savlonic}}, a fictional band created by [[WebAnimation/WeeblAndBob "Weebl" Picking]], have undergone this--the third and fourth videos, created by another animator, are far more advanced graphically and no longer depict the characters in borderline SuperDeformed style.
34	* ''WebAnimation/TurnaboutStorm's'' art and animation quality saw a few improvements after the fist two episodes for different reasons:
35	** ''Franchise/AceAttorney'' characters, who use their in-game sprites, went from the pixely sprites of the Platform/GameBoyAdvance and Platform/NintendoDS releases to the much smoother artwork of the iPad's HD re-release whenever they are compatible. Besides that, the dialogue box's font was changed to the same one used in ''Ace Attorney''.
36	** ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'' and {{Original Character}}s, who use vectors, had an overall improvement after some skilled vector artists and animators lend a hand to the author. This is very noticeable [[AnimationBump during the animated courtroom sessions]].
37	* While the ''Ducktales'' characters still look as crappy as they did in the first ''WebAnimation/{{Ducktalez}}'', Vegeta has seen an incredible improvement between Episodes 3 (fairly well animated for a Flash cartoon in that age) and Episode 7 (professional-quality CG animation).
38	* ''WebAnimation/GEOWeasel'' goes from very [[MediaNotes/AdobeFlash Flash]]-influenced animation with same-width pencil outlines to a [[OffModel very messy]] but more varied style in episode 9 that eventually evens out through the rest of the series.
39	* Many ''VideoGame/GarrysMod'' users tend to do this as time goes by and they learn the craft more. Notable examples include WebAnimation/RubberFruit, Dr. Face, and WebAnimation/Eltorro64Rus, all of whom started off with standard sketchy animation and eventually worked their way up to something you'd expect from a big budget stop-motion film.
40	* ''WebAnimation/HTFPlus'': At the beginning the series seems to be amateur but as it progresses the animation becomes smoother.
41	* Due to their initial inexperience and steadily growing skill overtime, ''WebAnimation/{{RWBY}}'' undergoes a pretty steady evolution in its art style, to the point that the first three volumes are drastically different in appearance and animation compared to later seasons.
42	** The original trailers, primarily made by series creator Creator/MontyOum, featured stark, stylized environments and enjoyed extremely fluid animation due to being released months apart.
43	** Season 1 proper switched to more generic, somewhat simplistic backgrounds and generally rougher animation. This was especially noticeable with non-combat related scenes, since they hadn't figured out how to make a number of more nuanced elements (like walking) look consistently good due to the limitations of Poser at the time. It was also the only season to make liberal use of shadow figures to compensate for the lack of other character models at the time.
44	** Season 2 began utilizing a darker and more futuristic look for the backgrounds and featured generally better animation due to new and improved character models.
45	** Season 3, the first produced following Oum's [[DiedDuringProduction premature passing]], uses the same models but with higher polygon counts.
46	** Season 4 onwards features a very evolved art style for everyone, with far more nuanced and complex body movement and generally more grounded animations. However, the combat animations was somewhat erratic during this time, being slower and more focused on realistic feeling fights, or at times feeling somewhat floaty due to the team having to essentially change how to design fights after Monty's passing. Season 5 would suffer the worst from this, especially the infamous Haven fight. It isn't until Season 6 that the fights managed to [[GrowingTheBeard find a consistent style that differentiated itself from the Monty era of fighting that could stand on its own.]]
47	** Season 9 is possibly the best looking that RWBY has been yet, with the locations of the Ever After being the most vibrant and colorful that the series has ever been, with a number of unique creature models and designs that all manage to be interesting and complex.
48	* Later seasons of ''WebAnimation/SonicForHire'' began adding more frames to the character models, not only smoothing up the animation to a degree but also increasing the range of angles and expressions the characters appear in.
49	** This was actually deliberately {{invoked\|Trope}} in Season 7. The end of the previous season had [[spoiler:Sonic resetting a Platform/SegaGenesis and, essentially, all of existence. The only thing that remains of the characters are a couple of singular moving pixels. Halfway through the episode, the characters start to rebuild their life, and the art style resembles that of an Platform/{{Atari 2600}} game. Come episode 2, and the art style is back to normal. It did take a whole week for this to happen, though]].
50	* While the AnimatedAdaptation of ''Webcomic/TheBedfellows'' has always been rather stiff and limited, more recent episodes have had the occasional AnimationBump, full-body shots and more expressive Flash puppets.
51	* The animation of Music/HoneyWorks's ''Music/ConfessionExecutiveCommitteeLoveSeries'' have significantly improved over the years. Compare the rough, sketch-like quality of the [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ciRrkoK5PA "First Love Picture Book"]] (the series' first installment), to the gorgeous, fully-animated video they released for [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=asZ0SVwCec4 "Tokyo Autumn Session"]].
52	* ''WebAnimation/PowerStar'': In addition to the fight scenes becoming more elaborately choreographed as the series goes on, the design for the titular power-ups switches from the 3-dimensional models used in VideoGame/SuperMario64 to the 2-dimensional sprites from VideoGame/SuperMarioAllStars in part 3.
53	* ''WebAnimation/SCPAnimatedTalesFromTheFoundation'': Very, ''very'' noticeable. The earliest shorts were basically sound over still pictures. The later shorts are a big step-up.
54	* ''WebAnimation/SagaTheYoungin's'' earlier videos had cruder character designs, not-so-detailed backgrounds, and stiff animation. His later videos have his characters looking less cartoonish, his backgrounds and objects have more detail, and the animation became much smoother.
55	* ''WebAnimation/{{Glitchtale}}'' has slowly gone from a simplistic Flash-animation style to a fully detailed {{Animesque}}.

Context ArtEvolution / Webanimation