dᵻɹˈɛkt mənˌɪpjʊlˈeɪʃən ɪz ɐ sˈɪmplᵻfˌaɪd vˌɛɹɪˈeɪʃən ʌv ɡɹˈæfɪk ˌænɪmˈeɪʃən wˌɪtʃ ɪnvˈɑːlvz ðə fɹˈeɪmbaɪfɹˈeɪm ˈɔltɚɹɪŋ ᵻɹˈeɪsɪŋ ɔːɹ ˈædɪŋ tʊ ɐ sˈɪŋɡəl dɹˈɔːɪŋ ɔːɹ ɡɹˈæfɪk ˈɪmɪdʒ, wˌaɪl tˈeɪkɪŋ ɐ fɹˈeɪm ʌv fˈɪlm ɔːɹ vˈɪdɪoʊ æz ˈiːtʃ smˈɔːl tʃˈeɪndʒ ɪz mˈeɪd, æz klˈoʊs æz ðə stˈɑːp mˈoʊʃən pɹˈɑːsɛs ɡˈɛts tə sˈɪmpli ˈænɪmˌeɪɾɪŋ ɐ sˈɪɹiz ʌv dɹˈɔːɪŋz, bˌʌt wɪðˌaʊt ˈæktʃuːəli tʃˈeɪndʒɪŋ tə kəmplˈiːtli sˈɛpɹət dɹˈɔːɪŋz ɔːɹ ɡɹˈæfɪks fɔːɹ ˈiːtʃ fɹˈeɪm ʌv fˈɪlm, ɐ mˈoːɹ tɹɐdˈɪʃənəl pɹˈɑːsɛs ðæt mˈoʊst pˈiːpəl ɐsˈoʊsɪˌeɪt wɪððə dʒənˈɛɹɪk "ˌænɪmˈeɪʃən tˈɜːm.
Direct manipulation is a simplified variation of graphic animation which involves the frame-by-frame altering (erasing or adding to) a single drawing or graphic image, while taking a frame of film or video as each small change is made, as close as the stop motion process gets to simply animating a series of drawings, but without actually changing to completely separate drawings or graphics for each frame of film, a more traditional process that most people associate with the generic "animation' term.