klˈeɪ pˈeɪntɪŋ ˌænɪmˈeɪʃən wˌɪtʃ ɪz ˈɔːlsoʊ ɐ vˌɛɹɪˈeɪʃən ʌvðə dᵻɹˈɛkt mənˌɪpjʊlˈeɪʃən ˌænɪmˈeɪʃən pɹˈɑːsɛs, ɪz ˌænɪmˈeɪʃən wˌɛɹ klˈeɪ ɪz plˈeɪst ænd flˈæʔn̩d ˌɔn ɐ flˈæt səpˈoːɹɾɪŋ sˈɜːfɪs ænd mˈuːvd lˈaɪk "wˈɛt" ˈɔɪl pˈeɪnts æz ˌɔn ɐ tɹɐdˈɪʃənəl ɑːɹtˈɪstɪk kˈænvəs tə pɹədˈuːs ˌɛni stˈaɪl ʌv ˈɪmɪdʒᵻz, bˌʌt wɪð ɐ klˈeɪ lˈʊk tə ðˌɛm, fˈɪlmd fɹˈeɪmbaɪfɹˈeɪm baɪ ɐn ˌænɪmˈeɪʃən kˈæmɹə ʃˈuːɾɪŋ fɹʌm əbˈʌv, ænd ɪn ɐ tɹɐdˈɪʃənəl ˌænɪmˈeɪʃən stˈænd ˈæftɚɹ ˈiːtʃ smˈɔːl ɐdʒˈʌstmənt ʌvðə klˈeɪ ˈɪmɪdʒᵻz.
Clay painting animation (which is also a variation of the direct manipulation animation process), is animation where clay is placed and flattened on a flat supporting surface and moved like "wet" oil paints as on a traditional artistic canvas to produce any style of images, but with a clay 'look' to them, filmed frame-by-frame by an animation camera (shooting from above, and in a traditional animation stand) after each small adjustment of the clay images.