stɹˈɑːɾəkˈʌt ˌænɪmˈeɪʃən ɪz mˈoʊst kˈɑːmənli ɐ fˈɔːɹm ʌv klˈeɪ ˌænɪmˈeɪʃən ɪnwˌɪtʃ ɐ lˈɔŋ bɹˈɛdlˈaɪk "lˈoʊf" ʌv klˈeɪ, ɪntˈɜːnəli pˈækt tˈaɪt ænd lˈoʊdᵻd wɪð vˈɛɹiɪŋ ˈɪmɪdʒɹi, ɪz slˈaɪst ˌɪntʊ θˈɪn ʃˈiːts, wɪððɪ ˌænɪmˈeɪʃən kˈæmɹə tˈeɪkɪŋ ɐ fɹˈeɪm ʌvðɪ ˈɛnd ʌvðə lˈoʊf fɔːɹ ˈiːtʃ kˈʌt, ᵻvˈɛntʃuːəli ɹᵻvˈiːlɪŋ ðə mˈuːvmənt ʌvðɪ ɪntˈɜːnəl ˈɪmɪdʒᵻz wɪðˈɪn.
Strata-cut animation is most commonly a form of clay animation in which a long bread-like "loaf" of clay, internally packed tight and loaded with varying imagery, is sliced into thin sheets, with the animation camera taking a frame of the end of the loaf for each cut, eventually revealing the movement of the internal images within.