Traditional animation, also known as cel animation or hand-drawn animation, relies on artists meticulously drawing each frame of a film by hand, creating the illusion of movement when played in sequence.
Here's a breakdown of the process:
1. Storyboarding
- The animation process begins with a storyboard, a series of drawings that depict the key scenes and actions of the story.
- The storyboard acts as a visual script, guiding the animators throughout the production.
2. Voice Recording and Exposure Sheets
- The dialogue and sound effects are recorded early in the process.
- Exposure sheets (X-sheets) are created, breaking down the soundtrack frame by frame. They contain crucial timing information for animators.
3. Character Design and Model Sheets
- Character designers create detailed model sheets, which provide consistent visual guidelines for the characters' appearance from various angles and in different expressions.
4. Animatic
- An animatic, a rough, preliminary version of the animation, is created. It combines storyboard images with the soundtrack. This helps to establish timing, pacing, and camera angles.
5. Key Animation (Key Frames)
- Key animators draw the most important frames in a scene, defining the start and end points of movements. These are the frames that set the tone and major actions.
6. Inbetweening (Clean-up and In-between Frames)
- Inbetweeners create the frames that fill in the gaps between the key frames, creating the illusion of smooth movement. They also "clean up" the key animator's drawings, refining the lines.
7. Cel Painting
- Once the drawings are finalized, they are transferred to transparent acetate sheets (cels).
- Animators meticulously paint the characters on the reverse side of the cels, using specialized paints. This allows the background to be seen through the characters.
8. Background Painting
- Background artists create detailed, static backgrounds on separate pieces of paper or cel. These backgrounds remain stationary while the characters move in front of them.
9. Compositing and Filming (Photography)
- The painted cels are layered on top of the background painting.
- A specialized camera, often a multiplane camera, photographs each frame individually. The multiplane camera allows for multiple layers of artwork to be moved at different speeds, creating a sense of depth.
10. Post-Production
- The photographed frames are developed and assembled in sequence.
- Sound effects and music are added to complete the animation.
In essence, traditional animation is a time-consuming and labor-intensive process that requires immense skill and attention to detail, bringing characters and stories to life frame by meticulous frame.
