Cell animation (traditional cartoon)
Since the development of the movie camera, the invention of film and projectors, there has been a tremendous development of animation and experimentation in different techniques.
Let's have a look at some of the animation types and techniques.
Cell animation is the traditional 2D animation or cartoon technique.
Characters are drawn and painted on transparent sheets. Their movement is analyzed in key frames and is completed with in-betweens. The animators draw one transparency placed over the previous one, on a light table, so that they can control the movement by onion skinning.
Time is counted in frames per second. Film has 24 frames per second.
Each drawing is shot for two frames for a normal movement. That means that at least 12 drawings are needed for one second of film.
Four cells of a moving character
Traditional cell animation needs many people who work on very specific and repetitive duties:
• First a detailed Storyboard is made based on the scenario of the movie. The Storyboard describes the whole story in pictures, just like the comic stripes. It contains all the information about the scenes to be shot, the positions and angles of the camera, the timing and duration of movements.
• Then the Line-test is made. The Line –test is a rough drawing of the characters' movement, usually with pencil on paper. These rough drawings are shot so as to test the movement
• If everything is right, the Line-test drawings are transferred on one side of the transparencies with ink and then they are painted on the other side of the transparencies with color.
• The backgrounds are painted separately
When everything is ready the shooting can begin. The characters are placed in certain positions on the backgrounds under the steady camera. Each cell is shot for one or two frames depending on the motion, then the animators put the following cell on the background and so on. The shooting camera is steady but the cells or the backgrounds can move.
