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Anintroductiontoanimecels

Anintroductiontoanimecels
(technicalFAQ)
Introduction
Idecidedtowritethefollowinginformationtoanswersome
frequentlyaskedquestionsabouttechnicaltermsrelatedtocels.
Please,notethatIneverworkedinananimestudioandthatI
piecedtogethersomeinformation,especialythoseconcerning
dougaandgengabasedondiscussionIhadwithseveralpeople.I
don'tpromisethattheyarewholyaccurate:)

What'sacel?
Cels(orcelluloid)arepaintingontransparentplasticsheetused
tocreateananimation.Eachcelisone"frame".Theyarefilmed
andthenputbehindoneanothertogivetheillusionofa
continuousmotion.
Sampleshowingthe"blacklines"
Backofthecel

Howcelsarecreated?
TherearemanystepsinvolvedinthecreationofananimebutI
willjustexplainhowcelsthemselvesarecreated.
First,apencildrawingofthepictureismadeand"xeroxed"ona
plasticsheet.Isay"xeroxed"becauseit'sthecompanyXeroxthat
inventedthatmethod.Inreality,it'sakindofphotocopierorlaser
printerusingphotoconductivitytolayapowderedinkoverthe
plasticsheet.

Frontofthecel

http://www.animanga.com/cels/info/cels.html

Finallythecelsarepainted.It'sdonefromthebackoftheplastic
sheet,likethosestickersyouputinsideofyourwindowstobe
lookedatfromtheoutside.
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Usually,whenpaintingcels,thefirststepistopaintonecolour
onallthecelsfromasequence.Then,whenfinished,thepainton
thefirstcelhashadthetimetodryandisreadyforthenext
colour.

What'sakeycel?
Eachpartsofananimationisbrokendowninmanysequences,
eachrepresentingasingleaction.Inasequence,somecels
drawingsaremadeby"keyanimators"whiletherestisfilledin
by"normal"animators.Celsmadeby"keyanimators"arecalled
"keycels".

Howtorecognizeakeycel?
"Keyanimators"drawtheimportant"frames"ofasequence:The
firstframe,thelastoneandusuallyoneorseveralmiddleframes.

Keycel(A1)fromtheopening

Eachcelhasacodewrittenonit,composedofoneletter
followedbyanumber.Theletterrepresentsthelayerofthecel.
Thenumberisthepositionofthecelinthesequence.Thefirst
celhasthenumber"1".Thelastcelcanhaveanynumber
(sometimeeven"1"forasequencecomposedofasinglecel)but
iswritten"end"nexttoit.Thoseare"keycels".
BasedonaninformationfromStephen(blamehim:),keycels
havetheirsequencenumber"circled"onthepencildrawing.(and
sometimeonthecelitself)
Example:
Acelwritten"A1"isthefirstoneofthesequence.
Acelwritten"B34end"isthe34thcelofthesequenceandthe
lastone.The"B"usuallymeanthatit'sthesecondlayerofa
multilayercel.

Whykeycelsaregenerallymorevaluable?
Because"keyanimators"aremorerenownedthannormal
animators.Also,astheyhavemoreexperience,thedrawingsare
oftenofbetterquality.Itissaid,thatonlyanimatorswith10
yearsofexperienceareallowedtodraw"keycel".
ButIpersonallydon'tagreewiththat:Often,becauseofthe
positionofthecharacters,thefirstandlastcelsofasequence
won'tbethenicestone,eveniftheymaybetechnicallybetter...

What'samultilayerscel?
Somecelsarecomposedofseveralplasticsheet(layers),each
paintedwithonepartofthewholepicture.Thisisoftenusedfor
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groupshotwhereeachcharacterispaintedonadifferentlayer.
Thereasonisthatyoucananimateonecharacterbypaintinga
newlayerwithouthavingtorepainttheentiregroup.
Often,especiallyforcloseups,themouth,eyesandhairsofa
characterarealsopaintedonaseparatelayerthantherestofthe
face.Youcanthen"makethecharactertalk"bypaintingjusthis
mouthwithoutrepaintingthewholepicture.
Multilayerscel(A6/B4)

CelB5

CelB6

CelB7

Whataboutbackground/foreground?
Backgroundandforegroundareusuallywatercolouron
cardboard.Often,theyaredonebyseparatecompaniesthanthe
cels.

Whydon'tweseemanycelswithbackground?
Awholescenemayhavethesamebackground.Thatmeansthat
therearemuchmorecelsthanbackgrounds.

What'sagenga?

Sketchshowingthesequence
(draft)

Gengaaredrawingofimportantscenesmadebysenior
animators.Theyarethenusedasmodelbyotheranimatorsto
drawdouga.Agengaisneveruseddirectlytomakeacelandis
usuallynotavailableforsale.
It'salsopossibletofinddraftsofgenga(roughsketch)but
usuallytheyarenotavailableonthemarket.
Gengaandtheirdraftsaremuchmorevaluablethandouga.

What'sadouga?
Dougaarethe"usual"drawingthatcomeswithmanycelswhen
youbuythem.Theyareusedtomakethecels.
Genga(?)
http://www.animanga.com/cels/info/cels.html

Arecelsalwayssoldwiththeirmatchingdrawing
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(douga)?
No,notalways.Italldependsofthestudiothatproducedthe
anime.Forexample,AICdecided,afewyearsago,toneversell
theircelswiththematchingdrawing.

Matchingdrawing(douga)

What'satimechart?
Atimechartcontainsinformationaboutthepositionofacelin
thesequenceandintheanime.Theymayalsoinclude
informationaboutwhopaintedthecel.

Whyisacelmoreexpensivethananother?
That'sadifficultquestion:Thereisbothtechnicalandsubjective
criteriathatdefinethevalueofacel.Alsosomeanimearemore
popularorrarerthanothersandsomoreexpensive.
Technically,acelismoreexpensiveifit'sacloseup,ifthe
characterhasbotheyesopenandifhe/sheisfromthefront,
centeredontheplasticsheet.
Subjectively,acelwillbemoreexpensiveifthecharacterhasa
niceexpression,ifitlooksgood...

What'sasericel(promotionalcel)?
Asericelislikeanormalcel(handpaintedoveraplasticsheet)
butwascreatedforpromotionalpurposeortobesold.Theyare
limitededitionandarenotusedintheproductionoftheanime.
Evangelionreproduction

What'samachinemadecel(lasercopy)?
Machinemadecels(orlasercopy)aremoresimilartolaminated
cardsthantorealcels.Theyarenothandpaintedbutprintedwith
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amachineoveratransparentplasticsheet.

Evangelionlasercopy

What'sachromacel?
Chromacelisatrademark.Theyaresimilartolasercopiesbut
useothertechniques.Theymaybelimitededitions(Iamnot
interestedenoughtocheck:)Contrarytopromotionalcels,they
aren'thandpaintedandasmanycopiesofthemcanbeprinted.

Howtostorecels?
Theblacklinesofacelareverysensitivetobrightlightand
especiallytoUV.Forthatreason,it'sveryimportanttokeep
themoutofsunlight.Whenstoringthem,youcanuseoffice
binders.
Also,youshouldn'tstacktoomanycelsorputsomethingheavy
overthem:that'sbadforthepaint.
Neverputaceldirectlyoveranotheronewithoutputtingatleast
apieceofpaperbetween:thepaintwasdesignedtosticktothe
plasticsheetsobothcelswillgetstuckandusuallytheycan'tbe
separatedagainwithoutdamagingthetopone.Forthatreason,
youshouldnevertrytoseparatethevariouslayersofacel.

Howtoframecels?
Onceagain,theimportantthingistoavoidUV.Forthatreason
youshouldgetantiUVglass.NotalltypesofantiUVglasses
filterthesameamountofUV.Alsomanyarenotfully
transparentandwillgiveaslightgreenoryellowhuetothecel.
Socheckbeforeifthatbotheryouornot.
ThereisalsosomespraythatcanbeusedtogiveanantiUV
coatingtoanormalglass.It'scheaperbutlesseffectivethan
buyingspecialglass.
EvenifyougotantiUVglass,nevereverputthecelunderdirect
sunlight!

Whatifthepencildrawingisstucktothecel?
Ifitisn'tstucktoomuch,youcantrytoremoveitverycarefully.
Butifit'stoohard,justletitbeorcutthepaper:Betterto
damagethedrawingthanthecel!

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