Modern Anime Animation

[Raiku]

I am trying to get some info on the creation of modern anime.

I know back then they use to draw each frame by hand and then use a camera to capture the picture, but I am not so sure of that now hence the exponentially growth of technology.

I am not interested in 3D, but I am interested in the mixture of 3D and 2D.

Does anyone have a general idea like an Anime, Gurren Lagaan, is created?

[HunterKiller_]

Most modern Anime still is traditionally animated.
Of course CGI is employed more and more, but character animation is generally done by hand.

EDIT: Ok, I've just watched a clip of this show, yes it's definitely traditionally animated.

[MiniGoth]

Computers have taken the place of cels, but other than that, it's pretty much the same.

[Mirana]

Mm, not always the case. I'm not in that industry, but when I was in Tokyo a couple yrs ago you couldn't find cels for newer shows, only douga sketches. That leads me to believe they're doing the color "cels" by computer now. Try doing a search on for-sale cels and you'll see a drop off between new and older shows from just a few yrs ago.

[HunterKiller_]

Oh no, cells are definitely retired, were long time ago.
Colouring has been done through software since... at least 1995.

Rough animation for most Anime shows are still done on paper, although I believe Steamboy was animated entirely on the screen.

[Kagemusha22]

I know that Ghost in the Shell, was one of the first movie anime to incorporate computer effects into the animation.

[aesir]

Raiku, depending on the studio, they will either draw on paper, ink on paper, then scan it in and color it on the computer, or they will draw on paper, scan it in, ink and color on computer, or they will draw and ink and color all on the computer. A program like After Effects or Toon Boom is used to put it all together.

[ikken]

Mm, not always the case. I'm not in that industry, but when I was in Tokyo a couple yrs ago you couldn't find cels for newer shows, only douga sketches. That leads me to believe they're doing the color "cels" by computer now. Try doing a search on for-sale cels and you'll see a drop off between new and older shows from just a few yrs ago.
old-school cells are still used, as far as I know
most of the routine in-between animation work for studios like madhouse is outsorced in Korea
than the cells are scanned and transferred back via internet, so Japanese studios save resources for other work

2 Aesir
this program (http://www.animo.com/showcase/showcase.html) also has plenty of asian titles on the showcase list
not Japanese, but Chinese studios use it
and it seems pretty impressive.

[bleupencil]

Others have already answered your question, but here's a link to a doco on Miyazaki's production of Princess Mononoke. Maybe it will help you.

http://youtube.com/profile?user=riezbien&view=videos

[Churamhija Khan]

RETAS!
http://www.celsys.co.jp/en/retas/index.html
(japanese) http://www.celsys.co.jp/products/retas/index.html

...is one of famous program for animation.
Telecom animation use it.
http://www.telecom-anime.com/

[MiniGoth]

Mm, not always the case. I'm not in that industry, but when I was in Tokyo a couple yrs ago you couldn't find cels for newer shows, only douga sketches. That leads me to believe they're doing the color "cels" by computer now. Try doing a search on for-sale cels and you'll see a drop off between new and older shows from just a few yrs ago.

I thought I'd said that?

Background mattes can be painted and scanned, or just painted in computer, and then layers are used over top instead of physical cels.

There are also computer programs available to do 'tweening', though the more you do yourself, the more accurate the program will be.

[Mirana]

MiniGoth...I was talking to Hunter_Killer (note the time stamp).

[MiniGoth]

MiniGoth...I was talking to Hunter_Killer (note the time stamp).

No worries, just wasn't sure that my really short sentence made any sense.

[Karen K.]

Just to back up the verification that acetate cels are no longer used. The mass producer of acetate for cels was Fujifilm. In I believe 1998/99 they shut down the production of acetate, so what stock they had would be sold off.

I used to do cel restoration, so I kept up with the news for some time after that.

So yes, drawings are still done traditionally, then scanned in. It's the same methods as used by places like Walt Disney, where the Ink and Paint department simply went to inking and painting digitally.

[Grief]

how anime is made:
QliI9ZRUIKg

[egerie]

RETAS!
http://www.celsys.co.jp/en/retas/index.html
(japanese) http://www.celsys.co.jp/products/retas/index.html

...is one of famous program for animation.
Telecom animation use it.
http://www.telecom-anime.com/

I've used Retas a lot in the past.. Loved it.

[Arshes Nei]

Just a little tangent note, not sure if the wages went up but beginning animators in Japan were paid about $500 a month for their work. I have an old LA Times article on it.

http://articles.latimes.com/2004/mar/24/world/fg-anime24

Here we go.

[Zaxser]

Another tangential note, eve no jikan, (http://timeofeve.com/) now on it's secong episode, is published entirely online.

[Raiku]

Wow. Now the thread has been fully informative. You guys are made of win :)