Traditional animation production process

Traditional animation production processThe meaning of animation is relatively broad and vague

What we call animation here refers to animated films or cartoons

For example, Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Cherry Pills, and so on

It should be admitted that animation is a complex and huge project, and it's usually produced by some powerful companies. to produce, such as the United States of America's Disney Corporation, Japan's Toei Corporation, China Central Television animation production department and so on

But with the development of science and technology, especially the development of computer technology, the original monopoly of the animation industry by these large companies, large studios, began to appear many small, small-scale animation production companies and private studios

These small-scale Animation production companies and private studios can also create excellent works

Let's take a look at the production process of traditional animation

In the basic production steps, traditional animation and modern animation in the production of the same

Producing an animated film is a cumbersome process, which requires a number of departments to work together and cooperate

We can divide the traditional animation production process into two categories: traditional animation and modern animation. We can divide the traditional animation production process into 17 steps

(1) planning

Planning can be understood as planning

Animation production companies, distributors, and related product developers, such as toy manufacturers, *** with the planning of the development of what kind of animation should be developed, predicting that this kind of animation there is no market for the animated cartoon, the study of animated cartoons, the development cycle, the financing of multiple issues, to be able to reach a *** with the planning of what kind of animation, predicting that there is no market for this kind of animated cartoon, research animated cartoon development cycle, financing, etc. Multiple issues, can reach *** knowledge, there is a good start

(2) text script

Development plan set up, it is necessary to create a suitable text script, generally this task is completed by the screenwriter

Can create their own scripts, you can also learn from, adapted from the works of others

In short, the screenwriter should have a certain cultural heritage and rich life

In short, a scriptwriter should have a certain cultural background and rich life experience, and be able to express his or her understanding and love of life through specific storylines, characters' language and actions

Relatively speaking, it is easier to adapt a script than to create one

Whether it is a creation or adaptation, a screenplay is different from a novel, and it has its own characteristics

On the whole, the environment of the characters' appearances should be indicated, the actions should be embodied, and the dialog should be accurate.

(3) Story Script

After the script is created, it should be changed into a story script, which is to describe the script in cartoon language

The story script is composed of images, text, and markers to express specific scenes

In the story script, the characters, background, camera angles, and actions in each picture can be simply It is not necessary to be as detailed as the real animation script, but the dialogues and sound effects should be marked clearly and the corresponding time should be calculated

Mark the shots and special effects to be applied, such as pushing close-ups, backlighting, etc.

(4) Styling and Art Setting

Animators are required to create the characters in the film

The characters should be distinctive, but not too complex

Exaggerated techniques can be used in the creation

The front, side, and back of each character should be clearly explained

Contrasts between different characters can be stronger, such as tall and thin and short and fat

(5) Scene Design

Scene design focuses on the environment in which the characters are located, whether it is a high mountain or plain, inside or outside the house, which country, which region, all of which should be animated at once. Which region, all the places mentioned in the cartoon should be designed at once

(6) Composition

After having the story script, scene design, and character modeling, is it possible to draw the animation? Of course not

Before that, there is a process of composition

Overall, the composition as a dividing line, from planning to composition can be regarded as the design stage

Composition of this process is also very important, its purpose is to produce the work of the map

Work of the map is more detailed, which should indicate how the characters are active, such as the position of the characters, movements, expressions, and also indicate the various stages of the application of the work of the map. It also indicates the shots to be used at each stage

In a nutshell, some people draw the poses of the characters and roles, some draw the backgrounds so that the characters can move in the backgrounds, and some indicate the shots to be used

(7) Drawing the backgrounds

Every frame of an animation basically consists of an upper and lower portion

The lower portion is the background, and the upper portion is the character

The lower portion is the background, and the upper portion is the character

The lower portion is the background, and the upper portion is the character. is the character

The background is a colorful drawing based on the background part of the composition

(8)Original Drawing

The characters or animals and props in the composition should be handed over to the original artist, who will draw out the key movements of these characters, animals, etc.

Note that we are referring to the key movements here, rather than each and every one of them

Original drawings should portray the characters with a sense of life, and the characters will have a sense of life, which is very important for the animation. Characters should be portrayed with a sense of life and vividness

(9) Animation

The animator is the assistant of the original artist, and his task is to make the character's movements consistent

The original artist's original drawings show only the character's key movements, and therefore the character's movements are not consistent

Between the key movements the character's intermediate movements have to be inserted to complete the picture. Animation

The three processes of background, original art and animation can be summarized as a single stage

Often in all three processes, a person needs to draw by hand, so it can be called the hand-drawing stage

This stage is the most workloaded and complex

Because this stage is purely manual work, and for an animated TV movie, shooting an episode of the series requires thousands of drawings a week. (10) quality management

that is, quality control, any product has quality requirements, animation is no exception

production of an animated film has many processes, if a process does not meet the corresponding requirements, will certainly affect the future production work

so at each stage there should be a

(11)Photocopying and tracing

Photocopying and tracing is the process of photocopying the lines on the animation paper onto the celluloid

It has already been mentioned earlier that each frame of an animation basically consists of a character and a background

The character is superimposed on the background, and it is certainly not possible to directly place the drawing of a character on the background, because the paper is generally opaque or translucent, and it will not be possible to make it more transparent. Transparent or semi-transparent, it will cover the background

So it is necessary to transfer the characters to a transparent medium, which is celluloid

Celluloid is a kind of transparent film, will be animated on paper lines photocopied in the celluloid, if some of the lines are colorful, you also need to manually insert the color line

(12) fixed and coloring

Traced the line of the The color is determined, a color number is written on each part, and the color is applied

It should be noted that the color is applied to the back of the celluloid

If the color is applied to the front, it is possible that the animation lines will be covered by the pigment. The prepared color backgrounds are overlaid with the colorized celluloid sheets to check for errors

For example, if a part of the character on a celluloid sheet has been left out of the picture, if the picture is clean, and so on

(14) Photography and Printing

The photographer superimposes the different layers of the colorized celluloid sheets on top of one another, and then shoots each picture. There is no sound in the picture at this point, and it needs to be edited

It should be noted that the steps from photocopying and tracing to photographic development have disappeared from the modern animation industry

In the modern animation industry, scanners and digital cameras are used to import the backgrounds and original drawings and animations into computers, which are then colored and blended with the backgrounds. (15) Cutting and Sets

The prints are cut into a standard set, which can be called a "set"

(16) Dubbing, Soundtracks, and Sound Effects

The sound of a film is very important

The stars of a film can be hired to play a part in the soundtrack. You can ask some stars familiar to the audience to dub

such as Chen Pei Si, who dubbed the Monkey King in "The Lotus Lantern", and Tom

Hanks, who dubbed the main character in "Toy Story", so that it can play a very good effect

A good soundtrack can add a lot of color to the film, and it may be possible that the storyline of the film has already faded into oblivion after a number of years, but once you hear the theme music, it will evoke a new feeling. Hearing the theme music brings back infinite memories

(17) Pilot Screening and Distribution

Pilot Screening is to invite people from the major communication media, cultural circle, entertainment circle, and critics to appreciate and evaluate the film

High evaluations are of course good, but the most important thing is to get the recognition of the general public

The above mentioned process is the traditional animation production process

Modern animation production process is different from its modern production process, which has a lot of advantages and disadvantages.

The modern animation production process is similar in its steps, but very different in its approach, with the most fundamental difference being the introduction of computers

As early as the 1960s, people began experimenting with the use of computers to process images

Toward the 1980s, with the popularization of personal computers and the development of computer graphic processing technology, an unprecedented field was opened, the computer graphics manufacturing industry

This is the first time that the computer graphics industry was introduced to the marketplace. field, the computer graphics manufacturing industry

Today, in all aspects of industrial product design, film and television, and architectural and decorative design, the computer, as the most powerful tool of mankind, is playing an important role

The animation production industry is no exception

It can be found in almost all of the individual steps above

Planning, text script, story script, modeling and art settings, set design, composition, these six steps are indispensable in the modern animation production industry, which is here called the design phase of animation production

Of course, compared with the traditional animation production industry, they are still a little different

For example, you can use the computer to help you design the modeling, editing scripts and so on

Backgrounds, original drawings, and animation. These three steps are also indispensable in the modern animation production process

Can be drawn manually on paper with a pen, or can be done entirely in the computer

For example, you can use Metacration's Painter software, which allows you to create a variety of background images, such as gouache backgrounds, watercolor backgrounds, oil backgrounds, etc.

In Photoshop can be drawn in the character modeling, etc.

But the implementation of these really difficult, mainly because of the high accuracy of the plotter is expensive

And our most commonly used handwriting boards, graphic boards, the mainstream products in the country, or the pressure-sensitive family, low precision and positioning is not permissible

On the other hand, the price of high-grade plotters On the other hand, the price of high-grade plotter is too high, and sometimes can not be purchased, need to be customized to the special production company

Depending on the specific circumstances, the conditions of the user can buy high-grade plotter, directly on the computer to create

No conditions can be completely hand-drawn method

In the modern animation production process, all the remaining steps must be completed in the computer

Using the computer to create animation, the computer can be used to create the animation.

The main reason for using computers to create animation is to reduce production costs and increase productivity