About us

We are a family-owned and operated company located in Australia that specializes in helping enthusiasts find the best places for where to buy animation and anime cels. Our focus is on the collection and sale of production used animation cels, anime cels, and production animation drawings.

Creating Cel Animation

Making Of Akira

What Is Cel Animation?

Cel animation is the art of creating 2D animation by hand on sheets of transparent plastic called “cels”.

Following a planning process, animators transfer draft drawings onto transparent sheets of plastic called cels. Each cel features one drawing with an outline on one side of the plastic and the color is filled in on the other.

These ‘cels’ are then placed over a background and photographed in sequence. 

When played back at a speed of 12 or 24 frames they create the illusion of movement.

It’s rare for traditional animation to be used in modern productions since everything is digital now. However, understanding what are animation cels is crucial for appreciating the historical significance of this technique.

Although today’s 2D animation borrows many techniques from cel animation, the work is almost exclusively done on computers. Most 2D animations are still drawn by an animator but digital software is used to speed up the process.

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