What is Traditional Animation or Cel Animation?

Nathan Kondakis · December 21, 2022

Cel animation, also known as hand-drawn or traditional animation, is a technique used in the production of animated films or cartoons where each frame is created manually by an artist. This method, known as cel based animation, has been a key part of the animation industry for years, contributing to the timeless appeal of classic animated movies.

Cel Animation Process

To create a cel animation, first, the animator creates a series of pencil sketches, known as the storyboard, to map out the sequence of movements and actions that the character will perform. Then, the animator creates detailed line drawings on a transparent sheet of celluloid (or "cel") that corresponds to each frame of the animation. These animation drawings are then hand-coloured using special paints or markers.

After the cels are painted, they are placed on top of a background image, usually painted on a separate sheet of paper, and photographed frame by frame using a specialized camera. When the individual frames are played back in sequence, the illusion of motion is created.

Storyboarding

Storyboards are visual storytelling commonly utilised in multimedia projects such as video games, films, and animation. They comprise a sequence of drawings or pictures that tell the story of a scene or project.

A storyboard's images each show a particular shot or scene, and they frequently have notes or captions that explain the action, dialogue, camera angles, and other important details. During pre-production, storyboards are frequently used to plan and visualise the project and convey the creative vision to the other production team members.

Traditional Animation Backgrounds

Usually, background artists paint the environments that the animation is set behind. Although some animations have used watercolour or oil paint backgrounds, most are created with gouache or acrylic paint.

To create backgrounds that complement character designs, background artists closely collaborate with background layout artists and colour stylists.

The Techniques of Traditional Animation

Traditional animation uses many various techniques to make scenes and characters come to life. Keyframes are a basic technique wherein important points in the animation are drawn first, and the frames that are added later to create fluid motion are called in-betweens.

Additionally, animators give characters a sense of weight and flexibility by applying the squash and stretch principles. This method works well for conveying dynamic movements like stretching or jumping.

rotoscoping

Rotoscoping

Max Fleischer developed the traditional animation technique known as "rotoscoping" in 1915. In this technique, animation is "traced" over real-world film footage of actors and scenery.

The live-action will typically be registered and printed out frame by frame. The live-action printouts are then covered with another piece of paper, and a lightbox is used to trace the action frame by frame. Even though the final product is hand-drawn, the motion will be incredibly realistic.

Rotoscoping is mainly used to support the animation of human figures rendered realistically, such as in Sleeping Beauty, Peter Pan, and Snow White.

Legacy and Continued Use

Numerous animation experts say that traditional animation is still relevant today. There are several reasons why it might be back or, at the very least, experiencing a resurgence in popularity. Many people think that traditional animation has a certain charm that its computer-generated counterpart lacks and that it is more "artistic" than CG animation.

Of course, traditional animation has its share of challenges. For example, it can be labour- and time-intensive and expensive and challenging to find skilled animators. But, many people think that traditional animation has more advantages than disadvantages.

Cel based animation was the dominant animation technique before the advent of digital animation, and it is still used today in some productions, especially for its unique hand-drawn aesthetic.

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