Making of an anime: how to animate a character
What better opportunity than Animé 100 and the celebration of the 100th anniversary of Japanese animation to learn a bit more about making an anime? Here are tackled the layout and the other stages which make it possible to animate a character.
Layout
The layout is a drawing made for every cut, using data from the storyboard with more precision.
If the storyboard is the anime plan, then the layout is the frame plan. Concretely, you can find on the layout information such as characters’ movements, setting content, camera angle, etc.
When making an anime, the layout is an essential document used as a guide setting the standards of the different tasks. With this revolutionary system, photography simulation, control before animating and improvement of the overall quality of the cuts can be made.
Key Poses
To carry on the making, layouts are split between the key poses and the setting.
Key poses, or geng, use the characters’ movements from the storyboard and the layouts. It is an especially important work, where the character’s acting comes up precisely and the lines of the drawing are used for the end picture.
Key poses are drawings making use of the strategic points of the characters’ movements. The timing choice of key poses isn’t done scrupulously. The animation director control them and makes changes if necessary.
Finally, different instructions are present on key poses in preparation for future works (parts to color, timing information for photography…).
Intervals
Besides correcting and polishing key poses, intervals are also used for filling gaps between them to give movements a natural aspect. It is the last stage of the animation, which is composed of tracing the key poses, adding intervals and controlling them.
First of all, key poses are traced and polished. Then, drawings between key poses and the end of movement animation are made by referring to the time sheet. Today, intervals are still mainly drawn with a pencil.
Once made, the intervals are controlled to ensure that the animation follows the time sheet and that cuts are well linked between them. In case of imperfection, corrections are being taken care of before moving to the next step of the polishing. Since controls require a meticulous attention, they are most of the time made by the most experienced people.
See you soon with more!
We’ll tackle the layout and next stages of making an anime.
Japanese animation is 100 years old: come celebrate with us!
No comment