Cel Animation Software

I'm interested in traditional cel drawn (frame by frame) animation. This can be done the old fashioned way, with pencil, paper and a scanner or camera, however I wanted to find which are the best programs to use for digital cel drawing (i.e. with the use of a Graphics tablet)

Adobe photoshop and After effects have the capabilities to animate in 2D, however I've found achieving beautiful line animation is more complex or confusing.

I researched animators and the programs they use. I came across this animation studio. I love their chosen style, with the combined 3D environment and hand drawn animation. (Link below)

http://fates.com/



On their studios website, a page is dedicated to the software they use to create these stunning animations

http://fates.com/retas/

http://www.celsys.co.jp/en/products/retas/index.html


This program is a popular choice, according to this site and others, for traditional animators and Manga artists! When I wrote to the Studio about it they could offer student licenses for the use of this program. So far I have not been able to find a working home license to buy online.

Time zoo entrance

One of the most symbolic and important scenes of this film, will be the Time zoo entrance. This part is the first indication of what the film, or 'place' is about.



Looked at working cogs and clockwork for this.



I built this scene in Autodesk Maya. I was hoping to intergrate a few mediums together to create this animation (i.e. Maya, Photoshop, After Effects etc.)

I experimented from here, with various different lighting effects.


Yellow brick lighting - I found this lighting came up too 'flat' looking, not very appealing



















'Green brick' This is better than the first - the cogs are still too flat- don't stand out from brick wall.






















One light has been removed. The lighting here is not symmetrical, however this creates a 'Hitchcock' style lighting effect - deep contrast - cogs are more visible this way

















No coloured light, keeps with the 'desolate' aesthetic of the film.
This 'horror' lighting is my favourite so far.












In the end however, I decided a day light type of lighting was needed for the animation. The characters will be more visible against the backgrounds, also the looming shadow of the dark cloud behind them will be more obvious this way - higher contrast.

below is the starting sequence, using 'day light', using Autodesk Maya, Adobe Photoshop and Premiere Pro

Creating Storms

I started thinking of alternative ways of representing time - came up with the idea of a sand storm, fitting with a 'sands of time' or hourglass theme.


http://blog.mediastation.co.uk/2010/11/learn-how-to-create-a-distant-sandstorm-effect-in-adobe-after-effects/

Can use cloud effect for sand storms and thunder storms:
http://www.tutorialwiz.com/realistic_clouds


Making your own brushes to use in Photoshop:
http://www.photoshopessentials.com/basics/photoshop-brushes/make-brushes/

Colour grading

Hall of Bars

This is my original full storyboard. I chose to run with the 'Hall of Bars' idea, to represent the linear flow of time - one direction - forward only. However, after showing this to people, without any information on what the film is about, I found it was difficult to understand. Also many scenes look the same and empty, making the scenes boring. This also seemed to add to the confusion as it is unclear the two people are on a journey, travelling through a zoo. Some scenes the audience responded well to. These scenes I had originally decided to cut, to fit with the hall of bars theme, but instead I've decided to rewrite the film using these scenes. Also the lighting effects I used here made the film seem inconsistent - i.e. the idea of the dark, shadowy cloud pushing the visitors forward, through the zoo is very unclear with some of the lighting effects I chose.                                                                                      like this lighting effect used in this sequence                                                                                                 lighting effect used here doesn't cohere to dark cloud