Comments on: The Greatest Battle In History: Cel Animation VS Digital Animation

By: Zmicer

Zmicer — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 14:07:14 +0000

Interesting post I am engaged in 3d animation a little. Even I have a site about 3d animation and modelling (ask to forgive my bad English:) Thank you!

By: Yoneda

Yoneda — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 23:57:13 +0000

Haha, that Saber Marionette Again stuff was my first encounter with that ‘early adopter syndrome’ that digitally animated shows had back then! The character motions looked so bad, I couldn’t even finish the first episode!

Seriously, I recommend to everybody:
If you haven’t thougt about digital versus cels as much yet, do yourself a favor and watch an episode of Saber Marionette J and one of J Again! Just to see how HUGE the difference can be.

By: shagamu

shagamu — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 06:24:31 +0000

Damn it, even after writing so much, I forgot to mention the main reason why I warmed up to digital animation: Production I.G and their gorgeous work on Blood: The Last Vampire and Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex.

By: shagamu

shagamu — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 06:15:34 +0000

You’re right about how terrible early digital productions looked. They’re the reason why it took me so long to finally warm up to digital animation. And the terrible color palette wasn’t even the worst thing about them: it was those goddamn digital zooms and pans, which look really unnatural in almost any animated show. I’ve been rewatching Initial D: Second Stage lately, and it’s hard not to get distracted by the huge pixels and how the characters sometimes look like they’re skating on the floor instead of walking on it. And don’t even get me started on the Saber Marionette J Again OVA, which looks like ass if compared to the cel-animated SMJ TV series.

On the other hand, when the second season of Mahoromatic came along, I didn’t even notice the switch from cel to digital animation because Gainax and SHAFT did such a great job on the colors. Then, some great-looking shows by Madhouse, Bones and Sunrise finally convinced me that digital coloring, when done right, can look as good as cel painting. However, I won’t deny that I died a little inside when Inuyasha, the last bastion of rich, great-looking cel animation on television, made the switch to digital.

By: I don't miss acrylic paint either

I don't miss acrylic paint either — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 00:14:49 +0000

I certainly miss the analog “warmth” of cels, but I don’t miss having to deal the unavoidable blurring whenever stacking more than a few cels in a shot.

By: VZ

VZ — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 14:41:02 +0000

Backgrounds are still hand painted. I was surprised to see that those near photorealistic background of Haruhi are hand painted. SHAFT’s backgrounds are digital but work well for the shows they produce.

By: wah

wah — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 07:11:51 +0000

I think you guys are way off track talking about backgrounds anyway.

By: ca7ch

ca7ch — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 07:08:28 +0000

Definitely newer viewers get the benefit of having only the good shows filtered out of the mass of older material, so I guess its all about the potential of the different techniques – some of the shows today also manage to pull off some horrendous image photoshopping.

On a side note, cel animation tends to look horrible in any sort of low-res format, which doesnt help it win points with newer fans.

By: digitalboy

digitalboy — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 06:46:05 +0000

People are saying ‘cels have amazing background art’ like this is always the case. Maybe on the shows that are actually remembered, but try watching your ‘average’ 90s show. In fact, go watch Master Mosquiton. That shit has some really bland-ass backgrounds.

By: ca7ch

ca7ch — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 06:26:27 +0000

Something that always staggers me in terms of the differences between cel and digital works is that of each types’ background art. Cel animated shows have those characteristic, very detailed background shots that are basically individual paintings in their own right – more often than not this gives them a rich kind of fantasy vibe (in my opinion – think the artwork you see on the covers of old sci-fi novels). However, as noted, this can extremely limit the movement and flow of the characters – they simply can’t move around as much within these rich worlds because of the cost. Also, since the characters there tend to be shaded more simply, the contrast to the detailed backgrounds can sometimes be jarring. I think this is probably something that holds back newer viewers from embracing older shows, since nowadays we’re pretty well used to a quicker flow.

On entirely different note, something I find equally jarring is the unatural use of CGI rendered 3D models in many new anime today (see the first episode of Letter Bee for an example) – man is this an area which needs a heap more polish

By: jpmeyer

jpmeyer — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 04:23:59 +0000

Low budget: digital
High budget: cel

By: digitalboy

digitalboy — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 04:20:56 +0000

@schneider: Yeah, but we have YY already. WE don’t need it again. Bakemonogatari is somethign totally different, and I want that as well.

By: schneider

schneider — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 04:18:59 +0000

@ D-boy

If Bakemonogatari got the cel treatment, something like Yamamoto Yohko would probably come out. I can’t say I disapprove about that one!

By: VZ

VZ — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 03:58:31 +0000

I love both cel and digital. I think cel was great for the darker violent edger stuff of the 80’s/90’s and today’s digital is great for the happy brightly colored world of moe slice of life.

I do miss that the fact that cel painting was great for meticulous detail that when done with care looks stunning. However I’ve excepted the change and enjoy the minimalistic design work of shows now (ala SHAFT).

Having tried cel painting a few years ago, I can now appreciate how much work was put into pre digital anime. However, I’ve opted to do the scan my line work and then color it in photoshop way of doing my art as I can get the same look I want without the mistake and waiting for the paint to dry.

And yeah, I agree about how the color palates of some digital anime can be harsh on the eyes. Once Sunrise went digital, their shows looked like shit. Having really brightly colored mecha in a gritty war story doesn’t work.

By: digitalboy

digitalboy — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 03:24:13 +0000

Both are great. I could say that Space Adventure Cobra looked better on cels, but I could also say Bakemonogatari would look godawful on them. It’s all about the show itslf~