Comments on: What is “Hand-Drawn Animation” in the Age of Technology?

By: vgmaster9

vgmaster9 — Wed, 19 Apr 2017 12:51:00 +0000

TVPaint should’ve been mentioned in the article instead of Synfig.

By: Jordan Briskin

Jordan Briskin — Wed, 31 Aug 2016 19:57:00 +0000

I, personally, think that even with all of these advances in the production of hand-drawn animation, it can never truly replicate 2D done literally by hand- with a pencil and a stack of sheets of paper. In that time-honored fashion, you can really see the hand of the artist in the animation, even when it’s been cleaned up and colored.

By: Matthew Koh

Matthew Koh — Sat, 21 Mar 2015 08:46:00 +0000

In reply to Keaton Bicknell.

Well said!

I’ve just found a video awhile ago that proves there’s hope for the future of European animation with lots of variety of artistic styles (including the experimental ones) and all the mediums used are treated EQUALLY, unlike the other industries outside like US for example.

https://vimeo.com/120671110

Now THIS is how the animation industry should be treated!
All mediums are created equal

By: JK Riki

JK Riki — Fri, 20 Mar 2015 22:13:00 +0000

In reply to Baymax.

Since Ghibli may not be around much longer, and Disney did Paperman and then moved back to full 3D… Um… Well, it’s not a case of “as long as” at this point.

By: Marc Hendry

Marc Hendry — Fri, 20 Mar 2015 22:00:00 +0000

When I say “hand-drawn” animation, I usually just mean that each pose is drawn individually with no tweening. Whether it’s on a cintiq or paper, or ones or twos doesn’t matter. If Princess Kaguya, Song of the Sea and this year’s shorts are the state of the medium, I’d say we’re doing great. Although the UK and USA need to get it together and catch up in features.
I hope Laika get into hand-drawn animation as they would probably give it the reinvention it needs.

By: Haley Gilbertson

Haley Gilbertson — Thu, 19 Mar 2015 22:25:00 +0000

Wow this article really moves me since soon I want to work at an animation studio but I suck at animating probably so I’d love to know this stuff too!

By: Baymax

Baymax — Thu, 19 Mar 2015 00:01:00 +0000

In reply to Keaton Bicknell. I am too calm Nimh! My favorite movie ever! We ge good movie out of cgi, but the only reason movies like hotel Transylvania are cgi is because they are jumping on the bandwagon. Wait. We can make a movie that's 2d animated. I'll be an actress and in charge of storyboards!

By: Keaton Bicknell

Keaton Bicknell — Wed, 18 Mar 2015 23:43:00 +0000

In reply to Baymax.

I don’t think that’s possible; Studio Ghibli made their last film — “When Marnie Was There” — last year.

The fate of hand-drawn traditional animation does kinda rest in the hands of Japanese and European animators — I’ve seen such amazing films like “Patema Inverted” and “Ernest & Celestine,” from Japan and France, respectively.

But at least LAIKA’s willing to gamble on making a traditionally-animated feature film (source: SlashFilm article “LAIKA Wants To Bring 2D Hand-Drawn Animation Back”).

By: KG Jung

KG Jung — Wed, 18 Mar 2015 18:29:00 +0000

It’s unfortunate that the technique of blending 2d and 3d that resulted in “Paperman” hasn’t been applied on a wider basis. I was hoping that it would have progressed beyond just a short at this point. As long as their is a desire to do so, I’m sure they’ll eventually iron out the technical difficulties preventing this from happening. I am not particularly artistic, but even I can see there is a certain character to the hand-drawn 2d animation that usually isn’t present in computer 3d animation. However as Rob Paulsen has stated numerous times in his VA podcast, “It’s show business . . .emphasis on the BUSINESS.” The speed, efficiency, and cost-saving that come from being able to skip a lot of the in-between drawing that computer extrapolation techniques can do is impressive. It’s a pointless argument on whether 2d is better than 3d as long as the time and cost savings from computer animation remains so large (from a business standpoint). While technology has been the bane of 2d, technology can also help bring it back to some extent as the “Paperman” short has demonstrated.

I think the real problem with computer 3d is that it often can look too clean and perfect. It’s like when people film scenes on a studio’s backlot. It always looks like backlot. It’s too clean and shiny and looks like it was built yesterday (probably because it was). It’s missing the detailing that gives individual character. Scars, scraps, dirt, etc that give objects texture. By making things look “perfect” they can endup looking so similar. With an artist’s hand, the imperfection is built into the process.

By: JK Riki

JK Riki — Wed, 18 Mar 2015 12:56:00 +0000

Hand-drawn animation means frame-by-frame animation such as that done in the days before computers. Whether those frames are drawing digitally or on paper is meaningless. That said, if the computer is holding over frames that would normally be redrawn completely, it begins to stop being hand-drawn animation and becomes limited-style animation (even if it is very fluid). This is the major distinction between the two.

As for Flash, I have no qualms with people using it or any other limited-style method (it is only a non-animator who calls “limited style” simply “Flash animation” or “Flash style”) however I will tell you from the experience of 10 solid years that Flash is a HORRIBLE program for animators and was never designed for such purposes. Animators discovered they COULD use Flash to animate during an era of technology when there were few, if any, other options. Now there ARE other options, including the Toon Boom suite you pointed out, and the difference is staggering. It’s night and day between the drawing tools alone, and Toon Boom is vastly superior. The advice I give to anyone looking to get into Flash is: Don’t. Find a better option, be it Toon Boom or Pencil or TVPaint. If you want to do limited-style animation, knock yourself out, but use a tool that is sharp instead of the dull, fruitless mess that is Adobe Flash.

I do not consider Paperman 2D animation, as too much is done in 3D. It is a hybrid, but any production that is based on 3D models cannot be called 2D Hand Drawn for certain. It was a lovely short, and I would enjoy seeing a great deal more of the style, but 2D it is not.

Sadly 2D animation has taken a huge hit in the past few decades as the masters have slowly been fired from studios or moved on to 3D, because that is where the bulk of the feature jobs are now. We are losing the art form, because the 2D of today cannot hold a candle to the drawing skill of the pioneers of animation. Technology helps bury that skillset in a shallow grave as we rely more and more on computers to do the insanely complex work of consistency for us. It is easier than the alternative: Learning to be such a draftsman that you can control line as a sculptor works in clay. The skill required is, frankly, unbelievable.