How is your typical cartoon made today?

[Jiggle-Bot]

Okay so alot if not all cartoons are made on computers. (Not CGI but your typical 2D animation stuff)

What do they mean by "made on computers"

I can understand how the coloring, editing, adding layers is done on a computer but what about before then? When a cartoon is sent overseas or goes into production do artists draw on a computer (kinda like paintbrush only better) or do they still hand draw stuff and then scan it in?

And since they're made on computers whats the resolution of your typical show?

I know the answers might be different and specific to the cartoon but i want to hear em anyway.

Thanks!

[nakak]

While 2D cartoons are colored, and I think inked, on computers, they're still drawn with a pencil and paper and then it's either scanned or traced with a drawing tablet.

[Karl Olson]

Whiled 2D cartoons are colored, and I think inked, on computers, they're still drawn with a pencil and paper and then it's either scanned or traced with a drawing tablet.

Bingo. BTW, inking can go multiple different ways. Some do the equivelent of xeroxing and just crank the contrast of the pencil work until it's black and white, others scan then trace, others still input by tracing. Shoot, a rare few draw straight into the computer even IIRC (probably most common with studios using Toon Boom.) And the inbetween studio doesn't have to do it in the same fashion as the key-frame studio at that.

As far as resolution, it depends on the show. Productions with money are cutting episodes in HD or better (because they figure wisely that HD will be superceded,) others are sticking to the lower resolutions.

The bigger difference when it comes to visual quality in digitally assisted 2D productions comes in the compositing process(IE: combining the layers of animation,) and that varies from project to project, even inside of the same studio. There are various settings and various programs that yield better results than other options and programs, and it's the difference between really nice looking digital animation that basically looks like traditional cel, and really horrible looking digital animation that announces how digital it looks because of the less-than-stellar compositing.

[Jiggle-Bot]

Cool thanks for the info. That was something that was always missing in my knowledge of the process!

[Hordesman]

Now that anime productions have moved into digital coloring, this is what the final hand-drawn layer looks like before colors are filled in: http://www.nichibeianime.com/ebay/youko.jpg