The In-between Animator is the one who draws the images that ‘fills the gaps’ between the Keys. One can imagine them as a starting pose of a character, and the finishing pose of the same. Key Animator: Keys (aka Key Poses, Key Drawings or Extremes): The keys are the extreme drawings or images of an action, produced by the animator to create the structure of the animation. The Digital drawings are created using the RETAS PRO SUITE of animation software, gone are the days of hand-drawn cels, like how the folks at GX used to do it in Otaku no Video. Here is some re-used but relevant footage to our discussion: How I drew tried to draw the above piece of wood for One Piece:

Hand-drawn images are digitized and drawn over.

We’ve seen a number of settings that are very consistent with real environments, even when science fiction elements are applied, like the Ghost in the Shell movie’s Hong Kong. In the Background Design stage the designer effectively ‘stalks’ environments either as models or actual subjects for the background art in the animation. The usual manufacturers and distributors are put on the short list, as well as the intended networks and potential advertising partners.Ĭoncept Design (after which I suspect the project is shopped to networks and advertisers)Ĭharacter Design (the designer effectively ‘stalks’ people in their natural environment) I imagine that merchandising activities are also identified at this stage. This stage involves the identification of the target market, and the overall marketing strategy. Planning is the first step, where the ideas are presented to the planning team and discussed. I won’t be able to show you their actual ‘how-to’ video, but I can use images from Otaku no Video! Nonetheless I approached my introduction to anime productions with eyes as fresh as I could make them, when TOEI showed us a video of their process as well as their public relations guy Jay Hernandez (who’s an animator himself) giving us the lowdown during our tour. I had a few ideas on how an anime is produced, though these were from documentaries of western animation, and my own experience as a production assistant for broadcast and film as well as project management of various kinds.

Retas studio suite