Thursday, October 29, 2009

Animation Gear (Part 1)

By: Brian Mah

Animation like all art forms is in a constant state of flux. Equipment and techniques that were relevant 50 or even 10 years ago are not applicable in today's fast paced industry. The newest 3-D animated movie or FX driven 2-D anime show could enthrall audiences today, could be antiquated relics a year or more later.

Cell paint, for instance has been replaced with computer aided coloring programs. Sleek digital cameras have put the bulky Film cameras out to pasture. With the introduction of newer and faster tools at a studio's disposal, there is one thing that keeps things constant, the animator. An animator is only as good as their tools. It doesn't matter if a person works for a studio, like Disney or Studio Ghibli, or is an independent animator; you still need to have something to work with.

For all animators around the world relies on one thing, which is paper, more specifically animation bond paper. Culver City, California based animation supply company, Cartoon Colour, have been supplying animators vital animation equipment for over 50 years. What is special about animation bond paper as a posed to regular paper is that animation paper is thinner and more translucent. It can be easier to see when making an animated character.

Another key feature of animation bond paper are three small holes on either the top or bottom of the paper. These holes are called animation registration. The animation registration can be held together with something called a "Peg Bar." The animation holes have a three-lined pattern with a circle in the middle. There were two popular kinds of animation registration, Oxberry and Acme. The Oxberry holes were a lot rounder than the Acme, which were more slender. The Oxberry style was eventually replaced by the Acme system. A more in-depth diagram of the animation registration is located on Finnish animator Jan-Eric Nyström's web site ANI-MATO! Coincidently Acme is also the same name of a fictitious company that supplies various props to the Warner Brothers cartoon characters, most notably Wile E. Coyote, created by Chuck Jones.

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