2D Cell Animations

Animators begin by drawing sequences of animations on sheets of paper perforated to fit peg bars in their desks, one picture or "frame" at a time. The animator draws enough of the frames to get across the major points of action. While working on a scene, a key animator will usually prepare a pencil test, a preliminary version of the final animated scene; the pencil drawings are scanned or photographed and synced with necessary soundtracks.

While the animation is being done, background artists will paint the sets over which the action takes place. These backgrounds can be painted in acrylic, guache, oil, or even crayon.

Once clean-ups and in-between drawings are completed, each drawing is then transferred from paper to a thin, clear sheet of plastic called a cell, so called because they were made from cellulose nitrate. The outline drawing would be inked and the reverse side would be painted for proper color, highlights and shadows. The transparent quality of the cell allows for the background or other objects to be seen behind.

When an entire sequence has been transferred to cells, each is taken and laid on top of each other with the background at the bottom of the stack. A sheet of glass is then placed on top to flatten the image and the whole stack is photographed. The cells are removed and new ones are placed in and the process begins again. Each photograph represents one frame of film.