This assignment process of an anime begins once an episode’s e-conte have been approved. If the production schedule and the schedules of the individual animators allows, scenes are cut for coherence: it’s ideal for the same animator to handle a complete set of actions so that there is visual continuity. Beginning with the approvals of a storyboard (or e-conte), in this stage the production staff divides an episode of anime into scenes which themselves are divided into a number of “ cuts.” If an episode of anime is a chapter of a book, you can think of a scene as a paragraph and a cut as a sentence - each scene is a sequence of uninterrupted narrative and each cut is a small unit of action within that scene. This is definitely what this process looks like (via Hayate the Combat Butler)Īs with everything else, the animation process begins with a planning stage. We will explore the long journey a single frame of animation goes through, from the most basic sketches on the storyboard to the fully colored finished frame that’s ready for post-production. In this article we will be taking you through the production of a single episode of anime. Blou has worked on numerous professional anime productions, and you can check out Blou’s work with Studio Ton Ton here! This series is organized into six articles that break up the creation of anime into broad concepts. We're publishing a new part every day this week, so be sure to check back on our article hub to see when new articles go live!Īfter tackling anime pre-production and the first stages of producing an anime, today we’re detailing the actual animation process! This article owes a great deal to industry professional Blou, who provided a huge amount of information to us. Welcome to How Is Anime Made? a series of articles that will guide you through the entire lifespan of an anime, from the initial seed of an idea to watching it here on Crunchyroll. That’s where this article series comes in! Japanese animation has a highly unique and specific workflow from start to finish and there’s very few comprehensive explanations of that workflow available in English.

How did your favorite anime get created? It’s a pretty big question that has an equally big answer.

Dragon frame animation