Production Roles

An animation team will consist of some or all of the following in varying numbers depending on the size of the production. On smaller productions individuals may perform more than one role.

Everyone on the team is vital to the success of the final animation. It is rare for a new animator to start their career as a Key Frame Animator. Some start as a Clean-up Artist or Digital Ink and Paint Artist while many others start out as Scanner Operators.

Montage of production role images

Layout Artists are highly skilled. They set the stage for each scene of animation. Each layout is a vital piece of reference for all those involved in the production process. The layout determines lighting and camera angles as well as where characters and props are placed in the scene according to their start positions. The Layout Artist will often work closely with the Director and other specialists such as a Scene Planner and Special Effects Supervisor to negotiate scene layout.

Background Artists create scene settings. A background is essentially a static setting upon which the animation takes place in the foreground. Background images can be very simple and drawn in a similar flat style to the characters. For feature length animations backgrounds can be elaborate hand painted images but more often the case these days backgrounds are created digitally using imaging software such as Adobe Photoshop.

Often a background artist will be commissioned to prepare numerous backgrounds and as such the artist must be able to maintain continuity to replicate mood, lighting and details from one background to the next.

Key Frame Animators draw the images that determine the beginning of a movement and the end of movement such as a character walking from A to B. If something happens between A and B such as the characters facial expression changes the key frame animator may also draw the beginning and end of this movement. On a feature film production each animator will be responsible for a single character throughout the film.

Inbetween animators draw the images or frames inbetween the key frames to complete the movements prescribed by the Key Frame Animator. The Inbetween Animator will be mainly concerned with making the movement smooth and convincing.

Clean-up Artists are responsible for re-drawing the Key Frame and Inbetween Animators drawings which are normally of a rough line quality. The Clean-up Artist's role is crucial to the final quality of the animation. Each drawing must be drawn to an exact standard. Every small subtlety of a character's design must be captured in the drawings and repeated again and again for every instance the character is drawn.

The Scanner Operator is responsible for scanning drawings prepared by the Clean-up Artist. For many would-be animators this is their first foot on the ladder in the industry. Remember for every second of animation there will many individual drawings to scan. The work is therefore sometimes a little repetitive and boring but requires plenty of concentration to ensure that each drawing is correctly labeled and stored for the Digital Ink and Paint Artists.

Digital Ink and Paint Artist. The process of colouring of animation frames is carried out using specialist ink and paint software. Before such technology was available each frame would be painstakingly traced on to a clear plastic sheets called cels and then painted. The process was time consuming and skilled. The new process is far less time consuming but still requires a degree of skill to ensure accuracy and consistency.

Some might say that the Compositor has the nicest role in the animation process. It is certainly one of the most rewarding because the compositor's job is to assemble the different characters and backgrounds into single frames and sequences and so is often the first to begin to see the animation as intended for the final audience.

  1. What is Production?
  2. Production Roles
  3. Drawing Guidance
  4. Act the Part
  5. Dopesheet
  6. Layouts
  7. Walk Cycle
  8. Line Test
  9. Ink and Paint
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