Completed inks are given, along with an exposure sheet, to the scanners, who scan and process the cels for painting. "Processing" involves separating the red and blue lines to use as masks for applying shadows and highlights, as explained in the sidebar "Cel examples." I recently saw a documentary on \bSpace Jam,\b and I was surprised to find they used a similar method. On a related note, the April-May 1997 issue of the Anime Sacramento Newsletter mentioned that the new \bGeGeGe No Kitaro\b anime TV series is using computer-based cel painting rather than the old method, which would seem to grant computer cel painting a kind of "legitimacy" amongst hard-core anime purists.
Cels are painted according to colour charts, specifying RGB or HSB (Hue, Saturation, Brightness) colour values for each element of a character or object, and a palette coordinate, if one exists. It is during or directly after this stage that any needed special effects (such as glows) are composited, along with background elements, which are generated through a combination of 3D computer modelling and hand painting. Special effects may be added in a variety of methods, including a modified blue-screen technique, rotoscoping, and standard superimposition.
Compositing computer generated graphics with hand-drawn images is not at all difficult once theyÆre in the computer. We can composite elements in a variety of programs; mostly Photoshop, but weÆve also used Director and Premiere, and the cels can be rendered in a 3D environment along with computer-modelled things in LightWave. ItÆs still a frame-by-frame process, though, since LightWave still requires that a separate transparency mask be made in a separate greyscale file.
