Why you as an animator should deal with Cel Shading.

As you probably know, there are far more animation techniques than the average moviegoer or television viewer knows. You can’t blame them for only knowing stop motion, CGI animations and 3D configurators. These techniques give animations that special something and can be seen on large and small screens around the world. But there are many other forms of animation that don’t get the recognition they deserve.

Take the Cel Shading function, for example. This gives the animation a “cartoony” look that can be very effective in certain media. This form of animation was actually only adopted by a handful of film and television productions, but was widely used in video games. Perhaps it’s because Cel Shading is simpler for the GPU, so games can look good on less powerful hardware. When Cel Shaded animation finds its way into film and television, it’s usually used conservatively, but there are exceptions, as we’ll see. There’s an important difference we have to make before we enter the world of Cel shading: While there are many techniques that use block colors, Cel Shading refers specifically to the Catoonic representation of light and shadow.

Next, let’s take a look at the history of Cel Shading and see why every animator should be interested in Cel Shading.

The first examples of Cel Shading.

Another reason why Cel Shading is so strongly associated with video games is that it is they who have driven the technology forward. People believe that the first commercial use of Cel Shading was on Sega Dreamcast Game Jet Set Radio in 2000. This fast-paced title has a very cheerful and carefree tone, so the Cel Shading graphics really help to set the scene. In this game, Cel Shading was developed to imitate the cartoon style of Japanese anime and mange – without which all the technology would not exist at all. While Jet Set Radio is known as the pioneer of Cel Shaded graphics in games, Sony technically released a Cel Shaded game before him – 1999’s Fear Effect. This title, however, was not really Cel Shaded and instead contained characters represented with flat, block-shaped colors. The graphic style of Fear Effect was a direct response to the announcement of Jet Set Radio the year before, so the latter game still bears the title.

The increasing use of Cel Shading in games.

It was really the first decade of this millennium in which the popularity of Cel Shading really boomed. Bestselling titles like The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker for Nintendo Gamecube in 2003 really got to the heart of the matter and created an interest that has been unbroken ever since. Cel Shading allowed game developers to develop a whole new way of looking at their game worlds, and since the consoles weren’t as powerful as they are today, they could do more with less. The Wind Waker is a good example: the game world is huge and much bigger than it could have been if it had used more realistic graphics. Cel Shading also gives The Wind Waker its unforgettable style and sets the title apart from many other Zelda games. Cel Shading has even found its way to the Zelda games on the Nintendo DS. Over the decade, we’ve seen more examples of Cel Shaded games, such as Ego Shooter XIII, Street Fighter IV and Pokemon.

Cel Shading in film and television.

Numerous television and film productions have used Cel Shading, but it is never really in the spotlight (except in some anime movies like 2004`s Appleseed). In the western world, Cel Shading is most commonly used as an abbreviation. For example, if something takes too long to animate by hand or CGI, the animators can choose to shadow the model. It’s easier for the animator and cheaper for production. Examples can be found in Futurama and Family Guy, to name a few. The only thing animators need to do is make sure that the Cel Shaded elements fit well enough into the rest of the animation, otherwise the result may be too jerky.

I hope that with this post we have been able to give them a little overview of the history of Cel Shading. Of course nobody knows exactly what will come next, but with any luck it will regain popularity and we can continue to enjoy this unique animation style.

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