Questions on Resolution

[Will]

Are you using a scanner to scan your frames?

If so:
1. Do you scan at 300dpi? As I understand it, the higher the resolution the better it appears on screen. I also heard that traditional animators actually film the animation not scan each frame one by one and colour them in the computer. But what if you only have a scanner and your webcam sucks? Scanned pictures look good but having 50 frames on flash or photoshop really slows down the machine if not crashing the program completely. Which resolution would you recommend?

2. If you reduce the image to say like 72 dpi, would it affect the final movie if you show it on a big TV or a theatre projector?

The scanner not just scans the paper but also the space around it. What I do is I put a different colored paper on the space so I can just use magic wand in photoshop and cut it easily. That or resize the canvas one by one. This part really drains my energy more than the drawing itself^^. If you are not using a scanner, what do you use to put your drawings on your computer?

[Seth]

I don't know how to help you much in the scanning process. I do know going with a camera is probably your best option though.

When I attended Don Bluth's Master Class last summer we used a Camera to shoot our frames, and it goes by so much faster than scanning each drawing. I do believe the quality was quite better too.

I once asked a similar question. Perhaps checking out this thread will help you in some way. http://donbluthanimation.com/forum/showthread.php?t=979

[Will]

I see, so according to the link you gave me, digital cameras are only suitable for pencil tests. One of the guys there mentioned a fancy scanner that would really speed up the work flow but I couldn't find anything like that cheap in the Phils. I guess the best answer would be the cintiq, I got to save up, seriously.

For now I guess I'll mount the digital camera on a tripod and drown myself in two of my halogen lamps which are the only small lights in my room^^

[DNethery]

Are you using a scanner to scan your frames?

If so:
1. Do you scan at 300dpi? As I understand it, the higher the resolution the better it appears on screen. I also heard that traditional animators actually film the animation not scan each frame one by one and colour them in the computer. But what if you only have a scanner and your webcam sucks? Scanned pictures look good but having 50 frames on flash or photoshop really slows down the machine if not crashing the program completely. Which resolution would you recommend?

2. If you reduce the image to say like 72 dpi, would it affect the final movie if you show it on a big TV or a theatre projector?

The scanner not just scans the paper but also the space around it. What I do is I put a different colored paper on the space so I can just use magic wand in photoshop and cut it easily. That or resize the canvas one by one. This part really drains my energy more than the drawing itself^^. If you are not using a scanner, what do you use to put your drawings on your computer?


72 dpi -to - 96 dpi would work ok for output to a rough pencil test at 640 x 480 resolution (Quicktime movie) , but that is not high-res. enough for final line artwork that will be colored and projected on a large screen or even on a television screen.

300 dpi would be the minimum resolution for scanning final line artwork.
If the 'camera' is going to crop-in close on the image then the resolution should be higher, so the line quality does not get too blocky/pixely when zoomed in close on the drawing.



I also heard that traditional animators actually film the animation not scan each frame one by one and colour them in the computer.You're talking about two different functions: Filming (literally using 35mm or 16mm motion picture film cameras) is uncommon today. In the days before digital ink & paint, both the drawings (for pencil tests) and the inked & painted cels would be filmed on an animation camera stand with a motion picture camera.

Nowadays when someone talks about "filming" animation they probably mean video frame-capturing for pencil tests. Video capture is the fastest way to make a pencil test. Many animation applications such as TVP Animation, Digicel Flipbook, Toki Line Test, MonkeyJam, ToonBoom Pencil Check Pro, among others, allow a video camera to capture images frame-by-frame.

However, when the animation has been cleaned-up and is ready to color then the drawings should be scanned (at 300 dpi or higher) for better line quality.



Scanned pictures look good but having 50 frames on flash or photoshop really slows down the machine if not crashing the program completely.If only 50 frames of scanned animation is crashing Flash then you don't have enough CPU processing power on your computer ,or you don't have enough RAM.


The scanner not just scans the paper but also the space around it. What I do is I put a different colored paper on the space so I can just use magic wand in photoshop and cut it easily. That or resize the canvas one by one. This part really drains my energy more than the drawing itself.
You're working too hard to scan it all into Photoshop and manually resize the scans. At the very least learn how to create a Photoshop Action to automatically crop a group of drawings as part of a Batch Process in Photoshop.


Even better is to set the Marquee value on your scanner so you are only scanning inside the margins of the paper, rather than scanning the area around the edges of the paper. If you are scanning standard 12 Field size animation paper then you should set and save the marquee (size) setting in your scanner interface to only scan the dimensions within "12 Field" (an area around 12" x 8.75") or less if your animation is drawn within a tighter field (7 Field , or whatever) . Of course you could just to scan the whole 12 field area (12" x 8.75") and then crop-in closer on your scans once you import them into your animation program if you want the scene to be fielded tighter.

https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/_jL0PYTVd-Zs/TXjmceFQVNI/AAAAAAAADUU/3vwfZoVT0ag/scanning_marquee_area.jpg

Use a Field Guide/Graticule (http://www.cartooncolour.com/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=73&osCsid=fc11739f89c267ba2d84e9ce766f07e2) to be sure you are staying within the desired field size.

http://www.cartooncolour.com/catalog/images/CCC12fieldguide650x72.jpg


The full size of a piece of 12 field paper from edge-to-edge is 12.5" x 10.5" , but that is to give you some extra "margin" area around the edges of the drawing which is not scanned, and the area at the bottom of the page where the peg holes are located which is not scanned .


https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/_jL0PYTVd-Zs/SgOa7vIkuWI/AAAAAAAADCk/9BSLn1VIxXU/scanner_pegs_02.jpg

[DNethery]

For now I guess I'll mount the digital camera on a tripod and drown myself in two of my halogen lamps which are the only small lights in my room^^

If you have a digital camera you could mount it on a tripod to capture the drawings one by one to the camera's SD card, then transfer all the captured images from the camera's SD card to your computer . Most digital cameras will allow you to capture high-res. images. As long as the lighting is good you should be able to capture high quality images of your drawings like this.

Good lighting means that the lighting is bright and diffused, evenly spread over the drawing surface so the drawings are photographed with neither hotspots nor shadow areas.

The main problem with most inexpensive digital cameras is that they do not have a remote shutter release which allows you to take a photo without touching the camera. If you have to continually touch the camera's shutter button then you risk jarring the camera ever so slightly from frame to frame , which will make your captured frames jerky and out of register. The camera must absolutely not move from capture to capture. (same with the peg bar - tape it down securely) .

If your digital camera does not have a remote shutter release then you could try to very securely screw down the camera to the tripod head plate and take further measures to secure the camera so it can't be jarred loose . If you touch the shutter release button very carefully and very lightly each time you capture a frame it might not be a problem with the camera being jarred out of alignment, but you do run that risk. Some types of mid-range Canon digital cameras (such as Canon Powershot A-590) can be modified with CHDK (http://chdk.wikia.com/wiki/CHDK) to allow for use with a remote shutter release. There are pages on the CHDK wiki (http://chdk.wikia.com/wiki/USB_Remote_Cable) that show how to make a remote cable release or you can purchase one such as the RICOH CA-1 cable release which has been confirmed to work with Canon cameras that have been modified with CHDK . Problem is finding the RICOH CA-1 cable release (http://www.adorama.com/IRCCA1.html) . Adorama Camera used to sell it , but now it's out of stock. It seems like they may have stopped making it. Check on eBay and used camera stores.

Here's another idea if your inexpensive point-and-shoot digital camera doesn't have a remote shutter release function:

Kaiser Strap-On Cable Release Adapter (http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/109447-REG/Kaiser_206154_Cable_Release_Adapter_Strap_On_.html/)

This item will strap around almost any model of camera, allowing you to attach a standard mechanical cable release , which can be used to gently push down on the shutter release button . This lets you capture images without having to touch the shutter release button, therefore reducing any possible camera jarring.

You can get a suitable standard mechanical cable release (http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/561807-REG/Bower_SR704_Cloth_Cable_Release.html) for as low as $9.95.


https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/_jL0PYTVd-Zs/TXVqYXimv0I/AAAAAAAADTU/5LSWqwf_qN8/Tripod_Pencil_tester_02.jpg

https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/_jL0PYTVd-Zs/TWg6-dRm1lI/AAAAAAAADRg/6ZRyAa3MFPA/s800/Tripod_Pencil_Tester_01.jpg

[Phrogger]

Also if you search for something called a "copy stand"- you may find an inexpensive one like this one from Amazon:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B003OAF2BA/ref=pd_lpo_k2_dp_sr_1?pf_rd_p=486539851&pf_rd_s=lpo-top-stripe-1&pf_rd_t=201&pf_rd_i=B003OA78LW&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_r=0PF5XTG12TR04BW638SK

[DNethery]

Also if you search for something called a "copy stand"- you may find an inexpensive one like this one from Amazon:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B003OAF2BA/ref=pd_lpo_k2_dp_sr_1?pf_rd_p=486539851&pf_rd_s=lpo-top-stripe-1&pf_rd_t=201&pf_rd_i=B003OA78LW&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_r=0PF5XTG12TR04BW638SK

Yes, a copy stand would be even better than a tripod . I forgot to mention a copy stand , but assumed that more people would have access to a tripod.

The disadvantage to a tripod is the the legs must be locked-down in some way. (the photos I posted above show a crude, but effective, way of securing the legs to a table top with tape. Doesn't look so good, but it works) .

So, yes, a copy stand (http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/438353-REG/Dot_Line_RS_CS920.html)would be preferred.

I have some information on image capture techniques for hand-drawn animation (both video capture and scanning) collected on this page:

http://animation-studio-stuff.blogspot.com/


https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/_jL0PYTVd-Zs/TXYxFbU2q2I/AAAAAAAADT8/F31Vv2WRhyc/Video_Capture_Pencil_Test.jpg

[Will]

Wow, these are great info, thanks a lot, I'll set everything on the weekend :-)

[jonhoops]

Actually your scanning resolution depends on how big your artwork is (the field you will be scanning at) and what your output is going to be. Generally speaking if you are scanning for video 640 x 480 you can probably get away with 72 dpi. For film or HD you would want to go higher but can for most cases you can get away with 150-175 dpi depending on the field size you are scanning.

HD is 1920 pixels wide by 1080 high which is similar to 2k film res. Say you are dealing with a 12 Field scene on paper, that means the scanning field will be 12inches wide. To get your scanning DPI divide 1920 by 12 which equals 160. You need to scan that art at 160 dpi. If you are trucking in on the art in the scene it will have to be scanned at resolution needed for the smallest field.

1920 / 6 field = 320 dpi

So the formula is:
Output width in pixels / artwork field width in inches = scanning dpi

For an example a 2k film res 5 field scene would be figured out as such.
2048 pixels / 5 inches = 409 dpi

A HD 720p 10 field scene would be:
1280 pixels /10 inches = 128 dpi

A 640 x 480 NTSC video 12 field scene would be
640 pixels / 12 inches = 53.3 dpi