US2348983A - Method of simplifying animation - Google Patents

Description

May 16, 1944. w. B. JUSTICE METHOD OF SIMPLIFYING ANIMATION Filed May 26, 1942 4 II I I 5''! V MAL/4M5. cfasr/a;

INVENTOR I BY TTORNEY.

Patented May 16, 1944- 2,348,983 METHOD OF SIMPLIFYING ANIMATION William B. Justice. Los Angeles.

Calif., alllgnor to Walt Disney Productions, Burbank, Cailt, a corporation of California Application May 26, 1942, Serial No. 444,543

Claims.

The present invention pertains to methods whereby the reproduction of artists sketches, drawings and the like may be greatly facilitated. Although the methods of the present invention are adapted to the lithographic arts in general, they are particularly directed to the art of animated cartoons.

Understanding of the present invention is facilitated by first considering existing methods and comparing them with the simplified methods which obtain during the performance of the present invention. Heretofore, in the production of animated cartoons artists made sketches, each sketch showing the extreme positions of a character whose movement was to be depicted in the form of an animated cartoon photoplay. Occasionally the artists made one or two sketches intermediate the extreme positions for the purpose of indicating the manner in which the character moved from one extreme to the other. These sketches are ordinarily termed roughs" and include construction lines, false lines and the other nebulous indications from which the artist derived the final representation of the character shown on the rough; This step is ordinarily followed by the production of what are known as clean-up drawings." clean up drawings are generally made by tracing on a separate sheet of paper the final lines of the character, thereby eliminating the construction and false lines existing on the rough drawing. These clean-up drawings are then utilized by in-betweeners who draw in-between" sketches showing the charactor in positions between the extremes originally drawn by the artist. The number of these inbetween drawings depends upon the amplitude of movement of the character and the rapidity with which the character moves.

Each of the drawings thus made (including the clean-up drawings and in-between drawings) is then laboriously traced upon transparent sheets generally made from cellulose nitrate or other cellulose derivatives. The tracings are made with pen and ink and in addition to the difliculty of forming a clean, sharp line upon a transparent sheet of cellulose derivative or plastic, other difiiculties and errors creep in. For example, the tracer, working with a fine line upon which he produces a thinner line than that originaliy made by an artist, has dimculty in placing his thin ink line correctly with respect to the thicker line which is being traced. If the tracer attempts to -follow only the edge of the original line made by the artist he is apt to change proportions Or alter the expression of the character being traced. If

the tracer attempts to follow the center of the artist's original line, the tracer will invariably waver from the center or mean and since the successive tracings and resulting final cells are photographed and then projected in rapid succession in the final animated picture, such wavering upon being enlarged 300 to 400 times during projection results in a visibly shaky, tremulous or weaving image of the character on the screen.

After the tracings are made under the difllculties hereinabove referred to, paints, generally opaque and of an appropriate color, are applied to the inked drawings on the transparencies. 0rdinarily, the paints are applied to the lower or reverse side of the transparency or cell. The finished sheet of transparent material bearing the ink or traced drawings and the opaque paints is customarily referred to in the art as a cell. These cells are successively placed in front of appropriate background paintings and are then successively photographed, the resulting film being known as an animated cartoon photoplay. It is to be understood that the simplified description hereinabove given may be modified and amplified in actual practice.

In comparison with the cumbersome method hereinabove described, the present invention contemplates the elimination of the laborious inking and tracing steps, thereby not only expediting the production of animated photoplays but in addition giving rise to more accurate reproductions of the artist's original sketches, retaining in the fina embodiment of the artist's work his characteristic strokes, points of emphasis, etc. Moreover, the unduly sharp and definite pen and ink outline which has characterized former cartoons is eliminated and a more artistic final rendition is attained. i

Generally stated, the method of the present invention contemplates the use of a carbon or other suitable pencil by the artist or in-betweener. The sketches made by the artist and in-betweener are then mechanically transferred to the lower or reverse side of the transparency, the transfer being preferably accomplished by properly positioning the transparency over the sketch and pressing the two together. This operation is then followed by the application of a fixative over the impression thus transferred to the transparency, the fixative being of a character compatible with the paints to be applied over desired areas of the sketch or drawing carried by the transparency.

It is an object of the present invention, therefore, to disclose and provide methods and means may be expedited.

Another object of the invention is to disclose methods whereby more accurate reproductions of.

artists sketches may be rapidly and easily obtained.

A still further object is to disclose and provide improved methods of producing animated cartoon films, the characterizations shown being free from extensive use of unduly sharp and definite pen and ink outlines.

Moreover, an object ofthe invention is to disclose and provide methods whereby color separation plates for use in lithography may be more quickly and accurately produced than by prior methods.

Again an object of the present invention is to disclose and provide means whereby shadings andv half tones may be applied to pictorial representatlons of characters in an easy, facile and rapid manner.

These and other objects and advantages of the present invention will appear to those skilled in the art from a contemplation of the following detailed description and from actual practice of the method. In order to facilitate understanding, reference will be had to the appended drawing, in which:

Fig. 1 represents an artist's sketch of a character.

Fig. 2 illustrates the method of transferring the sketch onto a transparency.

Fig. 3 is an enlarged diagrammatic representation in transverse section of a transparency provided with a transferred image and fixative.

Fig. 4 represents a pencil drawing made by an artist, certain portions of the drawing having been made with non-transferable means and other portions with transferable media.

A sheet of drawing paper I is indicated in Fig. 1, this sheet bearing the delineation of a character which has been drawn by an artist or an inbetweener. As previously described, the character II in the normal mode of procedure heretofore employed would be traced upon a sheet of transparent material with pen and ink. However,'in accordance with the present invention the char,- acter II has been drawn by the use of a pencil or marking instrument so that the pigment or deposit left upon the sheet of paper in the form of the lines depicting the character I] is capable of adhering to and being transferred onto a sheet of cellulose acetate, cellulose nitrate, or other transparent substance. I

It has been found, for example, that if the artist employs carbon drawing pencils which have a relatively low wax content such as, for example, Wolff carbon drawing pencils, or artificial drawthe relatively fugitive impression. It is to be understood that when charcoal or carbon drawing pencils are employed by the artist, the impression which is obtained upon the reverse side of the cell I! by the performance of the steps herein disclosed is only semi-permanent and is easily rubbed off. For this reason a transparent fixative is applied over the impression. Preferably the fixative is applied in the form of a fine spray and many transparent lacquers, white shellac or resinous substances dissolved in appropriate solvent may be used as fixing agents. The fixative or fixing agent thus employed should be compatible with the inks or paints which are employed in subsequent operations. In other words, the film or very light transparent coating which is applied to the impression should be capable of receiving and holding whatever paints or other substances are used in subsequent or finishing steps of the process.

In the enlarged and exaggerated section through the cell l2 which is illustrated in Fig. 3, the front or top surface of the cell is indicated at IS, an impression or transfer line is indicated at I8 a'nd the thin film of fixing agent is indicated atl After the cells I! have been prepared in the manner described they may be painted on they reverse side with paints of a suitable opacity and color. The impression it carried by the cell is relatively light. It is ordinarily wider than a fine ink line, occasionally reaching the width oi a; inch or even 1'; inch, depending upon the stroking or pressure exerted by the artist in making his original sketch II. This semi-transparentimpression or transfer it will impart a shaded effect to the final character as it appears upon the cell l2. thereby enhancing the third dimensional effect. In some instances the artistim ay have partially shaded this character as; for example, at II, and this is also transferred onto the cell I 2 and enhances the roundness ofthe pictorial representation which is eventually carried by the ing charcoal manufactured by L 8: C Hardtmuth,

or certain carbon pencils manufactured by Blais dell, the impressions left upon the sheet of paper Illby the artist may be readily transferred and impressed upon the transparency or cell. In accordance with the present invention, therefore, a sheet of transparent material I2 is applied over the drawing carried by the sheet of paper l0, proper positioning of the transparency i2 being obtained by means of the registration holes i3, i4 and the like, and a squeegee or roller is passed over the upper surface of the cell I2 so as to firmly press the lower or reverse side of the cell against the sketch carried by the sheet Iii. The cell I2 is then removed from the registry pins, turned over so as to place the impression carried thereby uppermost and a fixative is sprayed over cell i2.

It is also to be noted that the relatively light gray translucent impression or transfer l6 covers the paint which is applied to the back of the dried cell and therefore permits the color of the paint to be visible when the cell is examined from the from; but imparts to that paint or color the tone or shading which was applied by the artist as at H. The shading therefore modifies the subsequently applied color.

It will be noted from thedescription given hereinabove that the time-consuming, laborious and expensive tracing of the original drawings onto the cells has been completely eliminated and in addition the method permits the application of grays or tone values, thereby giving rise to halftone effects which can not be obtained with pen and ink.

In some instances, however, some inking is found desirable. If, for example, it is desired to draw particular attention to the expression of the eyes of the character I i, then after an impression or transfer has been made and the fixing agent has been applied as described hereinabove, ink lines may be drawn on the face or front side of the cell II, the tracer then tracing the eyes and eyebrows, for example, of the character H as such character appears on the. cell l2. Such tracing or emphasis may be carried out by applying'i'nks to either the front or rear of the cell II, the fixing agent being compatible with inks and transparent so that the impression or image carried by the cell I2 is visible from both sides of the cell.

Fig. 4 illustrates a rough drawing made by an artist. Ordinarily, such rough drawing includes the construction lines I8, l9 and the like as well as the final lines of the character, such as for example, the line 20. In the ordinary method of procedure, this rough drawing would be traced so that the tracing only carries the final line 20 and does not carry the construction lines [8. I9 and the like. In order to eliminate this tracing step, the artist may perform his initial sketching with a pencil, leaving an impression which can not be transferred to a transparency by pressure contact. For example, the lines [8, l9, etc. may be drawn with an ordinary graphit pencil and after the artist has oriented himself and has perhaps sketched the character with an ordinary pencil, he then personally completes the pictorial representation of the character and forms the final lines 20 with a carbon or charcoal pencil of a composition capable of being transferred or impressed upon a cell when a cell is brought in pressure contact with the drawing.

A drawing of the character shown in Fig. 4 and made by the use of pencils having different transfer characteristics can thus be employed in the production of transparencies without the necessity of tracing the drawing to produce what is normally termed a clean-up drawing.

The methods of the present invention are also adapted for use in three color lithography or in the production of the gray plates whereby depth of tone is obtained in lithography by the use of black or gray inks. For example, a sketch may be prepared by an artist and on such sketch the artist may indicate by shading the areas or zones of the drawing which are to be printed in yellow or some other primary color. This shading may then be transferred onto a sheet of transparent material protected by means of a layer of fixing agent, and the resulting transparency then used in making one of the three color plates for use in lithographic reproduction of the drawing. Such plates may be made by photographing the transparency, while it is positioned before a plain background, upon a photographic emulsion either carried by ordinary film or directly upon metal.

Attention is also called to the fact that sketches shaded for gray may be treated in substantially the same manner. Moreover, attention is called to the fact that more than one transfer or impres in may be made from a single sketch. Three or four separateimpressions on separate sheets of transparent material may be made from a single sketch and each of these transfers may then be utilized in producing a different color separation negative or printing plate. Each of the impressions thus made from a single drawing or pictorial representation may have desired areas thereof painted so that the photographic reproductions or printing plates so made will accurately represent each of the primary colors or the gray tone, this mode of procedure obviatin the necessity of completing one sketch in full colors and then photographing such sketch by the use of different color filters.

I claim:

1. In a method of preparing transparencies for photographic reproduction, the steps consisting of drawing a pictorial representation upon a substantially opaque sheet of paper with a carbon medium capable of attaching itself to a sheet of transparent cellulosic derivative; subjecting the drawing thus made to pressure contact with the reverse side of a transparency composed of a cellulosic derivative to form a visible impression of said representation on the reverse side of the transparency, and applying a protective film of substantially transparent fixing agent over said impression.

2. A method of preparing colored transparencies for use in animated cartoons which comprises: making a line drawing of a pictorial representation upon a virtually opaque sheet of paper with a carbon medium capable of attaching itself to a sheet of transparent material, pressing the reverse side of a sheet of transparent material against the line drawing to form a visible impression of said drawing on the reverse side of the transparent sheet, applying a protective film of substantially transparent fixing agent compatible with paints over said impression, and then applying opaque colored paints to desired areas of the reverse surface of said transparent sheet in accordance with the visible impression thereon whereby edges of areas hearing said paints are softened and shaded by the impression when the transparent sheet is viewed from the front thereof.

, verse side of a sheet of transparent material to form a visible impression'of said shaded drawin on the reverse side of the transparent material, applying a protective film of substantially transparent fixing agent compatible with paints over said impression, and then applying opaque colored paints to desired areas of the reverse surface in accordance with the visible impression thereon whereby edges of areas and portions thereof bearing said paints are softened and shaded by the impression when the transparent sheet is viewed from the front thereof.

4. In a method of the character described, the steps of making a rough drawing with a graphitic medium upon a sheet of paper, finishing said drawing with a carbon medium, pressing a sheet of transparent material against said finished drawing to selectively transpose the finished drawing and not the rough drawing upon the reverse side of said sheet of transparent material, and then applying a protective film of substantially transparent fixing agent to the reverse surface of the transparent sheet to protect the impression carried thereby.

5. In a method of preparing transparencies for photographic reproduction, the steps consisting of: drawing a pictorial representation upon a substantially opaque sheet of paper with a carbon medium capable of attaching itself to a sheet of transparent material; subjecting the drawing thus made to dry pressure contact with the reverse side of a transparency to form a visible impression of said representation on the reverse side of the transparency, and applying a protective film of substantially transparent fixing agent over said impression.

- WILLIAM B. JUSTICE.

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