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!!Stuff to Read First!!

If you're new to the wiki, check this section out first.

Production Cel Types

Animation Art Terminology

A further breakdown of the types of cels you will run into and what people are generally talking about when they are talking about them.

Welcome!

!!Stuff to Read First!!

Hello and welcome to the Animation Art Wiki! This is a small project that a few production animation art collectors started in an effort to preserve as much of the "communal" knowledge related to this hobby as possible. It is still very much a work in progress...

Animation Art Terminology

A mini dictionary to explain common terms you will hear on the road of your cel/animation art collecting journey.

Non-Production Cels

Animation Art Terminology

Cels that were not created in the regular production of Anime creation

Want to be an Editor?

!!Stuff to Read First!!

We're always happy to find people who feel as passionate as we do about animation art collecting and want to contribute to the wiki. If you'd like to be an Editor, just comment on this page. (Feel free to include a little introduction about yourself if you wan...

FAQs

Frequently Asked Questions about this wiki and animation art collecting in general.

Background (背景)

Animation Art Terminology

Backgrounds are usually drawn and painted with watercolor or gouache paint. Acrylic is not normally used for backgrounds because it has a nasty habit of sticking to itself and thus might stick to and damage the paint on cels. Backgrounds are a specialized fiel...

Links and Resources

Information about and links to websites, pages, and communities that may be of interest to animation art collectors.

Inside the Studios

Links and Resources

A collection of videos showing the animation process in action

Cel (セル画)

Animation Art Terminology

Cels (celga/セル画) are the finished product of the animation process.  A cel is made from transferring dougas (finished pencil drawings) onto a clear sheet of acetate by various methods such as xerox or more rarely they may be hand painted. They are then painted...

Preservation and Conservation

Articles about the suggested supplies, storage methods, and handling practices for original animation artwork.

Opening (OP) Cel, Ending Cel (ED)

Animation Art Terminology Production Cel Types

These are the cels that make up the opening of the show. Most shows have 1 opening that is animated per season and then the sequence is reused for every episode. The same applies to End credits. Only one set of cels is made for each opening or ending.  These c...

Related Artwork and Collectibles

This section of the wiki is dedicated to art and other collectibles that are not animation art, but are closely related. Examples include: original artwork by animators (shikishi), original artwork used in printed material, original comic/manga art, etc.

END cels / "A1 END" cels / Tome (止) Cels

Animation Art Terminology Production Cel Types

An END cel (marked with either END/ E/ or the kanji 止) is the last cel in an animation sequence. A1END cel setups are sometimes referred to as Tome/止 cels. When a cel is marked with a letter A/B/C/E..+ 1 + END/E/止 then that means it is the only cel for that pa...

Key Cel

Animation Art Terminology Production Cel Types

Bank Cel

Animation Art Terminology Production Cel Types

A bank cel refers to a cel that is used/filmed repeatedly rather than remade for every instance that it is needed. A good example is a cel used in a opening or ending sequence.  Other notable uses for bank cels are for the transformation or attack sequences in...

Eyecatch Cel

Animation Art Terminology Production Cel Types

In many anime series', there is a commercial break about halfway through the episode (depending on its length).  To demarcate these breaks, sometimes a quick animation will play. These are often repeated throughout a season.  In some cases—Sailor Moon is an ex...

Book Cel

Animation Art Terminology Production Cel Types

Book cels usually refer to a full setup of multiple layers including backgrounds.  The setup will include the main background, the characters or character involved in the scene, and then another layer that is actually part of the background. The example below ...

Backlit Cel

Animation Art Terminology Production Cel Types

A backlit cel is a type of special effects cel.  The typical way to figure out if your cel is backlit, is, when you look at the back of your cel the paint on the back has been covered with another layer of black acrylic paint.  This was done so that when they ...