Live streaming 4 on discord | 2022 04 24

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Today's topic is "How important skill クリンナップ/Clean-up is "
I explain it talking my experience, Japanese animation histories and my techniques showing demonstration.


I missed to record at the beginning of the video so I attached the script I made for the live streaming.

From here, the script 

How important skill クリンナップ/Clean-up is

2022/4/24

First of all, I will talk about the job of animators.

I will also talk about the animation situation in the past and today.

In Japan, there are basically two types of animators: Douga man and Genga man. It is Douga man who draws the line-art that ultimately remain on the screen. That is why this job is so important. Therefore, I will not mention Genga man this time.

The Douga man has two main jobs.

These are the cleaning the line (クリンナップ/Clean-up) and the NAKAWARI. The Douga man organize the lines of the Genga, adds lines that are missing from the Genga, and completes the drawing. The Genga man does not just copy the lines from the Genga. They understand the meaning of the lines in the Genga and draw lines that match the material. In other words, they are able to draw different materials with a single line.

To put it simply, soft fabrics and materials are drawn freely by hand. However, for mechanical objects and vehicles, I use a ruler. This is because the sharper and straighter the line drawing is, the more it looks like that.

An important position in maintaining the quality of the Douga is the Douga checker. The Douga checker is like a chief who corrects the Douga and teaches the Douga man. The presence or absence of this Douga checker can significantly affect the quality of the Douga.

The Douga checker also makes notes on Sakuga for each piece. These are called "動画注意事項/Dōga chūi jikō" or "作画注意事項/Sakuga chūi jikō".

Let’s show some examples.

For example, in this piece, the eyes and eyebrows may or may not show through the hair. When drawing a character on the frame, how much line should be omitted when the character close -up is bigger when far away the character is smaller . This varies from piece to piece.

クリンナップ/Clean-up is still drawn by hand under these conditions.

The Douga must look at the character design and check for missing lines and mistakes,
but the most important thing is whether the lines bring the character to life.

In Japan, the process of tracing the Genga is called "原画トレス/Genga Toresu" or "原トレ/Hara tore" (short name).


クリンナップ/Clean-up = the cleaning the line

原画トレス/Genga Toresu = the cleaning the line on Key frames

中割り/NAKAWARI = Do in-between between 2 key frames cleaned up

If the Genga tracing is not well drawn, it will greatly affect the subsequent process of NAKAWARI. Many images of bad drawings have appeared on the Internet, and these are the result of failure to trace the Genga.

As you can see, the job of the animator Douga man is not a simple one, and certainly requires excellent skills and knowledge of anatomy.

This is not gender discrimination, but there is also a tendency for women to be better at this job. Of course, there are men who like to draw lines, and there are also Douga checkers. However, my husband Takahiro is not good at it.

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Next, let me tell you about my experience.

I worked as a Douga man for one year, a Douga checker for one year, and also worked on Douga at the same time, and then I became Genga man. It was in about two years, which is very fast.

In the past, I heard that it was normal to work on Douga man  for 4 to 6 years.

I think it was a very difficult environment, but it is also true that there were many very good animators.

In addition, there was a monthly quota. In the old days, you could be fired if you didn't make 1,000 or more Douga in a month for three months. In my case, the quota was 300 sheets.

Even 300 sheets was a tough requirement because the amount of lines in a design is very different now than it was in the past.

Also, in the past, pencil lines were transferred directly to the cel using a machine called a tresse machine, so we could use pencil line drawings as they were. The lines did not have to be connected, and there would have been no restrictions on thickness. I think that is why the lines in the old days of cel animation were so vivid.

After the year 2000, coloring, compositing, editing, etc. became digitalized in the Japanese animation industry, but only the animators remained hand-drawn. This meant that in order to apply colors more quickly and cleanly, the animation lines had to be drawn in one clean, even, connected line.

As a result, I developed tendonitis twice. Although I had a habit of gripping the pencil tightly, I was so convinced that I had to draw the lines that way that I hurt my hand. My highest Douga number ever was 450 sheets a month.

Now that I draw both Genga and Douga digitally, I draw line drawings freely, especially in my original works. I can draw and paint by myself.

The balance between quality and speed is very difficult.

If you work carefully, it will take a long time and you will not make any money.

On the other hand, if you rush to draw, the quality will drop.

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How do you enjoy the tough days of being a Douga man ?

I would like to share my technique with you.

1. Don't do everything perfectly

For example, what do viewers care about the most on the animation?

I think Eyes, face, hand shape, proportions, and so on.

As long as you keep that in mind and draw carefully, you don't have to worry so much about minor parts, such as wrinkles in clothes or patterns, for example.

2. Choose between easy and difficult

In the Genga, there is something called a 止め. It is the cel material won't move. If the key will be only one, we tend to write 止め than END. And then there are 口パク and 目パチ.

I think these are uniquely Japanese approaches. Due to budget constraints.

In an era when the number of Douga is limited, Japan has developed a production method that makes animation look more efficient and effective.

If you could take Douga job like that,

There are four Douga in a set of 止め and 口パク.

After having the hard cuts, you also take the easy cuts like that.

Otherwise, it helps a lot when you have your own quota that you have to earn in a month.

3. Memorize the character design

If you know in your mind which parts are where, you can save time. This is very effective, and for this reason it is better to work on the same project for a long time.

クリンナップ is really important training.

In fact, there are better Douga man than Genga man , and I sometimes fix bad Genga in my Douga. No one knows that, though.

It has been a traditional approach for animators to learn the basic techniques while they are still Douga man, steal the Genga techniques from their seniors, gain speed, and then become Genga man. It is very sad that today's young people are less and less able to experience the path taken by great animators.

Thank you for joining me today!