#Background design animation tv

If you want to become a background painter then you’ll need to study environments and landscapes.

So much goes into this process which is why animation typically costs more to produce than live action. And if the layout artist is lucky enough they’ll also get to paint the background! Then once the boards are complete they’ll be handed over to the layout artist who then refines each background with line and tone. This design gets handed off to storyboard artists who can use it as a reference in their boards. If an episode requires a new background then the background designer needs to first create that location. That’s why background work can be so intense because you’re imagining new locations, then drawing them, and then painting them for the final animation.Īnd even though these jobs can be done by the same person they ultimately happen at different phases of the animation process. It’s also common for background designers to do all of these jobs. If everything looks good the layouts go on to be painted and fully rendered. Then the art director critiques these layout comps. This acts like a rough blueprint for the layout designer to copy and refine the background into the cartoon’s art style. Each scene includes character poses with backgrounds. Storyboard artists draw the individual scenes of the animation. The layout designer(or layout artist) creates fully-rendered black and white versions of the final backgrounds taken from storyboards for each shot of the animation. You probably won’t find much of a difference between jobs for background painters, background artists, and background designers.īut there is a slight difference between a background designer and a layout designer. Each cartoon has its own unique style and the background designer needs to create places that can be real and that blends into the cartoon’s artistic style.

#Background design animation tv

You can see the differences when you compare the backgrounds from old Road Runner cartoons to modern TV shows like Adventure time or Family Guy.

And sometimes background painters also fill the role of a designer where they create new locations with guidance from the art director.Īll background painters & designers follow a specific style based on the animation. Some studios hire background artists who solely paint the final backgrounds. That means if you buy something we get a small commission at no extra cost to you( learn more)Ī background designer has two tasks: to design backgrounds for new scenery and to draw/paint those backgrounds for the final animation. So a first step in planning your shots would be to ask if all of the background subject matter is necessary as well as how the elements in the BG work to achieve a solid composition.Tips Animation Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links. If something has no importance it must be taken out of the shot-everything to be shown must be of some importance, even if it only adds to the composition. Planning a scene is a lot like planning a a painting you must decide what is to most important and then work your way to least important. I am going to approach this in terms of scene planning, take note that this is in no intended to be a 'How To' on background ground layouts or painting but simply a 'something to think about when planning your shots/scenes.' Some links on this topic are here, here and here (There are so many but I don't want to get carried away). Something Scott said was 'A layout tends to feel.well, empty or awkwardly unfinished somehow until the characters are added. This is an area that is not my forte but here are some notes I picked over the years starting from a layout class I took with the great Scott Caple long ago and on up through time.