what is a "book" cel?

Belldandy16 · Post by **Belldandy16** » Sun Sep 14, 2008 3:36 pm

can anyone tell me what a "book" cel is?
ive heard it before but i never knew what it was.

thanks alot!

amy

lcatino · Post by **lcatino** » Sun Sep 14, 2008 3:43 pm

Good question. I'd also like to know.

Post by **JWR** » Sun Sep 14, 2008 3:45 pm

From Key's Little Anime Cel & Animation FAQ which is a great site for info on cels http://www.fukushuu.org/cels/faqimageindex.php?g=c

A book cel is a cel with either a foreground and background or a multi-layer background. The term book implies that the foreground and background make for 'covers' on a hardback book (the acetate being the pages). However, I've seen it apply to cases where the cel is not in the middle (as in a multi-layer background). It still applies in the case where the foreground is done background style on a piece of acetate.

miz ducky · Post by **miz ducky** » Sun Sep 14, 2008 3:55 pm

http://www.anime-beta.com/phpBB/viewtopic.php?t=22330

try this thread from last year.

Edit: Wow, I guess it took me a while to find the thread, because those other replies weren't there when I started.

Post by **sensei** » Sun Sep 14, 2008 3:57 pm

A short explanation is a set-up where part of the background is in front of the moving cel and part is behind. I have several examples from CCS where the characters move through the scenery, and so there's one part on watercolor paper behind the cel and another part that goes in front, which might be painted on the acetate or else on paper that's mounted on a sheet of acetate.

Another use for book cels is so the part in front can move a little during a pan, which gives a nice illusion of 3-dimensionality.[/url]

lcatino · Post by **lcatino** » Sun Sep 14, 2008 3:59 pm

Oh, I think I get it now. ^^

Thanks for the explanations & links.

duotrouble · Post by **duotrouble** » Sun Sep 14, 2008 5:51 pm

Yeah, this question gets asked at least once a year.

Key's site has the greatest information regarding all sorts of different kinds of cels including book cels. It plus other great sites for info can be found in the links section here.

But - here's my quick explanation. You stand in front of a window and look outside to a tree blowing in the wind. You and the window frame are stationary (not moving). The tree is the action that needs to be animated. You have yourself a book cel.

Belldandy16 · Post by **Belldandy16** » Sun Sep 14, 2008 7:36 pm

oh so the stationary one is the book cel, correct?
or is it the whole thing (all the layers together) that makes up a book cel?

sorry. im sick today and my mind doesnt work well when i dont feel good.

thanks so much for all your help guys!!!

lcatino · Post by **lcatino** » Sun Sep 14, 2008 7:41 pm

I think the cel as a whole (all layers) make up the "book" cel.

Feel better! ^^

Belldandy16 · Post by **Belldandy16** » Sun Sep 14, 2008 7:47 pm

OH okay! i get it now!

thanks and hope you feel better too!

RoboFlonne · Post by **RoboFlonne** » Sun Sep 14, 2008 11:13 pm

Ahh Neat! I want a book cel!

Mendo · Post by **Mendo** » Mon Sep 15, 2008 11:37 am

The book part is only the extra background piece. Sometimes they're paintied directly on a cel, but most of the ones I've seen are actually background paper cut to the specific shape.

Post by **sensei** » Mon Sep 15, 2008 11:58 am

It's interesting that the "book" concept is still used in CGI animation. My Mushishi art boards are carefully annotated "Book 1" "Book 2" etc. all the way up to "Book 7" in one case. But there were no cels or backgrounds painted for this series. So what this means is that when the digital image was created on the screen, it was planned out in different layers that would move in different ways. This creates the illusion of a real-life camera panning over an imaginary landscape and recording the shifting 3D perspectives you'd see with your eyes.

Cel-based animation used this from time to time, with the help of "book cels," but never as flexibly or as realistically as CGI animation.

klet · Post by **klet** » Tue Sep 16, 2008 12:46 am

Belldandy16 wrote:oh so the stationary one is the book cel, correct?
or is it the whole thing (all the layers together) that makes up a book cel?

All the layers together are called a book cel. The layer with the foreground on it is called a book layer.

Usually, the piece of background is attached somehow to a piece of acetate so that it can be lined up for filming (tape, glue, whatever). I can't remember if I've ever seen free-floating pieces or not. Sometimes, the foreground is painted onto the acetate itself, but with a different kind of paint than is normally used for cels. The book layer is always labeled "BOOK," though.

Usually, book cels are set up as: Background-A1-B1-etc-BOOK.

Sometimes, though, they can be set up as: Background-BOOK-A1-B1-etc.

I have a cel from HxH that goes: Background-A1-BOOK-B1-etc.

Gah! I wish RS wasn't down. I could show you some examples.

toonybabe · Post by **toonybabe** » Tue Sep 16, 2008 2:13 am

If Rubberslug wasn't down, I could show you an example too. This summer I recently purchased a pan cel of Miroku from Inuyasha and it is a book cel. It came with a hand painted backround, a layer for his body, a layer for his head (actually 3 but with different mouths) and another layer of the grass painted directly on the cel. I have the grass layer under the layer with his body, but when I bought it from Anime Box it was called a book cel.

If Rubberslug is down much longer I might just post some photos of all the different layers on Photobucket. But I'm glad someone asked this question because I wasn't really clear on what a book cel was either!