Sketch terminology and sequence number questions

[Yupa]

I just started collecting anime production sketches and I received my first genga & douga set last week. In it were two (almost) complete cuts of episodes 2 and 4 of Spice and Wolf. But the many sketches of the same frame (up to 9 different sketches of the same frame) left me a bit confused in which terminology I should be using for each version and what the order is in which they were made.

The layouts, final genga and douga are easy. But then I have four very rough sketches copied and pasted with tape on layout paper. My guess is that they are from the storyboard, could it be that they are included here?
I also have two different versions on thin green paper. Are those both rough genga or could it be that they were made before the layouts or after the genga? Some look more like the douga than the genga.

Finally, I have a second douga set of the same cut, but only of the hair layer. They are marked with a circled R (®) after the sequence number. What does this mean? Is this a correction for all first douga or are they to be used in between the in-betweeners? (lol) So for example I have douga B1 and B1R, but the hair in B1R doesn't fit in the full picture in B1, actually it looks like it would fit between B1 and B2.
I also have a rough sketch of those R douga, but there doesn't seem to be a matching genga. So should I call those rough douga or still rough genga?

I have to go now, but I could upload some of the sketches for clarification later.

[sensei]

I just started collecting anime production sketches and I received my first genga & douga set last week. In it were two (almost) complete cuts of episodes 2 and 4 of Spice and Wolf. .

Congratulations! I don't collect this series, but I've been tempted by it, and the quality of the animation seems very high.

I have four very rough sketches copied and pasted with tape on layout paper. My guess is that they are from the storyboard, could it be that they are included here?

Very likely. I have a number of similar pasted-up sketches from Asatte no Houkou, another CGI series, that look to be vastly blown-up and cut-out images from the storyboard. Those would precede the layouts and be a model for the artist assigned to execute them.

I also have two different versions on thin green paper. Are those both rough genga or could it be that they were made before the layouts or after the genga? Some look more like the douga than the genga.

I think you've answered your question. The general term for these is shuusei or "correction." But the sketch could correct the layout, in which case it's what most of us call a "rough." (But that term is ambiguous, as it is also used by sellers to describe what are more clearly practice drawings or "genzu" that are not part of the formal animation process.) Or, more often, it corrects the genga, in which case it more closely resembles the douga, which was executed following the details on the correction. If you have such drawings on pink paper as well as green (and sometimes I get a whole world of color in a sketch set) then you can distinguish the levels of correction.

Finally, I have a second douga set of the same cut, but only of the hair layer. They are marked with a circled R (®) after the sequence number. What does this mean? Is this a correction for all first douga or are they to be used in between the in-betweeners? (lol) So for example I have douga B1 and B1R, but the hair in B1R doesn't fit in the full picture in B1, actually it looks like it would fit between B1 and B2.

Heh. I don't know, as I've never seen that. I have gotten sketch sets where the original douga were rejected and a second set produced, but not as a partial layer. That might be a new strategy in CGI production. I'd guess that the hair in the first set didn't look right to the director or the animation director, and so just this part was redone as what in cel-based animation would be called a "kabuse" or "cover layer." (R = "Revision"? English is used a lot in animation jargon, and sometimes instructions written out in both English and Japanese to accommodate the people in other countries to whom the work is usually outsourced, who may know English better than Japanese.)

Does anyone else with more material from Imagin (the S+W studio) have a similar "R" set?

I also have a rough sketch of those R douga, but there doesn't seem to be a matching genga. So should I call those rough douga or still rough genga?

I don't know what a studio animator would call it, so I'd fudge and call it a genzu. My guess is that it's a set of directions from the director or animation director to the inbetweener artist explaining what to do. If there is a note in Japanese on this sheet, you might scan it, and one of the regulars who can read cursive writing in this language might be able to figure it out.

Good luck! It is a fascinating task to take such a set and look closely at it to infer the artistic to-and-fro that it embodies, and I appreciate your effort on this front.

[Yupa]

Thanks! I'll try to upload them tomorrow.

[Yupa]

If there is a note in Japanese on this sheet, you might scan it, and one of the regulars who can read cursive writing in this language might be able to figure it out.

If someone could translate the following things for me that would be great!

There are a few short writings on the roughs for the strange "R" douga. Here are two sketches with writings, you need to click on the thumbnail under the douga:
http://yupa.rubberslug.com/gallery/inv_ ... mID=332696
http://yupa.rubberslug.com/gallery/inv_ ... mID=332720

I would also love to know the vertical writings on the timecharts. I tried translating it myself since it seems to be written only in Hiragana, but there are too many characters which I didn't recognize. To see them, please click on the thumbnails again:
http://yupa.rubberslug.com/gallery/inv_ ... mID=332784
http://yupa.rubberslug.com/gallery/inv_ ... mID=332782
http://yupa.rubberslug.com/gallery/inv_ ... mID=332648

[sensei]

For the B1 sketch on pink paper, the character under the sequence number is 修 = shuusei or "correction." For the B5, the note is past my linguistic abilities but I know that the little diagram under the sequence number has to do with how many inbetweeners the AD wants and how much motion takes place between them. So it's saying that there is a big difference between B1 and B2, then the action gradually slows down. (As your cut shows Holo entering the screen quickly, then turning and coming to a halt, that makes sense.)

The vertical writing in the time sheet is the dialog in the scene. Mostly this has to do with the mouth layers, which need to be appropriate for each syllable spoken. (And, yes, that's why they're written out in hiragana rather than kanji.)

That's a start, but I'm sure other Beta folk can fill in the gaps.

[Yupa]

Thanks a lot, so they're corrections indeed, like you already guessed.

Ah I see, I was already wondering how they timed the mouth layer to match the spoken words. Very interesting. Well I had a lot of fun making the animation with the timechart.

[Yupa]

I received three new cuts of S&W, one of those also has some douga corrections marked with a circled "R". This time it's clear to see that they used the "R" douga in the final cut.

My question is about two douga, A2 and B2, which also have a "R" version and are marked with ブレ (at least that's what I think it says). A2 and B2 are not on the timechart. However, on both colums of the chart you'll find the same ブレ written vertically twice. They also switch there between A1 & A1.5 and B1 & B1.5, although I don't have a A1.5 or B1.5. Could it be that ブレ means something like "repeat" and that genga and douga may have different sequence numbers on the timechart? It would make sense if A2 were A1.5, especially since they continue with A3.

There is also something written between the left genga and douga colums that during the first 42/24th seconds there needs to be something "OFF". Does anyone know what that could be?

I do have a few other writings on genga:
セリつ
トジロ (did I translate the second line correctly?)

[Promethium]

I do have a few other writings on genga:
セリつ
トジロ (did I translate the second line correctly?)

「セリフ」means "dialogue"
「トジ口」means "closed mouth" (トジ口 is production lingo, as they wouldn't say this in normal speaking Japanese)

As per the 「ブレ」it might be 「プレー」which means "play." I can't tell if it's ブ or プ from the scan you have uploaded.

If it's 「ブレ」it might mean "to shake", which seems to be in context as the memo on the envelope says, 「馬車揺れ」 Oh and the 「ー」after 「ブレ」 might mean "from here down" in this case.

Hope this helps.

[Yupa]

I see, so they mean she is shaking because she's sitting in a riding carriage. A1 and A2 are only slightly different (I could hardly see any difference), so if you would switch those during a certain amount of time you would get a shaking effect. I'll try to make an animation that way, thanks for translating! (I still need to work on recognizing kana I see )