Cel Shading
What is cel shading and how does it work?
GLOSSARY
Cel Shading is a distinctive animation technique designed to simulate the look of hand-drawn art, particularly comic books and cartoons. By applying flat colors and prominent outlines to 3D models, it creates a stylized, two-dimensional appearance that enhances the visual appeal of digital animations, making them pop with a unique and engaging aesthetic.
Consider a video game trailer that uses cel shading to stand out. The characters and settings, treated with this technique, appear as if they've leapt right out of a comic book, engaging the viewer with vibrant visuals that blur the line between animation and illustration. This approach captures the imagination, offering a fresh and lively perspective that traditional 3D rendering cannot match.
Cel shading brings a distinct, vibrant style to Videobolt's Balloon Emotes and Lowrider Music Viz templates, showcasing its effectiveness in motion graphics. In Balloon Emotes, cel shading emphasizes the playful animations with bright colors and bold outlines, capturing the essence of balloon art with a dynamic twist. Similarly, Lowrider Music Viz leverages cel shading to enhance the visual experience of cruising through a stylized cityscape, where the technique adds depth and flair to the rhythmic journey. By employing cel shading, both templates achieve a unique, animated look that enriches the storytelling and engages the audience with their distinctive aesthetics.
Cel Shading on Videobolt
Technical definition
Implementing cel shading involves manipulating the rendering process to include non-photorealistic shaders. These shaders simplify the color palette, eliminate gradients, and apply black outlines around objects and characters. Adjustments in software settings allow animators to control the thickness of these outlines and the saturation of colors, tailoring the look to precisely fit the narrative's tone.