Types of Production Materials

Hand-painted acetate sheets — the final artwork photographed to create each frame of traditional animation.

The key drawings that define a shot's important poses, timing, and staging.

The clean, finished line drawings that fill the motion between keys and are traced onto cels.

Shot-planning drawings that set the framing, staging, and relationship between characters and background.

The painted scenery photographed beneath the cels — often the most finished single image in a shot.

Reference sheets that lock a character's design so every animator draws them consistently.

The paperwork that drives the camera — and the supervisor drawings that correct the animation.

Cels and prints made for collectors and promotion rather than for filming — how to tell them apart.