Cel Animation Color Digital Archive

The coloring techniques of cel animation were lost rapidly as the finishing process went digital. Loppo continues to record Japanese-made cel paints, and color design materials from works that used them, as digital data to preserve them for future research and creative work.

Covers approx. 800 color swatches of Japanese-made cel paints and approx. 120 per-title color charts
Swatch database completed in spring 2023
Preparing to open the database to the public

Read about the project See progress

It began with a single interview

How it started

In 2022, an interview with someone who had long supported the coloring process of Japanese animation revealed that many intermediate production materials and related documents from cel animation works since 1979 still survive.

All are extremely valuable. With the goodwill of those involved, Loppo is taking responsibility for archiving them.

Why record "color"?

Making good use of materials while sparing them wear

Japan's land faces a harsh natural environment, and historical materials are always at risk of being scattered or lost. Even carefully stored materials see little of the use they are meant for, out of fear of deterioration or loss. If materials are duplicated as high-precision digital data and organized with accurate information, many people can view them while they are preserved for the next generation.

The difficulty of digitizing color

Efforts to preserve intermediate production materials of cel animation are growing, but there are almost no cases of color materials being preserved as digital data, because faithfully reproducing real-world color digitally takes specialist knowledge and equipment. Color management knowledge and digital processing skills built in game development are what Loppo brings to this challenge.

What the archive covers

From materials kept by those involved

Approx. 800 items

Color swatches of Japanese-made cel paints

Swatches for each cel paint color number.

Approx. 120 items

Per-title color charts

Documents listing which color numbers are used in each title.

Both were chosen as the first archive targets because they are well preserved, organized in binders with little risk of being scattered, and require no rights research or permissions. We are also documenting the project itself, aiming for it to serve as a reference case for digital archiving.

Progress

Autumn 2022: Digital photography of the materialsWith the consent of those involved, we photographed the color swatches and color charts.
Spring 2023: Swatch database completedAll color numbers were mapped into a uniform color space.
In preparation: Public release of the databaseWe are preparing carefully, in coordination with the parties concerned.