Editing Cel (section)

{{Other uses|CEL (disambiguation)}}
{{short description|Transparent sheet used in animation}}

A '''cel''', short for ''[[celluloid]]'', is a transparent sheet on which objects are drawn or painted for [[traditional animation|traditional, hand-drawn animation]]. Actual celluloid (consisting of [[cellulose nitrate]] and [[camphor]]) was used during the first half of the 20th century. Since it was flammable and dimensionally unstable, celluloid was largely replaced by [[cellulose acetate]]. With the advent of computer-assisted animation production (also known as digital ink and paint), the use of cels has been all but [[obsolescence|obsolete]] in major productions. [[Walt Disney Animation Studios]] stopped using cels in 1990, when [[Computer Animation Production System]] (CAPS) replaced this element in their animation process.<ref name=Magazine1>{{cite magazine |last=Coulson|first=William R. |title=The Art of Disney and Sotheby's |magazine=[[Animation Magazine]] |date=January 1995 |volume=8 |issue=2 |page=72 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=GTERAQAAMAAJ&q=%22On+Saturday%2C+February+11%2C+1995%2C+Sotheby%E2%80%99s+in+New+York+City%2C+will+continue+what+has+fast+become+an+animation+art+%E2%80%9Ctradition%E2%80%9D+by+holding+an+auction+of+over+250+production+backgrounds+overlaid+with+specially+created+cels%2C+from+Disney%E2%80%99s+most+recent+animation+smash%2C+The+Lion+King.%22 |access-date=2017-03-19 |issn=1041-617X |quote=Disney’s next animation smash was The Little Mermaid - the last Disney feature to utilize hand-painted acetate cels... Beauty and the Beast, Disney’s next hit animation feature, was the first to use, instead of hand-painted cels, Disney’s “CAPS” computer-generated characters.}}</ref> In the next decade and a half, other  animation studios phased cels out as well in favor of digital ink and paint.