An Interactive Tool for Editing Shadows in Cartoon Animation

Abstract

Shadows in cartoon animation are generally used for dramatizing scenes. In hand-drawn animation, these shadows reflect the animators' intention and style rather than physical phenomena. On the other hand, shadows in 3 DCG animation are photorealistically rendered, and animators can not fully reflect their intention. This is because, in 3DCG animation, shadows are automatically generated once the light source is defined. Therefore, we develop an interactive tool for editing shadows that combines the advantages of hand-drawn animation and 3DCG technology. the advantage of our tool is that shadow attributes are inherited once animators edit the shape and location of shadows. Animators are only required mouse operations for editing shadows. Consequently, our tool enables animators to create shadows automatically and easily to reflect their intention and style.