Production of Pokémon animation

This is a page that describes various terminology surrounding the production of the Pokémon series.

BANK

BANK animation, typically just referred to as BANK, is an instance of partial or wholesale animation re-use in a 2D animated production, whether that be direct re-use of the original animation, or by tracing existing animation to be used again. For instance, Z-Moves that are used in the anime will often look identical upon being used again, due to the complexity of the motion and camerawork involved. Occasionally, BANK animation is made a little less obvious, as it can also be used to describe the re-use of animation between different Pokémon, characters and scenes than the original animation was used for.

From AG103	BANK in AG121

Very rarely, whole content may majorly comprised of BANK animation, such as "recap episodes" (often produced to save time and put the project further ahead of schedule) or, in the instance of M14, is due to the choice to split one movie into two similar ones.

M14's Opening (Black)	M14's Opening (White)

Genga

Genga from Episode 15 of Pokémon Horizons by Masaaki Iwane

Genga, (Japanese: 原画 lit. "original pictures") is a term used to describe the Key Animation drawings used in 2D animation, which take place after the layout phase. They are the moments that define the motion within a cut of animation drawn by the Key Animator, and are often corrected by those higher up on the production team, such as Animation Directors, (also referred to as Animation Supervisors) Chief Animation Directors, or Character Designers. They are then traced by in-between (Japanese: 原画 douga) artists, who also draw the missing frames following the notes left by the Key Animator for timing and frame-pacing.

Occasionally, this production material is released officially, and in some instances, by staff on the series after their work has been completed.

A list of Genga uploaded to Bulbapedia can be found here.

Layouts

A Layout is a term for the immediate next step of the animation process following a storyboard. Now that a cut or scene has been planned out, it is up to the job of an animator to create a layout that acts as the skeleton of the scene, for artists to follow when further down in the production line. These often feature more intense detail, depth and perspective than the initial storyboard. When compiled, layouts are often animated with rudimentary motion of specific parts in order to aid animators in the next immediate step.

Additionally, the context of what defines a layout may change depending on where the production is held. For instance, western artists may refer to layouts and storyboards interchangeably, including use of the term animatic.

Layout from The Wish

Sakuga

Sakuga, (Japanese: 作画 lit. "sakuga") is the term used to refer to Key Animation. Amongst both animators and the animation community, it is often used as slang to refer to high quality or otherwise exceptional cuts of animation.

Settei

Settei, (Japanese: 設定 lit. "setting materials") is a term used to describe detailed reference material of designs, objects and locations from a variety of angles given to artists in order to create consistent and accurate work. This is integral for both 2D and 3D artists alike.

Often, the settei officially released by The Pokémon Company in various art books are slightly different than the original settei, as can be seen below with Hapu from Pokémon Sun and Moon.

SM Artbook	USUM Artbook

In settei for animated productions, where flat colors are used, the color of each line or filled material represent a different intent when the artwork is to be colored, further arming the artist using the settei with additional context to aid their work.

• Black Lines are used for lines that are not meant to disappear when colored.
• Red Lines are often, though not always, used for specific particular color fills, such as highlights from exterior lighting within a scene whenever applicable.
• Blue Lines best denote a division between a dark and light area, used for shadows. They're invisible when the figure has been fully painted or colored.

• Green or Blue Fills are used for shadowed areas.
• Yellow Fills denote areas that serve as highlights.

File:M12 Arceus Settei Comparison.png
A comparison of two poses from different settei sheets of Arceus from M12 to best illustrate the purpose of differently colored lines and filled areas.	Iono's settei from Pokémon Horizons

Sprites

A sprite is a two-dimensional bitmap image in a game that is part of an otherwise larger scene. Regarding Pokémon, the term sprite was often equated with pixel-art until the release of Pokémon X and Y, where the series made a transition to full 3D. Nevertheless, sprites persist in the games to this day, usually in the form of UI objects or other two-dimensional game assets. An asset is still considered a sprite even if it is a 2D interpretation of a 3D model, so long as the asset itself is two-dimensional.

Spiritomb's sprite from Black and White	Spiritomb's menu sprite from Sword and Shield	Spiritomb's Pokédex sprite from Legends: Arceus	Spiritomb's sprite from HOME	Spiritomb's model from Sun and Moon	Spiritomb's artwork from Diamond and Pearl	A screenshot of Spiritomb using Grudge in Sun and Moon
✔	✔	✔	✔	✘	✘	✘

Storyboards

A part of The Show's storyboard drawn by Tetsuya Wakano, depicting a Kimono Girl and her Espeon.

Storyboards are the one of the earliest types of minimal production material used for various media to allow artists to better visualize scenes that are going to be developed further, typically by background artists, modelers, animators or a compositing team. They often, though not always, come after settei in the production line. With productions that involve 2D animation, they precede the layout phase as part of the E-konte (Japanese: 絵コンテ lit. "drawing continuity") which is a sequenced series of storyboards that include specific details to assist with the process further down the production line, including planned dialogue and acting instructions.

Additionally, the context of what defines a storyboard may change depending on where the production is held. For instance, western artists may refer to storyboards and layouts interchangeably, including use of the term animatic.

From HZ012 by Yoshikazu Miyao compared to PTP02 by Kiana Khansmith

Unreleased game material

File:GoldDemoTitle.png

Title Screen of the Gold and Silver Spaceworld '97 demo prototype.

A variety of terminology is used to describe various states of unreleased game material.

The term Prototype is the most general term used to refer to material of this nature, and covers any and all content prior to a game's release. This can include, but is not limited to; completely unreleased games, such as Pokémon Picross, publicly playable demos prior to the release of the final game, such as the Pokémon Gold and Silver Spaceworld '97 demo, physical production material that later goes unused (concept art, unreleased settei etc.) or private source code, even including entire development repositories.

Beta is a term used to describe a significant period during a game's development in which a game's overall functionality is included, (and to a lesser extent, optimized) prior to the final debugging phase. It is not used to refer to unreleased game material from every instance of development prior to the release of the final game.