how expensive is animation?

In some cases now a lot of the costs for some preproduction work is coming down due to some of the animation computer programs such as Flash.

Some of the newer shows such as Fosters Home for Imaginary Friends are all done with flash in which there are no sketches drawn at all and the computer program it's self plots the movements from A to B.

The use of this type of programs is what is leading to the jumpyness in some shows such as the example Jason used of Magister Negi Magi or Negima! as it will be known when released in the USA. It takes more time and a very powerful machine to plot the movements in a more flowing motion and some have gone to actual motion capture technolgy such as the Appleseed movie. Not many current projects have the budget of time schedule to pull it off.

Due to the advent of computer animation a lot of the studio's have let go most of actual cel painters except for the few who work on Hanken. Some of those have started making "Post Production" cels not authorized by the studios but done to the same quality as the original production cels from the actual production sketches. On YJ these cels are being sold from CG shows such as Azumanga Daioh , Chobits and Ai Yori Aoshi. Check out Brian's gallery Ten Years After to see some of the Chobits cels of this type he has gotten.

[quote]Some of the newer shows such as Fosters Home for Imaginary Friends are all done with flash in which there are no sketches drawn at all and the computer program it's self plots the movements from A to B.
Some of those have started making "Post Production" cels not authorized by the studios but done to the same quality as the original production cels from the actual production sketches. On YJ these cels are being sold from CG shows such as Azumanga Daioh , Chobits and Ai Yori Aoshi.[/quote]

I only recently heard of these and I was wondering how does one go about verifying that they are....genuine? They aren't production, they aren't studio authorized, there doesn't seem to be much to back up the claim other than the seller's word.
No sketches [i]and[/i] no cels? I don't think I can stifle the scream that is building in my throat.....

Well, those are two different paragraphs. As opposed to Foster's, shows like Chobits and Azumanga use sketches, every auction for unlicensed post-production cels I've seen comes with the original sketch.

[quote]Well, those are two different paragraphs[/quote]
Yes, but try as I might I couldn't get them to show up as two paragraphs - hence the [i]editing[/i].
So an unlicensed post-production cel is sold with a production cel from the series like a rilezu or is it just some random image?

Well, yes(I'm guessing you meant to put sketch in place of the second 'cel'). It's made from the original sketch, which the seller usually includes with the cel(Again, that's from what I've seen. If the seller is making multiple cels off of the same sketch, which he or she holds on to, that's pretty sneaky)