Timing Sheets

Sorry that this is such a stupid question, but completely unbeknownst to me (and mostly because I was to lazy to translate the page), I won an auction off YJ and got it in the mail today. What I didn't realize was that:
1)It's two-layers
2)It comes/came with a timing sheet.

Can someone PLEASE explain to me how to read a timing sheet? I just sat there, stared at them (there were two, perhaps one to go with each layer of cel?) and went "WOW!! That's so frickin' COOL!!! *pause**pause* Now how the HELL do I read this?!"

Any help'd be greatly appreciated :)

Thankiethankie!!

The ones I have are from TOEI studios, so, it may or may not be similiar to the one that you have.

Generally, the top of the timing sheet will list the episode or movie that it is from. 99%, it's in Japanese characters, but I've seen a few that have the name in English.

There's generally 1 timing sheet per sequence, and as many of them have been destroyed, they can be difficult to obtain. The bottom, or graph portion, of the sheet will list the numbers of the cels in the sequence. It might look something like this:

A1
A2
A3

..and so on.

You'll also note that some of these sequence numbers have a circle or triangle around the number. This is a note to the camera people concerning background usage. I've noticed that most SM cels use the same BG for a minimum of 10 shots. Sometimes there are additional notes concerning different layers of a shot and how often to change these.

Anywho, hope this helps.

From my own mucking around with timing sheets for some relatively recent series (Galaxy Angel/Di Gi Charat), how to read a timing sheet without knowing any Japanese. All the timing sheets I have seen have been of a standard format but vary in color and studio markings.

The top block contains the episode production number, the background number (probably a letter followed by a two or three digit number [example C88]), and other episode related things like that.

The Timing information is in long blocks read from right to left down the page and in two sets of columns. Each row represents 1/24th of a second and they have divisions and bold lines so you know when 1/6th and a full second is represented.

----
First some background information (again, all this could be totally wrong, but fits with all the sets I have.) Based on the storyboard or a set of rough drawings, the lead animator (or whatever the title is) makes a set of drawings showing the different layers, all the motion, and then labels them (usually right in the middle of the drawing) with the sequence (A1-3, B4-8) etc ("Genga"). Sometimes there are correction drawings on different colored paper. All these can be differentiated from line production drawings ("Douga") by the placement of the identification numbers, either in the middlish camera visible part of the page (genga) or the upper far right corner out of the field of view (douga). Also (for CG stuff) the genga is colored on the front of the page and the douga on the back).

Anyway, the lead animator plans out a sequence for the shot and pencils into the timing sheet on the far left set of columns [which is usually a smaller number of columns than the set to its right] the sequence using the numbers from the Genga. This sequence is usually in a semi-sloppy normal-type handwriting.

The animation staff takes the genga and makes in between drawings that will be seen on screen. In CG these end up being filmed, and in traditional animation the douga is copied onto the front of a blank cel and then painted. The sequence numbers will generally correspond to the genga sequence, but could be longer or have numbers in between. Douga match the cel and the image on screen exactly. Also certain "Key" images are done by the most experienced animators and indicated by the number being circled and these usually correspond most closely to the genga.
------------
Using the first set of sequence numbers from the lead animator as a reference and the douga sequence, the whole thing is plotted out on the sheet exactly as it will appear on screen. This sequence is usually written in very crisp and exact writing to avoid mistakes.

A sample line (all the . added to space things out):

(The genga part)....(The production part)
A B C D............A B C D E F G H I
1 2 4 x..............1 2 5 x

All layers stacked with A at the back to Z at the front (example: part of layer C can obscure layer B). So the cel layers would be from the sequence above (for this 1/24 of a second) stacked A1 B2 C5 and no D layer.

Effects/fades/pans/wipes are all indicated on the timing sheet by their own column and notes, but all this is most likely in Japanese.

A sequence continues forward in time (and down the sheet) until replaced by another image or removed (usually indicated by an X). Often long lines are carried down the page linking starts and stops.

A sheet usually only has enough space for a few seconds and often multiple timing sheets are joined together to make the shot, one set of columns continuing to the next page.

Also (for CG stuff), in the bottom corner will be an indication of the resolution the dogua are to be scanned at.


Now if I could only figure out a cut bag....

Not a silly question at all shaylagirl. I looked at mine and didn't know where to begin.

I am confused about how to read the episode number and was wondering if someone could help me out. I have a scan of the timing sheet (the top of course)

http://www.rubberslug.com/user/ada1deb5c7284878b0ce78cef9096363/455182-9267544-TuxKamenTiming.jpg

Any help would be appreciated.

not a silly question at all! :)

Usamamo, I think your timing sheet came from episode 71. Did that come with one of your Tux cels recently? I'd love to see a larger scan! :)

As for the remaining numbers, I can't seem to pick them up with this computer--there must be bad lighting here where i am sitting^^.