Onion skinning

Onion skin of frame 7 of this image showing previous 3 frames

Onion skinning is a 2D computer graphics term for a technique used in creating animated cartoons and editing movies to see several frames at once. This way, the animator or editor can make decisions on how to create or change an image based on the previous image in the sequence.

In traditional cartoon animation, the individual frames of a movie were initially drawn on thin onionskin paper over a light source. The animators (mostly inbetweeners) would put the previous and next drawings exactly beneath the working drawing, so that they could draw the 'in between' to give a smooth motion.

In computer software, this effect is achieved by making frames translucent and projecting them on top of each other.

This effect can also be used to create motion blurs, as seen in The Matrix when characters dodge bullets.

See also

• CinePaint
• Adobe Flash
• TVPaint

External links

• Onion Skinning in I Can Animate
• Onion skinning in iStopMotion
• Onion skinning in SAM Animation

This computer graphics-related article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. v • d • e