Line #59 Main/OffModel


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5	[[quoteright:245:[[Manga/NegimaMagisterNegiMagi https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/mahou_sensei_negima.png]]]]
6	[-[[caption-width-right:245:Makie's finger-counting skills go [[Film/ThisIsSpinalTap up to eleven]] as she [[ExtraDigits magically grows an extra finger]].]]-]
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11	->''"I wish the art was good throughout the whole series, not just in the final episode."'' \
12	''"These days, anime has good art in the first and last episodes, never in the middle."'' \
13	''"That's not something you can just fix for DVD release."''
14	-->-- '''A bunch of ninjas''' being [[MediumAwareness aware of their medium]] in the final episode of ''Manga/NinjaNonsense''
15
16	Off Model refers to animation errors that can accumulate due to a wide number of factors, typically [[NoBudget budget issues]] but may also come from [[DependingOnTheArtist variations due to a variety of different people working on the project]]. It typically doesn't refer to stylistic choices (such as NotDrawnToScale) but it can be difficult to parse out what was intentional. These errors may include:
17	* Faulty proportions and inconsistent character designs, such as elongated limbs or violating what is normally a CheatedAngle.
18	* Sizing and layering issues, a character is supposed to be in the background but is layered overtop a closer character or feature that [[YourSizeMayVary makes them appear absurdly small]].
19	* Coloring and shading choices are irregular from the norm, with such things as [[InconsistentColoring purple tints in the skin tone]] because of rendering accidents.
20	* Continuity mistakes, as [[DirtForcefield dirt]], ClothingDamage or the environment itself doesn't stay the same from shot to shot.
21
22	A troubled production schedule will start resorting to LimitedAnimation or [[FilmingForEasyDub thinly-veiled camera tricks]]. The movement and even design of characters will start to slip, especially if the show is bothering to animate heavy action scenes. When they ''are'' animated, fight scenes will become {{Fight Unscene}}s. When a production company decides that the important episodes (i.e. {{pilot\|Episode}}s, {{wham\|Episode}}s, and [[SeasonFinale finales]]) of a show get priority, other episodes (like {{filler}}) will, to conserve production costs, be drawn with only the bare minimum of framework that they absolutely ''must'' have. The prevalence of computer-inked animation merely assures that ''colors'' stay consistent. Off model refers to the character model (on a model sheet), which is what the animators are ''supposed'' to base their drawings on. This is another important step in animation checking, which may be skimped on when time or money (or even both) are short.
23
24	The primary reason this happens is that animation can be expensive, ''really'' expensive, and also very time consuming. An average 30-minute episode of an anime costs around $171,500 and popular shows in America cost [[https://www.quora.com/How-much-does-an-animated-TV-show-cost-to-make?share=1 between $350,000 to $6,000,000]] in USD (as of 2020) depending on how popular and how long the show was going on.
25
26	%% 171,500 figure was found by adding all the costs per episode in this article
27	%% https://www.quora.com/How-much-does-it-cost-to-produce-1-anime-episode?share=1
28	%% which equaled $145,000 and was then converted from 2010 dollars to 2020 dollars
29
30	In American cartoons of the mid-'70s to early '90s, it was the norm to send animation overseas to studios in Japan, Korea, Taiwan, the Philippines, Australia and other countries to cut costs even further. The quality problems caused by budget constraints were thus exacerbated by language and cultural barriers. Japanese studios came to be seen by American studios as the "top of the line" of overseas studios because of their consistent aversion of this trope.[[note]]Even since the late 1960s, Japan's been doing the ''exact'' same thing.[[/note]]
31
32	Fans are typically not pleased, and it is very common for companies to announce they're [[EnhancedOnDVD fixing up things for the inevitable DVD release]].
33
34	Some artists willingly invoke [[Administrivia/TropesAreTools this trope]] and do not follow model sheets, such as [[Creator/JohnKricfalusi John Kricfalusi's]] ''[[WesternAnimation/TheRenAndStimpyShow Ren and Stimpy]]'' and the entire "Kanada School" of Japanese animation, seen most aggressively with Creator/StudioTrigger. Following models too closely can lead to feeling too rigid, lifeless and uniform, whereas playing fast and loose with the designs can allow for more expressive and fluid animation. This does not mean that such creators "draw badly"; they still follow the basic rules of animation, and work to avoid outright errors. Similarly, animation principles such as [[MotionBlur smear frames]] and squash and stretch could be thought of as temporary and more subtle variations on that technique, where models are briefly disregarded in order to make a particular shot look more lively and less stiff -- these moments often look perfectly on-model when played at normal speed, but look bizarre if the viewer pauses on one of the deliberately distorted frames.
35
36	See also SpecialEffectFailure, which is a similar trope, but for live action ''and'' animation. Contrast AnimationBump where the animation suddenly becomes smoother and cleaner, and BodyHorror where an off model appearance is done intentionally and for horror. For animation studios who are notorious for this, see Creator/{{AKOM}}, Creator/ToeiAnimation, Creator/{{GONZO}}, Creator/StudioShaft, Creator/{{Sunrise}}, Creator/StudioDEEN, Creator/{{Actas}}, Creator/WangFilmProductions, Creator/{{Diomedea}}, and Creator/{{Saerom}}. For a studio whose supporters and critics often argue about whether their animation is this, see Creator/KennedyCartoons.
37
38	Anime fans from Japan have their [[MemeticMutation own phrase]] for this trope, 作画崩壊 ''(sakuga hōkai)'', literally "drawing collapse". Elsewhere on the internet it is also known as [[IronicName QUALITY]].[[note]]Always spelled in ALLCAPS.[[/note]]
39
40	For visual examples, you can visit [[http://www.lurkmore.com/wiki/QUALITY this LURKMORE article,]] or [[https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/quality this Know Your Meme page.]]
41
42	!Please do not add examples to work pages, this merely [[Administrivia/DefinitionOnlyPages defines the term]]. Put applicable examples in the following tropes instead:
43	----
44	* {{Blooper}} - A mistake that occurs during production.
45	* ConspicuouslyLightPatch - A part of the background that is lighter in color than its surroundings.
46	* DependingOnTheArtist - The visuals of a work varies, depending on which artist draws it.
47	* DerangedAnimation - animation that looks [[EnforcedTrope enforcedly]] wacky.
48	* InconsistentColoring - Characters' coloration changes at different points in the work/series.
49	* SpecialEffectFailure - Cheap-looking SpecialEffects and PracticalEffects.
50	* StylisticSuck - An intentionally bad work or part thereof, possibly including intentionally off-model animation.
51	* UnreliableIllustrator: When a character's appearance doesn't match how they're described in narrative.
52	* YourSizeMayVary - Character sizes are inconsistent from scene to scene.

Context Main / OffModel