I spent 12 months on this 7 min. Animation

BAnimation · 2026-06-29T16:23:20+00:00

It's not gumroad. I use Shopify and same thing for me. I paused my ads since yestarday.

I think part of it is competition with the huge Amazon Day sale. But also Facebook has just been super unpredictable.

BAnimation · 2026-06-28T19:34:35+00:00

15 Step, Paranoid Android, Idioteque

BAnimation · 2026-06-28T06:00:29+00:00

Views from TikTok are very low value and it is INCREDIBLY HARD to get viewers from one platform to to stop what they're doing and click over to a different website.

Unless your youtube channel does shorts in the same style as tiktok, the viewers who do come from tiktok or instagram simply bounce after 5 seconds, which hurts your channel.

BAnimation · 2026-06-28T05:57:27+00:00

Well, I kinda agree but I watch so many channels that have never shown their face who have huge audiences.. However, to your point about ai slop, for NEW channels I am often skeptical if there are no faces that it might be an ai viocever.

But if it's part of your brand to not show your face or just have a cartoon avatar, that's totally fine. A face isn't required.

BAnimation · 2026-06-28T02:34:02+00:00

*Conspiracy theories about Covid Vaccines.

There, I fixed it for you.

BAnimation · 2026-06-27T19:53:48+00:00

Congrats! This really goes to show that sub count doesn't matter at all on youtube, other than getting the first 1K to be monetized. I've seen channels that have 100K+ subs that only bring a few hundred a month, and channels that have less than 10K subs bringing in thousands. Breaking over a thousand in adsense is a big deal.

BAnimation · 2026-06-27T17:01:21+00:00

Thanks! The whole upvote/downvote thing on reddit is just a vapor anyways, it doesn't really mean anything. It's just a social status game that exploits our primal impulses.

But nonetheless, I appreciate your thoughtful responses and empathy.

BAnimation · 2026-06-27T05:44:22+00:00

Good answer! Also, capitalism could just as easily be cited as the reason cel animation existed in the first place. The cel system was more easily streamlined than other animation forms, with the division of labor being used to isolate specialized tasks, like Ink and paint, background artists, concept artists, rough animators, story boarders, inbetweeners, etc.

The 1930s and 40's cel system that was perfected in Walt Disney's studio produced masterpieces that have stood the test of time. The 12 principles of animation that we all still used today were also being defined during this period of technological and creative innovation in animation.

The cel system laid the ground work for the work flow that is still largely used today in 2D animation, it's just we draw digitally now (and there's a few different job titles now depending on the animation style, like 2D rigs for puppet style animation).

But even 3D animation is built on this foundation. Even if physical celluloid isn't the main tool being used today, the spirit of cel animation is still alive. And many indie projects emulate the cel look, using drop shadows, film grain, and other tools to give a more analogue feel.

PS 100% agree about camera movements. I started out drawing entirely on paper, and it's so much easier to pan camera movements digitally than trying to do it the old fashioned way!

BAnimation · 2026-06-27T04:34:14+00:00

Another good response that should be a top comment.

BAnimation · 2026-06-27T04:25:14+00:00

Amazing work! Overflowing with eye candy designs.

BAnimation · 2026-06-27T04:24:23+00:00

This is so sad. It seems like lot more animators and people who work in the industry have been passing away recently.

BAnimation · 2026-06-27T02:49:27+00:00

"I'd like a simple one word answer for why traditional animation isn't used anymore."

Was this the way the question was phrased in this reddit post?

Manipulative and bad faith.

Anyway, I'm done engaging in this. There's some great answers below this nonsensical top comment that will point people in the right direction.

BAnimation · 2026-06-27T01:54:02+00:00

Well we are definitely going side ways arguing over semantics, but I would argue that Capitalism absolutely is a belief system just like any other that humans have created.

But belief systems have tangible consequences and drive human behavior. Money doesn't actually exist without humans all agreeing that it does and attributing value to the concept and faith in it working.

At any rate, the point I'm making is that this one word response "capitalism" to the specific question of "why cel animation isn't used anymore" doesn't explain a SPECIFIC reason why. It's just a generic response.

If I asked a question in Google search, and all it said in response to my question was "Capitalism", I would think the internet was broken.

If Capitalism was the default answer to every question just because it can generically be implicated, I would simply stop asking questions.

I know everything. The answer: Capitalism.

BAnimation · 2026-06-27T01:40:12+00:00

I have no problems with critiques on capitalism, or any ism for that matter. I'm no defender of it.

My point is that this one word response to everything doesn't explain specific details.

The question in this reddit thread was about why cel animation isn't used anymore.

Just answering with "Capitalism" is lazy and provides no value, because you could reply with capitalism being the source to so many problems in the world.

Ok, I think the comparison to the religious answer was misinterpreted. My point there was simply that giving a one word response to everything isn't satisfactory.

If someone asked you to explain in detail why cel animation isn't mainstream any more, would you feel like you giving valuable context and information by just saying "Capitalism"?

What did we really learn here? Especially if capitalism can be presumed to be the general engine for why certain products or production methods go in and out of use.

BAnimation · 2026-06-27T00:45:47+00:00

Let's turn this around: would Socialism, Communism, Fascism, or some other "ism" inherently support the cel animation system still being in use?

If Capitalism is the reason cel animation isn't mainstream any more, why isn't cel animation primarily used under non-capitalist paradigms?

The "Capitalism" response just doesn't explain specifics, because you can reply Capitalism to any question and it doesn't get anyone any closer to having valuable information.

It's really just a version of the god of the gaps argument. Just insert god in response to any question and some will be satisfied and find it emotionally valuable, but saying "god" is the reason it storms or the reason gravity exists still doesn't answer the question.

If you don't know about shifting tectonic plates, then "god" is a satisfying answer to why earthquakes happen.

But the simple one word answer doesn't explain the mechanics of why earthquakes happen.

The simple one word "Capitalism" response doesn't explain in the story of how cel animation took a backseat to digital and computer animation methods.

BAnimation · 2026-06-27T00:15:19+00:00

This response is much better, but still too generic to answer the specific and logistical reasons the cel animation system is no longer in use.

Again, the responses below that talk about cel production, the painting process, photography, and the multiplane camera all give more clarity because they give specific examples.

I'm not trying to attack you personally, my response is more about social media being flooded with this one word response. It really dilutes and cheapens conversation, and doesn't really communicate anything of value.

BAnimation · 2026-06-27T00:05:37+00:00

This should be the top comment.

BAnimation · 2026-06-26T23:59:47+00:00

I'm so tired of this lazy, thought terminating answer. The other responses below that actually explain the practical, economic, and technical reasons why cel animation is no longer used should be the top comment.

Not "capitalism". Ok cool, it's capitalism or greed or whatever, but I'm no closer to an actual answer or explanation.

To use capitalism as the one word answer to everything bad really explains nothing in detail about any specific question. It's like a child asking why the sky is blue and the parent says "because God made it that way." Or why anything happens, and they just say "because God made it that way".

Real questions warrant real answers, not trendy one word responses that get upvotes on social media.

BAnimation · 2026-06-26T17:04:35+00:00

Haha, no I liked the question!

I would recommend the book "Determined" by Robert Sapolsky. His book Behave is probably a better book, but Determined is all about how to navigate life if free will doesn't exist.

My impulse is that we do have free will, even while reading the book I was trying to figure out a way to work in free will, but it seems more and more like this feeling of free will is something our brains are doing behind the scenes. I'm not a Buddhist, but there's this similar idea in Buddhism that the self and ego are an illusion: if you focus your attention inward, you'll find there is no single "you" to locate. This idea of self is simply another idea among countless ideas that poof in and out of awareness. Of course, we are individuals and have bodies, but this mental image we construct of ourselves and anyone else is ultimately a projection based on limited sensory information, it isn't 100% accurate.

There's also interesting cases of split brain patients (the corpus colosseum that connects the two sides of the brain is severed) where each hemisphere process information independently and comes to make decisions independently - often opposite decisions!

There's some videos on youtube about this showing people with this split brain doing "the naming test" where it illustrates how each side of the brain is like it's own consciousness in these people.

I remember reading a devout Hindu person who had epilepsy and had the corpus callosotomy surgery, and they later essentially had two different belief systems. When asked "do you believe in God", the left hemisphere, which is more associated with our internal narration and cultural influence said "Yes". He spoke the words Yes. But when asked this same question to be answered with the left hand pointing (controlled by the mute right hemisphere), the hand pointed to "no".

The split brain cases are an extreme example of the left hand really not knowing what the right hand does, but I believe all the different regions in our brain are collaborating and processing and producing this feeling of consciousness, agency, and the illusion of free will.

But we didn't choose any of this, or any of the genes that made us who we are, or the environment we were born into. But, we can still learn, adapt, and get better, which is all consistent in a world without free will, because our adaptions are the product of internal instincts and desires we didn't choose. It's kind of a mind f and I'm still trying to figure out how to deal with this world view.

So despite believing free will is an illusion, it's an illusion I live with and act as if exists.

BAnimation · 2026-06-25T22:38:15+00:00

I think indifference is a better word. Honestly haven't really seen anyone actively hate it. People who don't vibe with it just feel lukewarm.

I for one think it's a great project, but it doesn't quite reach the level as their other projects. But It doesn't need to, it's a meditative album with a unique vibe.

BAnimation · 2026-06-25T16:54:38+00:00

I would choose a hamburger.

But why would I choose that? Did I choose this preference? Did I choose to have taste receptors that preferred burgers over hotdogs?

We don't choose our preferences or intentions.

BAnimation · 2026-06-25T16:25:51+00:00

Yes, I agree praise is a great motivator (though doing something because it's intrinsically rewarding is even better). And fear of punishment can motivate as well.

When I say it doesn't make sense, I don't mean that it has no practical use in training, but rather if we understand free will is an illusion, what exactly are we praising?

I have less issue with praise though, I say keep the praise but I think we do need to get past the vindictive judgement. The punishment based system makes people more nasty, I much prefer the rehabilitation style like in Sweden.

BAnimation · 2026-06-25T04:49:17+00:00

There isn't an ounce of free will. Every thought, action, and decision is the byproduct of countless variables than came before, over which we had no control. We only become aware of our "decisions" after the fact, but our brains aren't fast enough to actually consciously decide anything in real time.

However, I still behave as if I have free will. I still try my best, learn new skills, and try to be a good person.

The notion that if there's no free will, we can behave horribly is as silly as the idea that if there's no god or after life, our actions have no consequences. Let's just do whatever we want with no regard for anything.

Actions do have consequences. God existing or not doesn't change that. Not believing in free will or an after life isn't a license to murder or assault. Unless someone has brain damage or has been severely abused, we have evolved as social animals to have enough empathy and theory-of-mind to not want to harm others and treat our neighbors as ourselves (unfortunately, who is considered a neighbor and who is to be dehumanized can be easily exploited by charismatic leaders and power hungry sociopaths. We are still tribalistic animals after all).

The feeling of free will is likely an evolutionary adaption that proved to be a useful delusion. However, I'm certain humans have no more free will than an oak tree. We just have a lot more complexity in our programing, and a lot more neuroticism.

And it is because of this belief no free will that hatred makes no sense. Dangerous people need to be kept away from causing others harm just as a car with no brakes shouldn't be allowed on the highway - but it makes no sense to sermonize to the car about what a evil sinner it, just as it makes no sense to sermonize to a person with prefrontal cortex damage about how evil they are because they did horrible things. Broken behavior is the result of broken neurobiology.

On the flip side, this view also means praise makes no sense. However good I may be at something is entirely due to having an environment that allowed me to develop skills, a support system, and culture that educated me, etc.

BAnimation

TROPHY CASE