CG or traditional animation?

[CryptiK]

What would be your pick. I would pick traditional(Transformers,TF:A, Armada and RiD) over CG. The CG in BW was ok to me at the time but it seemed it got worse when I saw it in Energon and Cybertron. Yes CG would have come along way since then but we arent going to get a great looking CG cartoon as I believe it isnt at the good enough level. Traditional animation does have its downsides as seen in The Transformers the sizes and animation errors but it overall looks a lot better than CG. What are your thoughts?

[SilverDragon]

I can't actually decide. Traditional animation has been good in the past, particularly with Animated, but CG has also been used well, as in Beast Wars and Beast Machines. The two have only been really sub-par when they were combined in Energon.

As I see it, 2D drawn animation is good for simple designs, such as in G1 and Animated, and 3D is useful for complex designs which would be hell to draw repeatedly.

[GoktimusPrime]

I like both cel-animation and CG animation... what's more important to me is _good_ animation. You can have good and crap cel and CG animated cartoons.

he CG in BW was ok to me at the time but it seemed it got worse when I saw it in Energon and Cybertron.

The CG animation in Beast Wars was excellent for its time and Beast Wars even won an Emmy Award for best special effects in an animated television series in 1998!

Super Link (Energon) and Galaxy Force (Cybertron) are CGI and cel animation hybrids, with Super Link using cel shaded CGI. They're also animated by different animation studios from Beast Wars and Beast Machines. Beast Wars and Beast Machines were animated by a Canadian company called Mainframe Entertainment whereas Super Link and Galaxy Force were animated by Japanese animé studios. Super Link was animated by Studio Galapogas whose work I'm not familiar with, and Galaxy Force was animated by Studio Gonzo who are a pretty good animation studio and can use CG well with cel animation -- but I suspect that TakaraTOMY gave them a small budget, hence why their animation in Galaxy Force looks so cheap. Beast Wars had a limited (and dwindling budget) too, so I think that Mainframe did an amazing job considering.

Other examples of Studio Gonzo's animation include:
Vandread
最終兵器彼女 (She, The Ultimate Weapon)
G.I. Joe Sigma 6
Romeo x Juliet

Yes CG would have come along way since then but we arent going to get a great looking CG cartoon as I believe it isnt at the good enough level.

I'd be thrilled to see a Transformers cartoon animated at the same standard as Clone Wars.

[Sam]

I like both ... I think both have their own strengths.

[i_amtrunks]

There is a good argument for and against both.

However if done right (like BW and even BM) If you can get the character modelling and motion animations looking good on the first go, then CGI is a cheaper option the longer a series is.

[5FDP]

I would have to vote for traditional animation. As someone said, over time CG can look very outdated and while most CG cartoons made today look fantastic, they will surely age over time as technology progresses.

Just look at some of the old Disney cartoons produced in the 50's. These are now over 60 years old and still look great.