Editing South Park (section)

===Animation===
[[File:South Park production comparison.png|thumb|upright=0.66|alt=Montage showing the stages of an animation process: On top, a simple black and white sketch of a male child in a rocket kiddie-ride, while another young child stands next to the ride and reluctantly holds the rider's hand. In the middle, stock animation characters reflecting the sketch shown at top, sans background characters. At bottom, a screenshot of a fully animated frame showing the same event, complete with characters and arcade games in the background|The various stages of production (from top to bottom): the storyboard sketch, the CorelDRAW props with stock character models, and a frame from the fully rendered episode, "[[Super Fun Time]]"]]
The show's style of animation is inspired by the paper cut-out cartoons made by [[Terry Gilliam]] for ''[[Monty Python's Flying Circus]]'', of which Parker and Stone have been lifelong fans.<ref name="paulson" /><ref name="time"/><ref name="faq-18apr2001">{{cite web|url=https://southpark.cc.com/fans/faq/archives.php?month=4&year=2001 |title=FAQ: April 2001 |access-date=December 21, 2008 |date=March 18, 2001 |publisher=Comedy Central |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090328120915/http://www.southparkstudios.com/fans/faq/archives.php?month=4&year=2001 |archive-date=March 28, 2009 }}</ref> [[Construction paper]] and traditional [[stop motion]] [[cutout animation]] techniques were used in the original animated shorts and in the pilot episode. Subsequent episodes have been produced by [[computer animation]], providing a similar look to the originals while requiring a fraction of the time to produce. Before computer artists begin animating an episode, a series of [[Traditional animation|animatics]] drawn in [[Toon Boom]] are provided by the show's storyboard artists.<ref name="apple" /><ref>
{{cite web
 |url=https://southpark.cc.com/clips/228729 
 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090618072029/http://www.southparkstudios.com/clips/228729 
 |url-status=dead 
 |archive-date=June 18, 2009 |title=Part 2: Storyboard 
 |date=Spring 2009 
 |publisher=Comedy Central
 |access-date=June 25, 2009 }}Video interview with show storyboard artist Keo Thongkham
</ref>

The characters and objects are composed of simple geometrical shapes and [[primary color|primary]] and [[secondary color]]s. Most child characters are the same size and shape, and are distinguished by their clothing, hair and skin colors, and headwear.<ref name="tvamerica" /> Characters are mostly presented two-dimensionally and from only one angle. Their movements are animated in an intentionally jerky fashion, as they are purposely not offered the same free range of motion associated with hand-drawn characters.<ref name="growsup2" /><ref name="method" /><ref name=autogenerated2>{{cite news|author=Abbie Bernstein |title=South Park – Volume 2 |publisher=AVRev.com |date=October 27, 1998 |url=http://www.avrev.com/dvd-movie-disc-reviews/tv-shows/south-park-volume-2.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090718231814/http://www.avrev.com/dvd-movie-disc-reviews/tv-shows/south-park-volume-2.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=July 18, 2009 |access-date=April 30, 2008 }}</ref> Occasionally, some non-fictional characters are depicted with photographic cutouts of their actual head and face in lieu of a face reminiscent of the show's traditional style. Canadians on the show are often portrayed in an even more minimalist fashion; they have simple beady eyes, and the top halves of their heads simply flap up and down when the characters speak.<ref name="mcfarland2" />

When the show began using computers, the cardboard cutouts were scanned and re-drawn with [[CorelDRAW]], then imported into [[PowerAnimator]], which was used with [[Silicon Graphics|SGI]] workstations to animate the characters.<ref name="apple" /><ref name="method" /> The workstations were linked to a 54-processor [[render farm]] that could render 10 to 15 [[shot (filmmaking)|shots]] an hour.<ref name="apple" /> Beginning with [[South Park (season 5)|season five]], the animators began using [[Autodesk Maya|Maya]] instead of PowerAnimator.<ref name="faq-14may2001">{{cite web|url=https://southpark.cc.com/news/712d55/faq-do-you-still-use-construction-paper-to-animate-the-show|title=FAQ: May 2001|access-date=December 19, 2008|date=May 14, 2001|publisher=Comedy Central|archive-date=October 18, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141018105007/http://southpark.cc.com/blog/2013/06/10/faq-do-you-still-use-construction-paper-to-animate-the-show|url-status=live}}</ref> As of 2012, the studio ran a 120-processor render farm that can produce 30 or more shots an hour.<ref name="apple" />

PowerAnimator and Maya are high-end programs mainly used for [[3D computer graphics]], while co-producer and former animation director [[Eric Stough]] notes that PowerAnimator was initially chosen because its features helped animators retain the show's "homemade" look.<ref name="method" /> PowerAnimator was also used for making some of the show's visual effects,<ref name="method" /> which are now created using [[Motion (software)|Motion]],<ref name="apple" /> a newer graphics program created by [[Apple, Inc.]] for their [[Mac OS X]] [[operating system]]. The show's visual quality has improved in recent seasons,<ref name="growsup2" /> though several other techniques are used to intentionally preserve the cheap cutout animation look.<ref name="fortune" /><ref name="cheesy">{{cite news|url=https://www.wired.com/1997/09/it-aint-easy-making-south-park-cheesy/|title=It Ain't Easy Making South Park Cheesy|access-date=February 21, 2022|author=Tanner, Mike|date=September 3, 1997|magazine=[[Wired (magazine)|Wired]]|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090720072446/http://www.wired.com/culture/lifestyle/news/1997/09/6558|archive-date=July 20, 2009}}</ref><ref name="ars3">{{cite web|url=https://arstechnica.com/features/1999/07/sp-interview/3/|title=The Ars Technica South Park interview|access-date=February 21, 2022|author= Evil|date=July 26, 1999|website=Ars Technica|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060326171426/http://arstechnica.com/articles/culture/sp-interview.ars/3 |archive-date=March 26, 2006 }}</ref>

A few episodes feature sections of [[live-action]] footage, while others have incorporated other styles of animation. Portions of the [[South Park (season 8)|season eight]] (2004) premiere "[[Good Times with Weapons]]" are done in [[anime]] style, while the [[South Park (season 10)|season 10]] episode "[[Make Love, Not Warcraft]]" is done partly in [[machinima]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.machinima.com/article/view&id=459 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080805030811/http://www.machinima.com/article/view%26id%3D459 |archive-date=August 5, 2008 |title="Make Love, Not Warcraft": Q&A with Frank Agnone, J.J. Franzen, and Eric Stough. |access-date=December 19, 2008 |date=November 15, 2006 |publisher=[[Machinima.com]] |url-status=dead }}</ref> The [[South Park (season 12)|season 12]] episode "[[Major Boobage]]", a homage to the 1981 animated film ''[[Heavy Metal (film)|Heavy Metal]]'', implements scenes accomplished with [[rotoscoping]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://southpark.cc.com/guide/1203/making_boobage/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080729223233/http://www.southparkstudios.com/guide/1203/making_boobage/ |archive-date=July 29, 2008 |title=Major Boobage: Behind The Scenes |access-date=May 23, 2009 |date=December 2008 |publisher=Comedy Central |url-status=dead }}</ref>