Tradigital

What Does Tradigital Mean?

Tradigital refers to the melding or combination of the traditional and computer based (digital) methods used to create something. The term is an amalgamation of the words "traditional" and "digital" and was coined in the early 90s by Judith Moncrieff, a Pacific Northwest College of Art artist and teacher who invented and taught this medium at her school.

Techopedia Explains Tradigital

Tradigital was originally used to refer to the techniques used in creating images using both traditional and digital methods, but the term has been adapted in various fields, like marketing and engineering. The word is now colloquially used as an adjective to describe something that combines traditional and new (digital) concepts.

It went mainstream, due to Jeffrey Katzenberg’s use in the term "tradigital animation" to refer to new animation techniques that blend computer graphics and traditional cell animation techniques. Katzenberg mentioned Toy Story and Shrek, as well as many other titles, as examples of tradigital animation, which he defined as a seamless blend of two and three-dimensional (3-D) animation techniques.

Tradigital is also used in printing, known as "tradigital printing," where traditional printing processes, like UV photo transfers to silk screens, are produced using computer generated positives. Other techniques use woodcuts, lithographs and other methods combined with digital methods, like computer printing. There is no single process in this area and most, if not all, are still experimental and relatively new.