Sharing of the minds is the secret to our success. Collaborating with our clients through all phases of a project’s production cultivates informed solutions and award-winning animation.
Foundation
It all starts with understanding your needs.
Discovery
The first step in developing a solution for our clients is determining what their needs are and if we are suited to meet them. We start with a ‘discovery’ call to learn about the client’s goals, science, intended application, audience, budget, and timeline constraints. We share similar works to generate discussion on style and complexity, and walk through each phase of production to level set expectations. The scope, budget, and completion date for the project are discussed during this exploratory phase of the project.
Kick-off
When the project proposal has been executed, the fun begins. Our creative and project management leads select the talent best-suited for the project and the team meets with the client to brainstorm on creative direction and set expectations around deliverables. We identify what reference materials, branding guidelines, and/or product files the client will need to provide, and walk the client through the production schedule, which lays out milestones for delivering drafts of the script, storyboard, and animation. The schedule also accounts for client reviews of each draft and sets a date for final delivery.
Script Development
Production begins with our medical writers reviewing the client literature and researching the science supporting the solution, then masterfully writing a script, including narration that tells the story of the animation and descriptions of the visuals to be seen onscreen with each line of narration. As scientific communicators they are experts at ensuring the science is accurate, comprehensible, and told with visual interest. We recommend at least two drafts of the script, incorporating client review feedback into each consecutive draft.
“Once you crack the script, everything else follows.” ~ Ridley Scott
With a client-approved script in hand, our talented animators take over production and bring the story to life by crafting a visual experience that both engages and educates the viewer.
This next phase of production starts with creating a visual storyboard and finishes with a progressive series of animation drafts that culminate in a final masterpiece.
Animation Development
Solutions are rooted in great storytelling.
Storyboard
Our animators add imagery to the script, depicting visually what is to be seen onscreen with each line of narration. The style, branding, 3D models, and scene transitions are developed during this storyboard phase of production.
Creativity and experience drive visual impact.
We recommend a black-and-white, hand-drawn initial draft of the storyboard, allowing the client to focus on content and storytelling.
This will be followed by two additional color drafts, incorporating client review feedback into each consecutive draft. During the color storyboard phase, we begin to work on color palettes, environments, 3D scene compositions, models, and overall aesthetic.
Animatic
Innovation and mastery of our craft bring everything to life.
Once the storyboard has been approved, our animators develop rough cuts, or drafts, of the animation, called ‘animatics’. We recommend three animatics, incorporating client review feedback into each consecutive animatic.
During this phase of development the voice-over talent and music are selected, the narration is recorded, and all of the elements of the animation are set in motion.
A1
This is the client’s first opportunity to see everything in motion. For the first animatic (“A1”) deliverable, we export the scenes using a low-resolution, software preview format to save time rendering. This allows our team to focus efforts on the crucial elements of 3D animation:
- object movement and appearance
- camera motion
- development of environments
- scene timing and transitions
- layering in the audio/narration track
A2
During production of the second animatic, our animation team incorporates any feedback from the client’s review of the A1 and focuses efforts on improving the overall aesthetic of the animation. This includes:
- refining lighting and materials
- finalizing models
- perfecting camera and object motion
- layering in the music track
A3
The third animatic is the last chance for the client to review and submit feedback before we wrap up production. This iteration achieves the final look, including special effects that take the animation from “good” to “great”.
Final Delivery
The final, approved animatic is delivered as an HD (1080p) video in the client’s desired file format, with the option to include a handful of high-resolution stills from video to be used for print/marketing materials.
After delivery of the final, our team follows up with the client on their derivative needs, which can include closed-captioning files (.SRT) to accompany the video, a version of the video with embedded captions, translated versions of the video, and trade show booth graphics derived from the video.
Our pride and reputation are in everything we deliver.
“You can’t use up creativity. The more you use, the more you have.” ~ Maya Angelou
Our creative team invests time and talent into the animations and illustrations we deliver. That’s often weeks, if not months, spent working hand-in-hand with our clients to complete a project. We do it because it’s what drives our creativity. Our repeat clients do it because they love our work and how we work with them.
