Animatic and Storyboard

This process and production session was about how to get the important basic structures of an idea down on a storyboard and then how to use the drawings on the storyboard to create a basic animatic. The session was to help us get into the habit of getting ideas into the physical world in a format that is easy to animate from.

Storyboard

This is my storyboard for the animation for my cybernetic self project. Before starting the storyboard I made a list of keyframes that would tell the story of our animation if it was just still images. The list will now be the drawings of each scene with a description under each frame describing the movement in the scene. Finally in the storyboard I wrote down details for the camera angles and transitioning between scenes. When creating a storyboard it is best to keep in mind that it needs to be presented so a animator who has never seen the storyboard before can create a animation from it.

Feedback  - After finishing my storyboard I was told I shouldn't put information horizontally on the sides because of the simple fact of saving time for people having to turn the page to read it. Also instead of describing camera actions in text it is best to draw them within the frame as a diagram because it tells the reader more about what you would like to happen within the animation.  

Animatic

To create a animatic I scanned in the storyboard and then used Photoshop to cut and crop each drawing to then import them into After Effects as a folder. I dragged each image into the After Effects timeline and then organised them to show for so many frames and put them in chronological order. Now I have a idea that I can watch and review so I can make any changes if need be, also when I come to animate my idea I can use this animatic to animated in-between the key frames like filling in the blanks.

What Did I Learn?

This task has been really helpful to me because now I know what I can do with an idea I come up with that will be a big benefit when it comes to making the animation and reviewing the idea as a whole. I will be sure to use and get in the habit of using this method to present my ideas. Overall I learnt how to professionally create a storyboard with directions for camera actions that will happen in the animation, I also learnt how to create a animatic using my storyboard and I learnt how to use a feature within after effects that quickly sorts out layers into a order on the timeline that then can be played without the layers overlapping each other.