Creating an animation is a great way to express ideas, generate sales, but also convey emotions and connect with other people. There’s a lot of work that goes into the animation process, and it’s very important to ensure that you identify the ideal steps you must follow in order to complete the animation. With that in mind, here’s a quick rundown of the animation process and the stages that you must go through.
How to animate? We use Adobe After Effects (the latest version always!) but there are a few good options to choose from. We have written other articles on AE that you should read if you need help deciding, but for now here are the steps…
Gather all the information
Before you get started with the animation, you want to acquire as much information as possible. That includes the idea behind the animation, what you want to convey through it, if you want a certain voiceover accent, video duration and so on. These will be the building blocks for the entire process, and help you convey your ideas in an appropriate manner.
Creating the script
Once you have the brief and a general idea of what you have to focus on, you will need to create the script. This requires a lot of collaboration because it’s all about creating the right story and conveying a proper message.
Establishing style frames
Every story has its own ideas and style, so you want to figure out what frames are ideal here and what you want to work on. It will help make the process better and more cohesive, and the benefits can be second to none every time. You want to choose a few frames and then create coloured frames to see how the overall animation looks like in the end. Just like storyboarding, this step is optional to the solo 2D animator but something as simple as a collage will help you not just envision but see if your vision looks great in the real world.
Design your storyboard
This is helpful since it makes it easy for you to identify how the story looks and you can build upon that as you create the final form. You also want to show what actions are used within the shot, what sound effects you want, camera movements and so on.
If you are making a 2D animation in After Effects (that is our bread and butter), you may not need a storyboard. I believe they are an excellent way of planning a heavily organised/fictional project or making sure you are on the same page as your client. If you are creating for yourself, try skipping this step and letting the ideas flow whilst animating.
Find the right type of voiceover
When you are an animation, you do want someone to explain the story and what’s going on from a visual perspective. That’s why hiring a voiceover professional is very important. You want to see what type of voice works for your story, choose the right accent and so on.
Designing the visual elements
This is when the design and illustration process comes into play. Once the style frames and storyboard are approved, the animators need to create all the visual elements and prepare them for the animation.
The animation process
Now that all the elements are in place, you will need to find the ideal way to start animating everything and making sure that the experience is cohesive and very professional. It can take a long time for an animation to come to life, but the client can ask for updates and a rough form to see how it all works.
Adding music and designing sound
You do need to have great music for animation, so it’s crucial to have great sound design and songs. This will help improve the overall flow and also ensure the animation looks and sounds great.
After all these processes are handled, you then files are delivered and the customer will be able to use them on their website. A good animation needs to be distinctive, creative and exciting to watch. So there might be a few revisions based on the customer’s vision.
We can help…
If you are learning how to Animate to promote your new business/organisation with one of the most engaging methods out there, then give us a call! The last thing we want to do is ask you to not learn a skill and use us but, we will be happy to help finish your idea/polish and undertake any of the steps listed above. This means you can save money, learn a skill and your animation is still guaranteed to be professional.
No one makes an industry worthy animation at first! But you can with our little offer…
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