Pre-production steps

[fhuq001]

Hi guys, please excuse and endure the intro-- I got a local studio interested in producing a 10min 2D short of mine if i have all the pre-prod work done. This being my first foray into the animated world, I'm limited in my knowledge of the process (research I've been doing myself). Following are some of the confusion/questions:

1Beat sheets, Expression charts, in-betweening, etc -- any recommendation for a dummy-safe knowledge source about a step-by-step breakdown/explanation of these and the rest of the animation production process?

2. Character design and backgrounds - do they need to be done before or after/along the storyboards?
3. it'll be a ultra limited animation -- so do i even need to get character/background designs done separately other than the storyboards?

4. The Animatic - it's like a slideshow of detailed storyboard frames with a voiceover, right?

5. Again with the animatic; to indicate significant movements/actions etc, is showing detailed sb frames for the master shots and rough in between sketches a good idea?



Oh and I humbly accept the longest question asked award :)

[nauvice]

1. Animator's Survival Kit (http://www.amazon.com/Animators-Survival-Kit-Richard-Williams/dp/0571202284) is a GREAT book that covers everything you just asked and more. It's both a dummy's guide and a encyclopedia for the already trained. Im on the same boat as you, doing my own research and that was the best thing I stumbled on.

Beat sheets, I dont use but they are helpful. Its a chart sheet where you list everything you're animating. Im not too sure since I dont use it.

Expression charts... its practice and a reference guide of what your character looks like doing different facial expressions (happy, angry, sad, shocked etc)

In betweening is what goes between a main action. For example, you're animating a guy picking something up, your main animations (there's a word for those that I cant think of right now) would be the guy standing, the guy touching the item he's about to pick up, and the middle frame of him being bent over. The in betweens are the secondary frames between him standing and bending, and then of him bending and reaching for the item on the floor...

Lastly Google and wikipidia are your friends... you could have easily find definitions of the words above, better than what I gave you.


2. That's your own preference, though preferably its should be before. Doing it that way helps whoever is doing the storyboard picture in their head the scene their about to illustrate

3. The more effort you put in, the better the overall project will turn out, I would say yes but its not a written law :)

4. Correct, the Animatic is like taking the storyboard and making a slideshow out of it. You can add sound to see if they sync well.

5. That's a good idea, but to save time... to indicate significant movement try illustrating a motion blur (like in comics artists draw motion lines behind their character) or just draw the first and last step of that significant movement with an arrow between them.