Animation Process: A Step-by-Step Guide To What the Process Entails

Animation is one of the most effective ways to communicate a brand's message to its audience engagingly and entertainingly. Animations are a powerful way to communicate a lot of information in a visually appealing manner, making them an affordable option to effectively reach the audience without paying hefty fees for liability insurance, casting, and so on. In this blog, we’ll explore the step-by-step animation process, from pre-production to post-production.

A brief history of the animation production process 

Animation, which we often regard as a recent modern medium, has been around in different forms even during pre-film days! In ancient times, toys like the phenakistoscope used sequences of images to create the illusion of movement.

During the late 1800s and early 1900s, we saw the birth of film animation. One of the earliest examples is from Emile Cohl, known as the father of the animated cartoon, who used hand-drawn figures on film. Later on, studios began forming and employing teams of animators to create a more assembly-line style of production.

The 1920s to 1950s are considered a golden period for animation, where Walt Disney's work, like Snow White (1937), revolutionised animation with the use of ‘cel’ animation (transparent sheets with characters) and innovative storytelling. Gradually, techniques like rotoscoping emerged as a more realistic feel. 

Gradually, as technology advanced and with the introduction of computers, more advanced techniques like the 2D Animation Process and 3D animations emerged that offered flexibility, special effects, and greater creative control to the producer. 

What are the steps involved in the animation process?

The steps involved in the animation process can be categorised into three phases:

• Pre-production

• Production

• Post-production

Pre-production: this is the initial phase of the animation process; it begins when the project is approved to be carried forward and involves rendering, concept development, and storyboarding. 

Researching: Research is the first stage of any process. First, you need to be absolutely clear on certain things, such as understanding the brand in depth, its aim in creating the animation video, knowing who your audience is, their specific requirements, and ultimately, a point where the whole team comes together to research and discuss how they are going to start the project. 

Concept development: After your initial research is done, the next step is pre-production. This involves developing the concept for the animation video. Brainstorming ideas, creating storyboards, and outlining the narrative for the video. A realistic video production company provides you with a range of options and lets you choose the concept that matches your brand's motive, its strategic goals, and its targeted audience effectively. 

Scripting: Wiring a cohesive script for your video means that no matter how complex the concept is, developing a clear goal and simple script is easy to understand and will let your message shine through and effectively reach the audience. Some brands skip this stage; however, this is an important aspect of letting your message shine effectively. It's like a foundation for your video and can save you a lot of time and effort in the post-production phase. 

Storyboarding: The next stage of pre-production is storyboarding. It is the process where the visual version of your script takes place, and you can better organise your story. Storyboarding is extremely helpful in composition, framing, and sequence of shots, providing a visual blueprint for the animation. It's a roadmap that the whole production team follows for the rest of the project. Storyboarding helps in allowing clients to visualise how the video will look at the end and prevent inconsistencies, mistakes, and unnecessary delays. 

2. Production:

It is the stage where the actual animation is created based on the plans and designs developed during the pre-production stage. 

Animation: It is the process of bringing characters and objects within the approved style frame together. It's time to start working on the design of the different graphic assets. The Animation Process 2D and 3D is highly technical and depends on tools. It's the most complex stage where you have to bring ideas to life. 

Animation employs sophisticated software as they import illustrations and start rigging them. Building a skeletal structure can control the movement of each part of the illustration at specific points in time to create the animation. ‘

Using other concepts like keyframes, rigging, inbetweening, and interpolation. The team finally reviewed the animation and exported it in a suitable format. 

Background and props: Background artists and prop designers create the environments and objects that populate the animation. This might involve painting digital backgrounds, modelling 3D environments, or crafting physical props for stop-motion animation.

Adding sound effects: The visual part of the video is one of the most important aspects of the animation video. The team edits and synchronises the video recording, sound effects, and music with its visual counterpart. Music and audio quality can make or break an animated video. The team strives to give you the best results and output. 

3. Post-production:

Post-production is the final stage of the animation process. This stage includes finishing touches that are added, and the animation is made lively.  

Editing: editing is one of the crucial stages for assembling the animation sequences, adding transitions, and refining the timing and pacing of the animation. The picture, sound, music, sound mixing, and visual impact are all created. Editors work closely with 2D And 3D Animation Services to ensure that the final cut aligns with the original vision and storytelling goals.

Colour grading: the process of adjusting the colours and tones of the animation is called colour grading. Colour grading is done to emphasise the visual tone, determine brightness, and contrast saturation, and maintain colour balance to achieve the desired look and feel. 

Rendering: Rendering is the process that takes models, animations, textures, lights, and other scene objects that produce the final image to make up an animated movie by calculating how the light bounces around the virtual scene. Rendering may involve exporting the animation as a video file, image sequence, or digital asset for distribution and viewing.

Conclusion 

In conclusion, the animation process is a multi-faceted journey encompassing pre-production, production, and post-production stages. From concept development to final rendering, each step plays a crucial role in bringing characters, stories, and worlds to life. By following this step-by-step guide, animators can create compelling and immersive animated content that captivates audiences and communicates messages effectively.