For folks who don’t work in the industry, it can be hard to imagine how the animation process works. Animators have the amazing ability to create compelling pieces of animated content that amuses, inspires, and motivates audiences. So, how does the production animation process work, and how long does animation take? Here, we describe how the magic happens through the process of animation.
The Animation Process
1. Concept Development & Pre-Production
Before we can create animated content through the animation process, your animation needs a compelling story. Whether you provide your animators with a brief or a fully formed narrative, the creatives will need to do some concept development. This initial phase often involves the creation of a storyboard, which outlines critical plot and action. Decisions also need to be made about the style that will be used. Pre-production tasks are carried out before the actual production begins and can include research, finalising the script, arranging any cast for voice recordings, and preparing an animation production schedule.
2. Product Phase
Once the idea has been generated and the production team is familiar with the story outline and objectives, it’s time to shift into production mode.
- Modelling and Rigging
- Creating 3D models of characters and environments: 3D modelling is the process of building your world, your scenes, and your characters, during which digital geometry is used to define form and structure.
- Rigging for movement and animation: Another critical part of the animation process, rigging enables animators to breathe life into characters. It involves creating a frame that generates realistic-looking movement.
- Animation and Motion
- Keyframe animation vs. motion capture: These two types of animation techniques influence your production style. Keyframe animation involves manually creating distinct poses called “keyframes” at specific points in time. An animator then fills in the scene between the keyframes to produce a smooth and continuous flow in the animation. Motion capture animation involves real movements being recorded and created into digital animations.
- Techniques for realistic and stylized motion: Animators have several tricks up their creative sleeves for producing realistic motions from animated characters. Animators use motion capture to create a basis for realism and carefully observe real-life subjects. Newer technologies also enable physics-based simulation. For more stylized productions, animators may use exaggerated or hyper-detailed animation techniques.
- Texturing and Lighting
- Applying textures to models for realism: Texture is applied to animation to make it realistic by adding surface detail and visual depth to objects and characters. The addition of texture can make surfaces look shiny with water, or rough and dry.
- Setting up lighting to enhance scenes: Lighting can be used during animation to create mood and help establish realism. It can create shadows or reflections to set your story in broad daylight or the darkness of a spooky graveyard.
- Rendering
- Converting 3D models into 2D images: The main activity of the animation process is often converting your 3D models into animated 2D images. The 3D renders provide a reference for the conversion into 2D while providing a guide for movement, angles, and scene composition.
- Time and resource management during rendering: Careful management is required during this stage as it is often the lengthiest.
- Sound Design and Music
- Integrating sound effects and voiceovers: Sound plays a critical part in any production, and although audiences might not notice the perfectly timed sound effects, they will undoubtedly notice when sounds are out of sync or not integrated into the activity on the screen. Sound provides continuity and makes an animation believable, while a voiceover adds meaning.
- Composing or selecting background music: Music sets the mood, whether by creating a sense of foreboding or fear or moving us to tears during a tender exchange between two animated characters. Adding the right music is an integral part of the animation process.
- Post-Production and Editing
- Final editing and compositing: The post-production phase involves final editing and splicing, ensuring the story flows and has a clear narrative and logic.
- Adding visual effects and final touches: During this stage of the animation process, any special effects are added to create a unique and expressive production.
- Review and Feedback
- Internal reviews and revisions: Animators will work together on a production, and an essential part of the animation process is for each contributor to check the elements they have worked on.
- Incorporating feedback from clients or audiences: We’re only happy with an animation we produce if you are. We always share our work for your comments and feedback. You may also seek input from a small sample group for testing.
Achieve Animation Success with The Studio Bridge
That’s our step-by-step guide to indie animation production, covering the activities that will bring your Studio Bridge animation to life. As you can see, many elements need to be added and reviewed as part of a comprehensive animation process. It pays to seek out a professional animator to ensure every element has been considered.
How long does it take to make animated movies? You might well wonder how long your animation project will take us. Many factors will influence how long a Studio Bridge animation will take to be completed. Customers ask us:
- How long does it take to animate 1 minute? Many hours of work go into producing even one minute of animation. It may take us up to a couple of weeks to make just one minute of animation.
- How long does it take to animate an episode? Creating a thirty-minute animation or episode of an animated series typically takes a couple of months to complete.
- How long does it take to make an animated movie? Some sources suggest it can take 4-6 years to complete an animated movie.
Our studio delivers unique digital solutions with adaptive design, post-production, animation, and packaging artwork services. We ensure on-time delivery and quality work, elevating your brand with our expertise. Check out some of our recent work or contact us to discuss your upcoming animation projects.