The Animation Process

First Stage - The Quote

We procure your CAD drawings, sketches, photos, ideas, or whatever you have available before starting any modeling or animation. We discuss the options, the style of animation, the technical specifications (like output Render size, final format/delivery). We consider the paint colors, materials, additional furniture, fittings, backgrounds, details, and whatever else is important to the visual story. A quote is then given based on this information, with the understanding that changes to the scope of the project will likely change the overall price. Tiny, incremental scope changes once the animation has begun in the software, known as scope creep are not typically accepted without additional cost, as it affects the time taken to complete the project.

Second Stage - Rough Story Board

The story board is then created to give a very rough (usually hand sketch) version of what the final will look like, and any key elements or views. This is given for review and feedback to the client. Now is the best time to change the scope, if needed*.

Third Stage - 3D Modeling

The scene is then constructed with 3D geometry to reflect the detail needed, including any custom made furniture, equipment, or similar items. The availability of CAD data usually decreases the modeling time - specifically if AutoCAD (.dwg) files are available, is drafted appropriately, and is to proper scale. Often the only elements that will be seen in the camera view are modeled - the rest (which wouldn't be seen) is just bloat, and not seen, therefore using unnecessary time and resources. Now is an OK time to change the scope of the project, if needed*.

Fourth Stage - Textures and Materials

Appropriate colors, textures, materials are now added to various elements in the scene - including ground, walls, equipment, background, sky. It is still OK to change the scope if needed*.

Fifth Stage - Animation

The camera is then animated, including any other object or texture animation. This can take some time to make it look the way you want - and will often go through a few variations to get the right feel.

Preview renders and previz videos are sent for approval and feedback at this stage. Now isn't the best time to change the scope of the project, but still possible*.

Sixth Stage - Lighting

Depending on the type of animation - whether it's a product or engineering technical animation, or an architectural animation, the lighting will either be simple or complex. This process can take the most amount of time in complex scenes, to get the right balance of light, shadows, and smooth looking results. This is a poor time to change the scope, but still possible*.

Seventh Stage - Render Testing

Now parts of the scene are rendered to make sure details are looking appropriate, shadows are where they should be, the lighting and shading is smooth (vs flickering), and the output is looking good and the way you want. Now is also a poor time to change the scope, but possible*.

Eighth Stage - Rendering

The scene is now rendered for the complete animation. As an example, lets consider a 60 second animation. Any movie or TV show that you see is actually a series of still images, changing ever so slightly 30 times per second. Obviously this is too fast for the eye to discern, so your eye assumes it's a real moving object. In 3D - it's the same thing. The scene is rendered out as 30 still images per second, with the camera and object motion changing ever so slightly. These individual frames can take anywhere from a few seconds to render, all the way up to 10-15 minutes per frame. Lets do the math: 60 second animation = 60s x 30 frames/s = 1800 frames, and if they take 1 minute to render each frame, that's 1800 minutes, or 30 hours.  This is the worst stage to change the scope - for obvious cost and deadline reasons*.

Ninth Stage - Final Video

Now those rendered images, called an image sequence, are added to the video editor timeline, where additional color correction is added if needed, glow, labels, logos, watermarks, and background music or voice overlay. This is then saved to a video file, which was predetermined at stage one. The video file(s) is (are) then typically send via FTP or webhost to you as a final video. for distribution on DVD, website, YouTube, etc.