The Animation Timeline: Step-by-Step Process Members  

Get on top of the process and plan out your production timeline with our handy step by step guide, so everyone knows what to expect from start to finish. Then you can focus on the fun part, the creating!? 

Introduction

Whether you?re an illustrator or animator, understanding how best to plot out your timeline will help everything run smoothly. You?ve got the creative brief from the client, but where do you start, what order should things happen in and who's involved?  

Step 1: Understanding Your Deliverables

The first step is to agree on all the final deliverables and specs so you know precisely what you?re aiming for. Getting the finer details pinned down upfront means you can work in the right formats, sizes and methods from the very start and save on unexpected client requests later, avoiding unnecessary extra work or uncomfortable conversations. So, this is always step one. Use this checklist below to work out what info you?re missing: 

• Final Deliverables ? how many, including iterations of the same work? 

• Aspect Ratios and Resolution ? e.g. 16:9 ratio at 1920x1080.? 

• Length ? how long will the animation be and are additional shorter edits needed? 

• File Formats ? how does the final animation need to be delivered e.g. GIF, MOV (full quality), MP4/MPEG (compressed), and what file format the animator needs for still illustrations e.g. layered PSD file. 

• File Size ? are there any restrictions e.g. less than 4MB 

• Sound ? will there be a voice over (VO), music or sound effects (SFX)??? 

• Accessibility ? will subtitles or closed captions be needed? 

• Branding ? are there any logos, fonts