![]() ![]() Simply put, because injecting an additional frame at the beginning of a storyboard means that all of the subsequent frames must be nudged over 1 space. “I need to add just ONE frame in very beginning,” they continue, “that’s not so bad is it?” They smile insidiously, knowing FULL WELL that their simple, reasonable request, will take an hour to implement. Oops! I forgot that we need one additional frame.” Nuclear bombs explode in my head. He/she mulls it over and says “Looks really great, Max. ![]() I export jpgs of each page, usually 4 to a page, in vertical format, and then compile those pages into a pdf, and present that to the director for final approval. Text very often accompanies storyboard drawings and sometimes many short paragraphs of text will accompany each drawing. Usually this is done in Photoshop, due to it’s stability and high performance text tools. Careful consideration, from start to finish, is given to the each frame and it’s place in the presentation… the drawing portion is finished, and now I lay them out in sequential order: frame 1, 2, 3, 4 etc, page after page, sometimes 15 pages worth, as has been typical of my more extreme cases. This brings me to the underlying reason that sequencing is such a pain- REVISIONS. I understand the motivation, and so I do my best to accommodate. So, whatever they can do to make those storyboards look more special, must be done. The advertising agencies award jobs based in part on the presentations of my clients, and storyboards are a big part of that. This is usually part of their strategy of getting an edge on the competition, due to the competitive bidding nature of the industry. I have many clients, and each wants their boards to look have the “signature” layout of the studio, and each believes their method is best (it isn’t) or more in keeping with “the standard” (there isn’t one). The wild differences in layout styles between production houses cause huge problems for freelance storyboard artists in the commercial realm. Not nearly the kind of variation you see in storyboarding. As by means of contrast, I invite you also to look at the google image searches for “screenplay” and “sheet music,” to see for yourself the relatively harmony and unity of those layout structures. So here’s the troubling conclusion: There is no codified, generalized, accepted, time-tested, traditional, normal way to storyboard. Every studio, even major studios, have subtle and sometimes drastic differences in the ways they want their storyboards sequenced. Each artist has their own preferred way of working. Some people like to arrange their panels vertically, some horizontally, some have 3 across, some have 6 down, some like 8 to a page, 9 to a page, 12 to a page, 24 to a page etc etc. Just do a google image search for “storyboards,” and take a moment to see all the billions of ways people storyboard. It seems simple, until you actually try it. I call this layout process “sequencing,” and believe me, it can be a real headache. One of the biggest challenges in storyboarding is, believe it or not, arranging the finished panels, or frames, onto a page. But it doesn’t go far enough, not nearly far enough. ![]() The program really does a good job of meeting the needs of a highly complex and infinitely variable and rapidly evolving approach to animation production, and I’m sure it works as advertised in terms of syncing with the other Toon Boom offerings like Animate or Flip Book or whatever.īut I don’t regularly use Storyboard Pro, and doubt I will start anytime soon, because it rarely brings any utility to the field of commercial storyboarding, and it really comes down to the program’s inability to truly fine tune the page presentation layout and sequencing options, even though, as mentioned above, the program does attempt to offer a wide range of options. It’s main features include very basic drawing tools (I don’t think I’m being unfair to compare their early offerings to something visually akin to MS Paint), fairly robust formatting options, and a fairly flexible user interface. So Storyboard Pro is basically the only player in this game, currently. Other applications exist, most are free, and most are rather hideous-looking and offer no drawing tools. ![]() I’ll take a second, if you are not familiar, to introduce Storyboard Pro- to my knowledge the only serious program to attempt to tackle the unique challenges of storyboarding. You might be thinking “Don’t most drawing programs use or at least offer bitmap drawing capabilities anyway? Bit maps are just pixels, right?” You’d be right to assume that, and this feature is long overdue. The email touts the many new features, the most significant of which are the new “bitmap drawing” tools. I was working onsite yesterday and got an email notification from Toon Boom announcing their new update to the successful and highly-lauded application, Storyboard Pro, now in version 4. ![]()
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