Pre-production, in most cases, kicks off the making of an animated feature or series. Sometimes, that begins with a fever dream, but that’s another story for another day. That initial creative work, that ideation, that’s where creators nail down the story beats, outline characters, and design the world of their project. Once upon a time, that work was done entirely by hand. But, today, it’s a different story.
Modern pre-production comes with new challenges, as artists working remotely use different tools to create and deliver iterations of their work. Managing the process efficiently and cost-effectively is a demanding task. But studios are seeing a huge improvement thanks to tools like Foundry’s Flix, a story development hub designed for pre-production asset, workload, and review management.
To lift the lid on animation pre-production, AWN spoke to Flix’s Lead Product Manager, Chris Andrewartha, and Associate Product Manager, Caterina Malfè, who have helped streamline pre-production workflows at some of the world’s biggest animation studios. In this brief primer, they’ll share insights into what pre-production for animation entails, discuss the processes involved, reveal how to overcome the biggest difficulties that come up, and more. And for this story, we’re focused on film and TV projects.
Read more at: Animation World Network