We make it easy to hire people online. Get a money-back guarantee, awesome workspace, clear terms in plain English, upfront bills with itemized PDF receipts.
All purchases (except Tips) are subject to a non-refundable Handling Fee of $3.49. This pays for platform overheads including admin, hosting, marketing, data costs and 24×7×365 support.
Access skilled cel animators who create traditional 2D characters, object and backgrounds in two-dimensional storyboards in Toon Boom Animate, Blender, Adobe After Effects and Stop Motion Studio. From pre-production to making the rough animation, cleaning up the animation (tracing), inbetweening, coloring, painting the drawings, compositing, and final export of 2D animated characters. Got a 2D Animation project? Hire the best 2D Animation freelancers with the right skills and background in April 2025 to get your 2D Animation job done quickly. Schedule a consultation with a 2D Animation freelancer today. Read less
2D animation storyboarding is a crucial step in the production process of animated films, TV shows, or video content. Here’s a detailed explanation of how it works:
What is Storyboarding in 2D Animation?
Storyboarding is the process of creating a visual script or a sequence of drawings, called "storyboards," that outline the key moments of the animation. These drawings serve as a blueprint for the entire animation, showing how scenes will flow together, character movements, camera angles, dialogue, and timing. Essentially, storyboards translate the script into visual form, helping to organize the narrative visually before any actual animation begins.
Steps in 2D Animation Storyboarding:
1. Pre-Production Preparation:
Script Analysis: The storyboard artist reads the script to understand the story, characters, and key actions. They might work closely with the writer or director to clarify any ambiguities.
Thumbnail Sketching: Initial rough sketches or thumbnails are created to plan out the sequence of scenes. This step involves deciding on shot types, camera movements, and basic compositions.
2. Creating Storyboards:
Drawing Panels: Storyboards are drawn in panels, similar to comic strips. Each panel represents a shot or a moment within a scene.
Shots and Angles: Artists decide on the types of shots (wide, close-up, medium, etc.) to convey the action or emotion effectively.
Pacing and Timing: Panels are numbered, and sometimes arrows or notes are used to indicate the flow or timing of the sequence. This helps in understanding how long each shot should last.
Character Poses and Expressions: Characters are shown in various poses to match the narrative or emotional beats of the scene. Expressions are critical to convey the character's emotions.
3. Detailing the Boards:
Dialogue and Sound Cues: Speech bubbles or text annotations are added to indicate dialogue. Sound effects or music cues might also be noted if crucial to the scene.
Camera Directions: Instructions for camera movements like pans, zooms, or cuts are added to guide how the scene will be shot in animation terms.
4. Refinement:
Revisions: Storyboards often go through several revisions. Feedback from directors, animators, or other stakeholders might lead to changes in framing, character actions, or the overall sequence.
Color Coding: Sometimes, different colors are used to indicate different elements like character movements, background, or special effects.
5. Storyboard Presentation:
The storyboard is presented, often in a meeting where the director, producers, and key creatives review the flow of the story. This might be done with a "pitch" where the storyboard artist or director walks through the story, often using the boards to "act out" the scenes.
6. Animatic Creation:
Animatic: After approval, the storyboards might be turned into an animatic, which is a rough video version of the storyboard with timing, basic movements, and sometimes temporary voices or music. This step helps visualize the pacing and anticipate how the final animation will feel.
7. Use in Production:
Reference for Animators: The approved storyboard serves as the primary reference for layout artists, animators, and background artists, ensuring everyone is on the same page regarding the visual storytelling.
8. Adaptation and Flexibility:
While storyboards are detailed, there's always room for adaptation. Animators might suggest tweaks based on the practicalities of animation or new creative insights.
Tools and Techniques:
Traditional vs. Digital: Storyboards can be done on paper or digitally using software like Storyboard Pro, Adobe Animate, or even general drawing tablets with software like Photoshop.
Collaboration: Modern tools allow for easy sharing and collaboration, where changes can be tracked and comments can be left directly on the storyboard.
Benefits of Storyboarding:
Visualizes the Story: Helps everyone involved see how the story will unfold visually.
Cost and Time Efficiency: Identifies potential problems or unnecessary scenes before full production begins, saving time and resources.
Communication Tool: Acts as a common language among the diverse team members from writers to animators.
In essence, 2D animation storyboarding is about pre-visualizing the animation to ensure a coherent, engaging, and well-paced story, setting the stage for the actual animation process.
