Pre-production

1. The idea

At this stage of the process, the client presents the main idea and the purpose of the project he wants Pencil Castle to create on his behalf.

2. The production brief

This is an extremely essential document that Pencil Castle Pictures forms during a meeting with the client. In this document the main idea, the purpose of the project and every possible detail known to the client that could serve the project, is written down on paper. This is very important because this document serves as guide and reference for all the working team throughout the process of the project.

3. The Contract of Agreement

This Signed Contract of Agreement will include the project brief, the timetable for the separate tasks of the project, the payment plan and the agreement on the terms and policies in services and privacy of the information discussed. This is the most important document before the official commence of the project and both the Pencil Castle representative and the Client need to be present and mutually agree on this document.
* An Advance Payment of the 25% of the Final Cost is Essential at this stage. – The Deposit is Not Refundable.

4. Thumbnail sketches

Those are the first rough sketches that are made at the beginning of the pre- production process, in order to depict in small size (the size of a thumb) and in a quick way, the ideas, the staging and the flow of the story of the produced 3d animation work.

5. The storyboard

Storyboard Pages consist of more detailed bigger-sized pictures that depict in a more explanatory way the action and the story in images. An image is created for every Shot of every Scene of action within the scenario of the animation movie. The purpose of the storyboard is to depict in images all the action of the characters, the camera movement and the staging of the movie, so that all the work that needs to be done for every shot, will be clear to all the members of the production team and the client. What is more, it is extremely important that all the mistakes, changes and arrangements of the movie, will be done at this stage, in order to avoid mistakes and loss of time for producing work that won’t make it to the final moving picture.

6. The Animatic

The Animatic, is a video that is created at this stage of the production, including all the approved storyboard images of the shots and scenes of the movie, combined with sound effects and the music selected to accompany the action. This video is very important because all the production team and the client can check and correct, at a very early stage, mistakes at the story of the film, the pacing of action, the editing etc. In live action film-making the editing of the video is made at the end of the production process. However, in 3D Animation, the editing is made almost at the beginning of the project, because we need to know exactly how much time and 3D work every shot of the moving image need to be produced.
* A Deposit of the 15% of the Final Cost is Essential at this stage.

7. Concept Art & Design

At this stage of the production, sketches and fully rendered images are created in order to present visually the characters and the environment that exist in the imaginary world of every 3d animation work. It is a phase of research and style experimentation that will define the final look and aesthetic of the film.

8. Proof of Concept

The production team, after consulting the client, will create a Test Shot of a Small Fully Rendered 3D animation piece of work, in which the character, a part of the environment and their aesthetic will be presented with the use of an indicative movement. This test will provide the team with information about how the final film will actually look and how the team will need to handle the process and pipeline of the production in order to produce effectively and within the time limit, the final art work.
* A Deposit of the 10% of the Final Cost is Essential at this stage.

Main production

9. Character Modelling

At this stage of the production the 2D designs of the characters are transferred in a 3d dimensional space, inside a 3d software, in order to get shaped and modelled in 3 dimensions. Modelling is a demanding process and for this reason the character designs should be precise and clear in order for the modelers to understand the structure of the characters.

10. Modelling of the Environment

Modelling the environment and its objects and props, is also a time consuming and demanding process. The scale of the environment in comparison to the character, the level of detail that will include and the way it will be modeled, it depends on what purpose this environment will serve on the shot of the film that it will be created for. Scenes that have a lot of quick action and animation do not need a very detailed environment as long as the eye cannot see all that detail in such a little amount of time. It is essential that both the client and the production team will discuss the function of the environment before its production, in order to save precious time, work and money.
* A Deposit of the 15% of the Final Cost is Essential at this stage.

11. Rigging

Rigging is the process of the creation of 3d generated Bones and Bone structure to our 3d Models. Without this bone structure, the characters cannot perform complicated action. Rigging is a technical and demanding process and is extremely important to be completed successfully and the rig to be tested many times on the final model.

12. Skinning

Skinning is the process of applying and bonding the bones-rig of the character, to the skin of the 3d model of the character. It is a process in which the Rigger should select by painting each part of the skin of the 3d model and chose its interaction with the bones that exist underneath. Again, it is extremely important that the skinning of the rig to the character will be done with great care and attention to detail, in order for the character to move as it’s supposed to.

13. UV Mapping

This is the Process of Unwrapping the Skin of the 3D modeled character and lay it down in the 2D surface of our screen. The skin surface of our 3d model consists of polygons. Those polygons if unwrapped and cut correctly, can fit into a 2D surface, which later can be painted and textured, so that the character can appear alive to the viewer’s eyes.

14. Texturing

During the Texturing process, 2D digital paintings are created for the 3d generated model, in order to serve as surfaces of its skin, hair, clothes etc. Those textures should be carefully created because they will define the final look and aesthetic of the character.

15. Staging

After the modeling and texturing of the 3D models of the characters and the environment, the main task that the production team needs to do is to place the characters inside the scenes with the environment, in the correct scale and in correct position and Stage the Action of each scene, before it will get animated. For the Staging is important to note that the placement of the cameras is very essential, as all animators will animate through a selected camera and not randomly.

16. Animation

At this stage of the production process, the characters, cameras and the environment are all staged and ready to be animated within our scene. Then the animators take over and animate the characters according to the action planned in previous stages of the production for each animated scene. Smooth and good 3D animation takes a lot of time and the client should be aware of that before the animation process starts. This is because the 3D models are totally life-less and a bad puppet-like animation will have as a result the creation of animated characters that are lacking any element of life.
* A Deposit of the 15% of the Final Cost is Essential at this stage.

17. Lighting – Effects

In 3D animation the use of light is a very important matter. Compositions and animated scenes can be totally destroyed in the final rendered result of our film, because of the bad use of lighting and effects. Light has the ability to guide the eye of the viewer in the place of interest in the scene and create the correct atmosphere and trigger certain emotions to the viewer. Good placement of the lights and effects need a lot of time and testing, but is totally essential for the final result of the animated film.

18. Rendering

This is a word that will create a lot of bad memories of pain and distress to the people who work in 3d animation, as it is a very slow and demanding process, in which all the work created in the 3d environment, is calculated by the computer and rendered in image sequences which can be edited later to create the final animation video. Good rendering is extremely important for the final result that will be seen οn screen.
* A Deposit of the 10% of the Final Cost is Essential at this stage.

Post production

16. Color Correction & Compositing

The rendered 3d animation sequences created for each shot, are being revised and checked as changes in color and light may be essential for some parts of the project, even though everything was designed and executed according to plan. The final corrected result should be precise to the desired look and atmosphere of the film that has been decided in the Proof of Concept at the beginning of the production.

17. Final Editing with Music

The final color corrected animated sequences are being edited again with the final music and sound of the film. The mixing & sound correction are essential at this stage.

18. Letters and Titles

The final task before the submission of the 3D animated artwork, is the creation of typography and titles. Those titles will be embedded to the moving images in the film and describe what the client needs to be said in written form to the audience.
* A Deposit of the 10% of the Final Cost is Essential at this stage.