What should a Project Manager know working with an Animation studio

(in advertising)

1. The right requirements specification will save you plenty of time and will prevent you from extra emotional stress.

The more exact the task is given the less mistakes you will have to correct in future. Be concise in your wishes and demands, define important details, that should be taken into consideration in the work. As far as advertising videos are concerned, generally you should pay attention to:

• video duration
• number of main and secondary characters, their level of detalization
• needed graphic style for the video, its mood (the more exact are the references, the better)
• requirements to the output file
• the text that must be included in the video (if it is required by law)

2. The quality of animation is in direct proportion to money and time supply. 

Source: http://www.leeyoung.co.uk/why-use-a-freelancer.php 

There are three basic points that can be chosen only two together at once - time, money and creativity.

This rule works in many spheres, it is also true for animation. If you want Disney quality, remember the number of employees working at Disney studio and how much time they spend for creating their masterpieces. Please don't wait to get the video of such quality just in two weeks. Sure, animators are some kind of magicians, but they are also people.

3. Try not to reduce the production terms already defined by the studio

This advice is very appropriate for advertising videos. As a rule, this is the date of video airing that is defined first, and only then production terms are reconciled. Unfortunately, this is not a good decision while working with a production studio.

When the video duration, its technology and graphic style are defined by the Client, the studio assesses real production terms according to all these parameters and tells the Client which is the maximum time for reconciliation process for each stage. To reduce production terms in such case we can only at the expense of reconciliation stages but not of production.

In computer graphics, the processes connected with data processing by a computer have fixed time framework, however due to external factors (for example electricity turning off) in can even widen. Taking just one day out of production time, you lose a particular pro cent of video quality and as a result you can ask to refine the video afterwards, which causes much more serious time expenses. Thus, there is a big risk to exceed media plan time limit.

The best variant to avoid bad consequences for both sides is to learn preliminary production terms, add at least 1.5 week to it and enjoy a quiet working process)

4.A 3D character is always a little bit different from a 2D sketch

To draw a character on paper and create it in 3D space are two different things. When we reconcile a sketch of a character, we define its general style, concept and mood. Bringing the character from a flat sheet of paper into 3D space we get a new quality - volume, and surely this new quality has an essential influence on a character. It is like you make a photo of the same person with a smartphone and a professional camera. The person is the same but something looks different.

Drawing a 2D sketch, an artist can easily manipulate the details of a character, tailoring them to a necessary level of expressiveness. A 3D artist is limited in his freedom by particular characteristics of virtual camera. As a result, the character looks similar to a sketch but has differences in details.

5. Be precise in you comments

It happens sometimes when you don't like the created image  and you ask to make everything over. However it is not a very good approach. Sometimes there is just one tiny detail, that spoils the whole impression. It is important to explain to an artist or an animator, what exactly you don't like in their work and why. Share your feelings and doubts with a studio - it is always easier to find the right decision together.

It is better to find, what is wrong in the beginning, than to start everything from scratch again and again and to return to the very first variant with small corrections in the end. As a result, we will realize anyway, that only making a nose smaller, an awful witch will turn into a princess.

6. The project bases on a teamwork. 

If we were extrasensory adepts, we would foresee and understand everything ourselves... In other case the studio can't do without your help!

P.S. All the tips we give here are based just on studio's own experience, perhaps, you can share other interesting and useful ideas =)