Frequently Asked Questions

A pre-visualization tool used to map out the storytelling flow of a tv commercial, film, or video. It serves as a blueprint for the final production. 

In the advertising world, an "animatic for testing" is a pre-production tool used to map out the visual creative of a tv commercial. Once created it is then put in front of a tested audience to gauge their reaction to it prior to building the Broadcast version of the commercial. Animatic deliverables are typically video form with audio and animated/moving images.

Presenting your campaign in an animatic form that is the closest to how the full-up would look is the most effective way to gauge its potential success. Key elements such as taste appeal, character interactions, and camera movements need to be accurately represented to mirror the intended Broadcast Production.

At ASB, we bring your campaign vision to life through high-quality animations or storyboards. But to ensure your campaign resonates, companies like IPSOS or Kantar can test its impact with target audiences. Successful campaigns are typically those that capture brand attention and enhance consumers' understanding of the product.

The only way to truly test a campaign's potential is by incorporating all the critical details into the animatic from the start.

Animated Storyboards (ASB) is a leading global partner for advertising agencies seeking services for high-quality animatics and previsualization. Here’s why agencies consistently choose ASB for their animatic production needs:

• Full-service capabilities: We are a one-stop shop, handling everything from storyboard creation to animation and audio production.

• Consistent testing materials: Our animatics are designed for apples-to-apples testing, helping brands obtain accurate and reliable insights.

• Fluid, distraction-free animation: Our fully animated animatics—especially in our 3D or 3D-AI Cinematic styles—ensure smooth movement so audiences focus on the creative idea, not the mechanics.

• Unmatched production capacity: As the world’s largest animatic company, we can seamlessly scale projects across our global network, ensuring deadlines are always met.

• Fast turnaround times: We offer some of the fastest production schedules in the industry, typically including at least two brand review rounds in the process.

At ASB, our mission is to bring your creative concepts to life with professional, high-quality animatic solutions tailored to your campaign goals.

Yes, ASB Can handle recording, editing, mixing, sound design, stock music search & license, professional VO casting, & non-union talent payment. Check out our Full-Service Audio page for more details!

Yes! As a Global Company with 13 locations across North America, South America, Europe, and Asia-Pacific - we offer a cultural match for all your animatic needs. We work with various Language Translators, Language Supervisors, and VO Casting specialists to suit any particular language or regional representation.

As we get closer to the kick off call, we recommend gathering scripts, design details, sound specs, and any brand assets. For a comprehensive understanding of what that all entails, check out our Briefing Best Practices Guide. 

Costs can vary on a lot of factors. Get in touch with the ASB office closest to your for a quote.

Costs can vary based on spot length, complexity, and lead time. So typically we would be looking to gather the following information before we provide an estimate:

-How many spots are you looking to produce?

-What are the spot lengths?

-When would we be able to brief?

-Is there a hard ship date or an ideal ship date in mind?

-Would you like us to include any audio services?

-Can you share any work-in-progress scripts?

The cost to build the artwork for a boardomatic or animatic is the same, but the distinct difference is whether or not we include animation hours. Thus, boardomatics will always be lower cost option.

Frame counts can vary depending on your creative vision, but the average frame counts are as follows:

:15 = 6-12 frames

:30 = 12-18 frames

:60 = 25-35 frames

If there are ever set budget or schedule parameters on your project, please don't hesitate to contact us. ASB takes pride in recommending solutions that can work for any challenges you might face in the bidding phase.

Recommended lead time can vary depending on style preference, project scope, and complexity. However, we typically recommend 10-12 business days for any of our 3D approaches, and approximately 15 business days for 2D Traditional Animatics. These timelines allow you to maximize opportunities for review, feedback, and improvements. If you have a more limited schedule, we can always expedite as needed by eliminating rounds of review and/or incorporating weekend work to match your needs.

Yes! Animated Storyboards offers full custom animation services beyond animatics.

Our Custom 3D Illustrated Cinematics combine artist illustrated keyframes with advanced 3D animation to deliver dynamic visuals, precise camera control, and fluid movement. But if you’re seeking a more traditional look, we also offer 2D animation for a flatter, more old-school aesthetic.

Our custom animations can be developed for a wide range of uses including: animatics, social media content, digital advertising, and broadcast campaigns.

With ASB, you get flexible animation solutions designed to fit your creative vision and formatted to fit any media needs.

We offer 3 house styles for you to choose from:

3D REALISTIC: This style offers more of a 3D CG (computer-generated) realistic look. Realistic tends to be the ideal choice for food or beverage brands that require more taste-appealing content. It also works well for any particle animation needs - think smoke, liquids, etc.

3D ILLUSTRATED: This approach offers all the benefits of working in 3D (i.e. faster turnaround times, stylistically consistent deliverables, fluid movement, etc) but the output still appears to be illustrated or hand-drawn.

3D HYBRID: This last option is the best of both worlds. It is where we use 3D Realistic backgrounds and products and combine them with 3D Illustrated characters.

If you would like to see a side-by-side representation of our 3D styles, we encourage you to view our 3D Comparison site. 

When working with ASB, 3D offers many benefits over traditional 2D approaches including turnaround time, customizability, and more. Learn more about the differences between 2D vs 3D approaches.

No, you do not need to select an artist or illustrator for our 3D Hybrid or 3D Illustrated deliverables. Much like our 3D Realistic process, you will work with a team of ASB employees consisting of animators, directors, designers, all chosen based on the needs of your creative. As opposed to working in 2D, where we have 1 artist creating all the visual content in your campaign.

You’re in the right place. Animated Storyboards provides professional storyboard services in a variety of styles, including 2D, 3D, and AI-generated visuals.

Our team of expert artists and animators can deliver storyboards that match your project’s tone and requirements, whether for commercial previsualization, pitch presentations, or campaign development.

👉 Explore our some of our storyboard styles here: https://animatedstoryboards.com/storyboards/

With over 300 people on staff across the world and seamless production pipeline in place, rest assured we can handle as many deliverables as you need. As the largest company of our type, capacity is never a concern.

The limit does not exist. We got you!