About the Animation Pipeline

A pipeline or workflow consists of the steps needed to produce a movie or show. The order of these steps is also important to make sure that each stage has what it needs to function.

No matter which animation method you choose to create your project, the pipeline will always be divided into three stages: pre-production, production, and post-production.

The type of animation used will then define the steps needed within each of these stages.

Storyboard Pro handles part of the pre-production, and Harmony is designed to handle part of the pre-production and all of the production. Steps that can be done in Toon Boom software will be indicated. Post-production is mostly managed in other applications.

For a breakdown of each workflow specific to an animation technique, see About 2D Animation workflows with Toon Boom Harmony.

For a detailed breakdown of each animation workflow step, see About 2D Animation workflow steps.

About Pre-Production

The first stage is pre-production, and it is very similar for all animation types. The steps are as follows:

1. Script
2. Storyboard, character/prop/location design, and audio recording
3. Animatic.
4. Character/prop/background colour styling and sound breakdown.

About Production

The production segment can vary greatly depending on the user and the technique. 

Below is a very generalised overview of the animation pipeline production workflow. To go deeper into specific production workflows, see About 2D Animation workflows with Toon Boom Harmony.

The general production steps are as follows:

1. Layout.
2. Animation.
3. Compositing.
4. Export/render.

About Post-Production

Post-production is the final step in which video and audio editing and calibrations are done. Some effects and colour grading can also be performed at this stage.

The post-production steps are as follows:

1. Final editing.
2. Audio editing.
3. Dubbing.
4. Master distribution.