{"id":191544,"date":"2025-04-18T21:15:32","date_gmt":"2025-04-18T21:15:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/peraltafinancing.com\/animation\/storyboarding-with-iclone-reallusion-magazine\/"},"modified":"2025-04-18T21:15:32","modified_gmt":"2025-04-18T21:15:32","slug":"storyboarding-with-iclone-reallusion-magazine","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=191544","title":{"rendered":"Storyboarding with iClone – Reallusion Magazine"},"content":{"rendered":"


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Storyboarding was one of the reasons I discovered iClone<\/a> about twenty years ago as I was looking for an easier way to get the job done. Storyboarding, for those beginners not familiar with the concept, is a simple way to pre-visualize a script with static images for each scene that represent the flow of the story and give the director and principal photographer a chance to hash over their shot list and other items.<\/p>\n

It is much easier and cost effective to storyboard a scene for animation or live action than to just start shooting it on location or start animating without a roadmap. When shooting a live scene there can be tremendous costs to redoing a shot because of a bad camera angle. Storyboarding allows the directors to visualize these shots before a crew is put on the clock.<\/p>\n

More importantly, a storyboard adds structure and helps to maintain continuity between shots, and it works equally well in animation by providing a glimpse at what we are trying to animate or get on film versus what we \u201cenvision\u201d in our minds. There are no downsides to using a storyboard and iClone is here to help.<\/p>\n

Do not confuse a storyboard with an animated movie. Storyboards are usually concise and do not have to contain works of art. Some are nothing more than stick figures drawn on paper while others are almost complete productions of the movie in book form. While these do not have to be high quality, they do need to convey the direction the production takes and explain or show the aesthetics of certain scenes.<\/p>\n

\u00a0A crude storyboard can at the very least help to get a coherent video that an audience can follow. It can also show problems before the production work beings. As mentioned earlier, this produces a cohesive video and can prevent straying from the main storyline. Even the smallest, seemingly unimportant video can benefit from storyboarding.<\/p>\n

Posing Versus Animating<\/h2>\n

One of the best features of storyboarding is you do not have to be an animator to create storyboards. This only involves posing, not animating and iClone is packed with poses. And motions that can become poses. The new AccuPOSE<\/a> makes iClone an even more formidable storyboarding app by providing a library of AI-assisted posing that can grow each month with the optional Infinity subscription that adds new pose libraries regularly<\/p>\n

I mentioned motions because they are nothing more than a collection of poses and you can load a motion, scrub down the timeline until you find a pose you like then right click, select REMOVE ANIMATION and what is left is a pose.<\/p>\n

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iClone Workspace Setup for Cockpit Storyboard Below.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Static Storyboards<\/h2>\n

Think of a static storyboard as a simple comic book. It needs to convey the emotion, looks and feel of a comic book panel. It must tell viewers at a glance what the director or cinematographer wants the audience to see and feel. It\u2019s not always possible to convey enough emotion in a static image especially when you are new to all this. Sometimes it\u2019s not necessary depending on the direction and instructions you are following. In any case just give it your best shot and you\u2019ll see your storyboards and videos improve.<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve yet to work on a storyboard that didn\u2019t discover problems and require some adjustment no matter how ironclad we may think we have fleshed out our original story.<\/p>\n

Animated Storyboards<\/h2>\n

Animated storyboards are fantastic but require a lot more time and resources. Even just 10 to 30 seconds of animation can take several hours at a previz level and that I something you need to keep in mind.<\/p>\n

By previz level I mean flat or very rudimentary lighting, low poly props to keep things moving along while using simple characters and props.<\/p>\n

The animated panels need to convey the proper message but not recreate the entire. Do not reinvent the wheel, just get the ideas across. A hybrid storyboard combing elements of static and animated panels may be a better fit for some projects.<\/p>\n

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Simplified Storyboard Setup Using Scaled Variations of the Free Box Primitive, Wall and Trees that comes with iClone.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Practice with your Favorite Movie or Show<\/h2>\n

Thats right! Storyboard a scene from one of your favorite movies or television shows that conveys the story and style of the scene as you see it. Then step back and storyboard it from another viewpoint or a re-imagining of the storyline to practice your creative thinking and getting what you see in your head down on the screen.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s that last part that trips up a lot of creatives. It can be the most difficult part of the pre-viz process.\u00a0 The powers-that-be tell you what they want to see and then you have to get on the same page and storyboard their vision for everyone else to work with.<\/p>\n

Storyboard 1 \u2013 Airliner Cockpit<\/h3>\n

Panel 1: Cockpit Interior | Tight Shot | Full Flight Crew
Routine flight with the crew concentrating on tasks during a routine and uneventful flight.<\/p>\n

Panel 2: Cockpit Interior | Closeup of Cockpit Door
Shot slightly Rotated for dramatic Effect. No characters in view. A sudden pounding on the cockpit door rips through the cockpit with a warning.<\/p>\n

Panel 3: Cockpit Interior | Crew Closeup.
The startled pilots look at each other while the Engineer looks through the peep hole. only to find it blocked.<\/p>\n

Panel 4: Cockpit Interior | Door Closeup. The Engineer turns to get the Crash Axe while the pounding intensifies on the door. There is no answer to the captain\u2019s demand to identify themselves.<\/p>\n

Panel 5: Cockpit Interior | Wide side shot of Engineer holding Crash Axe in front of cabin door.
Flight Engineer stands in front of cabin door with the Crash Axe in hand ready to defend the cockpit. The 1st Officer continues the Mayday call while squawking the 7500-hijack code. The captain is still demanding Identification.<\/p>\n

Panel 6: Cockpit Interior | Closeup of Copilot
1st<\/sup> Officer presses the transponder button for the 7500-hijack code.<\/p>\n

Panel 7: Panoramic Shot | Jet Only
Side shot of Airbus jet over land.<\/p>\n

Panel 8: Exterior Shot | Fighter Jets
Two F-16s take off from nearby airbase to intercept the airliner.<\/p>\n

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Storyboard 2: Simplified with Dummy Assets<\/h3>\n

We can create a storyboard with 3D primitives that come with iClone such as blocks, walls and floors to make the props in the in the scene. This works well in the early stages of a project when the exact location settings or interior types might not be set.<\/p>\n

Like the first storyboard above it can also be used to create or adapt a shot list for the entire project. You can visualize camera angles at amazing speed and make adjustments before putting any crew on the clock.<\/p>\n

Cafe Interaction \u2013 Taking an Order<\/h3>\n

Panel 1: Interior Wide shot | Caf\u00e9
Establishing shot to start the interaction between wait staff and customers<\/p>\n

Panel2: Interior Wide Left to Right Angle with All Three Subjects
Waitress looks to customer 1 and waits for order.<\/p>\n

Panel3: Interior | Right to Left Wide Angle
Customer 1 looks at waitress and gives order.<\/p>\n

Panel4: Interior | Left to Right Wide Angle
Waitress switches to customer 2 and waits for order.<\/p>\n

Panel 5: Interior | Left to Right Wide Angle with Customer 2
Customer 2 looks at and gives order to waitress.<\/p>\n

Panel 6: Interior | Wide Left to Right Angle | All Three Subjects.
Waitress thanks the customers for their order and finishes up.<\/p>\n

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The above storyboard shows how even simple, everyday interactions like taking and giving an order in a caf\u00e9 can not only be visualized but improved. It would be very easy for a director of photography to make changes to their shot list based on work from the storyboard phase and will usually have a large amount of input in the creation of the storyboard and its evolution.<\/p>\n

Smart Search PlugIn<\/h2>\n

The AI-Assisted Smart Search<\/a> plug-in utilizes AI-enhanced search techniques to quickly and easily locate assets for storyboards and other projects. Smart Search offers two methods of searching for and locating assets.<\/p>\n

Keyword Search lets us locate assets by Name, Tag or Author similar to conventional search.<\/p>\n

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Deep Search is the real powerhouse with its AI-assisted algorithms to quickly locate what you need and not lose that creative spark while searching. It includes Natural Language Support where even brief descriptions will give accurate, immediate results in over 100 languages!<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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To top that off, Deep Search also provides Drag and Drop or Copy and Paste Image based searching for those just right assets you have in mind but can\u2019t put a name to for conventional or keyword search.<\/p>\n

We can even select a prop out of our scene, right click and use Deep Search Similar to find assets closely resembling the selected prop, usually in a matter of seconds. We can also filter by category and exclude unwanted results, cutting back on clutter than be so easily distracting and time consuming.<\/p>\n

Remember what I said earlier about motions being a group of poses? With the newly released Motion Deep Search we can now find motions much faster, and each motion can carry thousands of poses to use in the storyboard by scrubbing down the time to a desired pose, right click and Remove Animation to keep the pose as mentioned earlier.<\/p>\n

I could go on and on about Motion Deep Search, but you get the picture. When you combine existing motions with what is available in the Content Store and Marketplace you have the potential of thousands of poses extracted from those motions including free motions that come with iClone.<\/p>\n

Usage Cases<\/h2>\n

Befores & Afters: The Art of Crafting War Scenes or Previs<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

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This is a powerful usage case of Reallusion tools, planning and storyboarding to previsualize (Previs\/Previz) a war feature motion picture on Amazon Prime India, The Forgotten Army. It\u2019s also a classic case of using Reallusion tools to save on time and resources while moving the project forward possibly avoiding costly delays.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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