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From idea to finished short film

The stages of an animated film production and which Animux program to use at each one, with a realistic plan for a first 30-second film.

workflowproductionpipelineplanningbeginner

Every animated film, from a school project to a feature, goes through the same stages. Knowing them helps you choose the right program and avoid redoing work.

IdeaScriptStoryboardAnimaticDesignAssetsAnimationLighting & renderCompositingEdit & soundExport

The stages and the tools#

Stage What you make 2D film 3D film Stop motion
1. Idea and script a one-sentence idea, then a short script Mousepad, Gedit
2. Storyboard a drawing per shot Krita, paper + scanner, Blender's Storyboarding template same same
3. Animatic storyboard timed with dialogue Kdenlive Blender Kdenlive
4. Voice recording dialogue as WAV Audacity Audacity Audacity
5. Design characters, colours, backgrounds Krita, Inkscape Krita, MakeHuman clay, paper
6. Assets finished characters and sets Synfig cut-outs, Krita backgrounds Blender models, rigs, materials puppets, sets
7. Animation the movement, shot by shot Pencil2D, Synfig, Krita Blender Stopmotion
8. Lighting and rendering final frames as images export frames Blender Cycles/EEVEE, render farm your photos
9. Compositing effects, colour correction Krita, Blender compositor Blender compositor, Gaffer Blender compositor
10. Edit and sound the film with music, effects, titles Kdenlive + Ardour same same
11. Export MP4 for the web, high-quality master Kdenlive, HandBrake same same

Your first 30-second film: a realistic plan#

Week Do
1 Idea (one character, one place, one problem). Script of half a page. Storyboard with 8–12 shots.
2 Record the voices or choose music. Make the animatic in Kdenlive and watch it ten times. Change what does not work now.
3 Design and build: character, background(s).
4–6 Animate, shot by shot. Start with the hardest shot. Show it to someone every few days.
7 Render (overnight), colour, final edit, sound mix, titles and credits. Export.

Keep it small

Thirty seconds is 720 frames at 24 fps. One character and one place is plenty. Finished and short beats long and unfinished.

Rules that save days#

  • One folder per project, with the layout studios use.
  • Name shots by number: sh010, sh020… (leaving gaps lets you add sh015 later).
  • Render to image sequences (PNG or EXR), not to video. Edit in Kdenlive.
  • Lock the frame rate (24 or 25 fps) at the start and use it everywhere.
  • Back up to an external drive every day.
  • Test render small (25–50 % resolution, few samples) before the final render.

Credits and licences#

If you use music, sounds, fonts or models made by others, check that their licence allows it, and credit them. CC0 means free for everything; CC-BY means free with credit.