Cut-out Animation Workflow

T-PRIN-003-012

A cut-out production (digital puppet animation) reuses a lot of assets, saves time, keeps a maximum amount of work in the same studio and reduces the amount of resources and budget needed. We eliminated as many traditional and hand-drawn steps as possible and kept all of the steps in an integrated pipeline.

Familiarize yourself with this simplified version and then move to the next graphic explaining in more details how the various steps connect.

Other than scripting and recording, every other step in the cut-out workflow should be done in the animation software. It is also a type of workflow in which multiple assignments can be done simultaneously, especially during the design and development stage.

Since the storyboard does not absolutely need to follow model sheets, it is possible for a team to do both the storyboard and designs at the same time, as compared to a traditional workflow where the storyboard artist must have all the models ready before starting.

The Script

All projects start with a script. It is the foundation of the whole project. This comes from either the studio itself or the client requesting the project.

By closely following the script, the design team will begin the character, props and locations and design. The storyboard artist will start working on the storyboard. This process is similar to any other workflow.

Designs

Designs for the characters, props, and locations are done directly in the software as they will be broken down and rigged in it. This way, whatever the breakdown technique chosen, the lines will be the same style, the palette will already be created and it will be less work to break down and rig. It is also possible to design them on paper and scan them in, but this is less efficient in the use of paper resources and time.

Colour Styling

The colour styling must be done before the animation and character breakdown. If the backgrounds are painted in an external software, it is recommended that you do the locations (key backgrounds) colour styling in that same external software.

Audio Recording, Dialogue and Nat Pause

The dialogue is also recorded from the script. The voices are often recorded outside of the studio. If there is dialogue involved in the project, the final version must be recorded soon enough to import it into the project before the animation. This allows the animator to do the sound breakdown and animate the mouth and expressions, as well as the storyboard that's required.

Nat pause is a generic audio read-through used by the storyboard artist to hear what the characters are saying and how it is said. In this way, they can draw the correct facial and physical expressions to coincide with the dialogue. It is important to minimize the revision to the visuals during the animation process.

Storyboard

The storyboard is the illustrated script of the film. It can be started in parallel with the design and the audio recording, but some studios may wait until the designs and the audio recording are locked.

Animatic Reel

The animatic reel, or leica, is made from the storyboard. Each scene is timed along with sounds, dialogue and music. Before the animatic can be created, the storyboard must be completed, approved and locked. Only one person is in charge of the animatic production to ensure consistency throughout the whole production.

If the storyboard is done on paper, a person must be added to the team to scan the storyboard and prepare it for the animatic.

Background Layout

From the storyboard, we normally go to the layout and posing process. For a cut-out project, the storyboard does not need to be on model as the characters and props used for the animation are puppets, which always remain on model.

Background Painting

The backgrounds can be painted in the animation software or in an external software. On a small team, one person can handle the background painting and on a medium-sized team, there will probably be two people painting the backgrounds.

Character and Prop Rigging

The rigging step is really important in the cut-out workflow. The person doing the rigs has to take the final character or prop model and start building the puppet. This means deciding which parts will be separated and preparing all of the joints and views for the animators.

Once the parts are broken down, the character or prop must be rigged. This means attaching the parts (hierarchy) and assigning the appropriate pivot points. This step must be done with care because these puppets will be distributed among all the animators later and you do not want to duplicate mistakes throughout the project.

The character and prop rigging can be done in many ways. It is important to do this step correctly, as these puppets will be duplicated over and over throughout the whole project.

When the character and prop rigs are ready, the rigging artist stores them in the library as templates to be shared with the rest of the team.

Library

The library is a central element of a digital cut-out production. It contains all the assets for the animation and scene set up.

The library is a central location where all these templates are stored, organized and made available to the animators and scene setup team. The library should be structured so that everyone using it can easily find the assets they require. Someone should be assigned to manage the library so that it remains well organized. This person is often the breakdown artist, but it depends on each studio's structure.

When the library is built, the scene setup person and the animators will start using the assets.

The library is typically managed by the rigging artist or assets team. It is important to keep the library organized, as it's a central piece in the animator's project. The artist creates folders and organizes each pertinent file, so that neither the scene set-up artist nor the animator will be required to search randomly when looking for particular pieces of material. It is essential that this job be done correctly in order for the team to remain efficient throughout production.

Scene Setup

The scene setup consists of preparing the scenes for the animators and is similar to the traditional layout and posing. Following the storyboard and the animatic, the person working on the scene setup will import the assets needed for the scene animation, as well as import the animatic reference and often position the camera.

When the scene setup is completed, the scene can be passed on to the animator who can start animating without having to mount the scene.

Animation

Cut-out animation is a vast subject. There are many techniques employed by different studios and animators. Basically, the animator moves the parts frame by frame to animate the puppet. The animator may even start their own pre-compositing, camera moves, and trajectories. This depends on the user's workflow. Once the animation is completed and approved, the scene goes to the final compositing and effects.

The animation technique has to conform with the rigging technique. The studio must establish its profile in order to determine which direction to take.

Here are the choices for the type of animation:

• Open rig technique with motion keyframe animation
• Open rig or mixed rig technique with stop-motion or motion keyframe animation
• Complete hierarchy rigging technique with motion keyframe animation or open rig technique with a mix of stop-motion and motion keyframe animation
• Complete hierarchy rigging technique with motion keyframe animation or open rig with stop-motion keyframe animation

In certain situations, paperless animation mix can help increase the quality of a cut-out animation.

In a small team, the animators will animate their own effects, whereas a bigger team can have one effect animator to help the cut-out animators.

Compositing

The compositor imports the coloured background, animatic reference and sound as required. Referring to the exposure sheet, animatic and animation, the compositor assembles all these elements and creates the camera moves and other necessary motions. Finally, the compositor adds any digital effects required by the scene. These can include tones, highlights and shadows. When the compositing is completed, the final step is the rendering.

Compositing is generally a bit more advanced and complex for a cut-out production than for a traditional or tradigital one. The compositor verifies that a scene has been animated and coloured, and then will apply camera moves, peg moves, effect and final touch-ups to the scene.

On a small team, the animators will probably do their own compositing. In a medium-size studio, there will be two or three compositors.

Export - Render

Once the compositing is completed, the last step is to render the scene as a movie or an image sequence. Generally, the compositor will be the same person doing the render.

Post-production

When all the scenes are rendered out, the user assembles them in an external application and adds sound to the project. The final effects and filter are added. The final step is to render out to the master and distribute it, unless there is dubbing to be done. Very often, the final transfer is done by an external post-production company.