HOW WE WORK
How We Work: Behind the Scenes of Emersionist’s Production Process
Our production pipeline is as follows:
We can take the entire project from “script to screen” taking on all the responsibilities of the production including, script, storyboard, animatic, animation, programming, voice over, music, sound effects, edit and delivery of final master. We also collaborate with other creative teams incorporating their content into our production pipeline.
ARCHIVE MANAGEMENT
All data is archived daily. After project completion all work is archived off site on secure removable hard drives.
Pre-production:
Development Backbone & Identifying Needs & Research
Review Process & Production Schedule
Script
Storyboard
Voiceover Record (stand-in scratch track)
Animatic
Production:
Modeling, Texturing, & Lighting
Character (object) creation
Animation
Post Production
Studio Voiceover Recording
Music & Sound Effects
Final Edit & Delivery
Our Production Pipeline:
PRE-PRODUCTION
The goal of preproduction is to develop an efficient structure for your project on which framework the final animation will be supported. In preproduction we identify potential difficulties in design and implementation and work with you to minimize or eliminate bottlenecks. Preproduction involves several phases, which are explained in detail below.
DEVELOPMENT FOUNDATION, IDENTIFYING NEEDS & RESEARCH
Before we begin any production, we set up our project structure and development backbone for you. At project kick off we work closely with your team of managers and scientists to determine the project’s needs, scientific, technical and artistic and download reference material you have found valuable. Our team of writers and medical illustrators then begin to research your topic so that we can begin the work on developing your compelling, accurate and memorable animations.
REVIEW PROCESS & PRODUCTION SCHEDULE
A production schedule will be developed for you at the beginning of the project. This schedule identifies the dates you can expect to review the program in progress. We provide constant communication. Our review schedule is structured to help minimize the need for major changes once your project enters medical/regulatory review. Our review process is designed to lock down design and content decisions incrementally throughout all stages of production, with reviews at storyboard, modeling, scene design and rough animation stages. At each of these stages, two rounds of client modifications are built into the process, for maximum efficiency and the fewest possible changes at the point where changes are expensive. Our aim is to achieve the best work possible while preserving the budget and delivering on time.
SCRIPTING
Powerful scripts engage your audience and drive your message home. We can use an existing script you provide or collaborate on an original script. Scriptwriting is the first essential step before any animation can commence. We research and collaborate with your science, product and marketing teams in order to best tell your story. We take your complex concepts and ideas and transform them into an accurate and effective script that captures your audience’s attention. Each script we help to create is fully documented and referenced in order to pass Core Team, Legal, and Marketing requirements. We may request access to juried journal articles from your archive/collection.
STORYBOARDING
Storyboards are the bones on which an animation is built. We can either use existing project storyboards or create them from scratch. These storyboards convey the composition of the scenes, the position of the camera, the story’s theme and characters, as well as, the overall flow of the script.
VOICEOVER
During the animation process we will procure the best voice over talent (often SAG members) to meet your needs. You will have the opportunity to review a variety of talents, male and female, with a variety of accents (i.e.: American English/British English), many with particular expertise in recording scientific and medical narratives.
ANIMATIC CREATION
We commence production by matching the approved script voice over scratch track with the approved storyboard frames to generate a run-time animatic of the proposed animation to give you a feel for the flow and timing of the finished animation. This is an ideal time (and lease expensive opportunity) to nail down timing tweaks before production begins.
PRODUCTION
All the information and content developed in the pre-production phase is now ready to inform the next step in the process, production. This is where we begin to work on the actual content of your animation.
MODELING, TEXTURING, & LIGHTING
With the use of a variety of 3D modeling and animation software, we are able to create detailed models of organic and man-made forms. When possible, all objects are scientifically accurate, whether derived from the Protein Data Bank, the Drug Bank or directly from the product design source files. The newly created models are textured and lit and placed in their digital environments. Where possible we utilize anatomical models from our data set, to save time and cost of creating from scratch.
CHARACTER SHEETS
Still images of these models and environments are provided for review. These images are used to show the colors, textures and composition of key characters and key frames in the animation. We incorporate approved digital models and scenes into the storyboard animatic, replacing sketches with the approved animatable objects/characters/scenes.
ANIMATION
Our artists, illustrators, programmers and animators move to the next stage in the development process, animation. Typically, the most time-consuming part of the production, the animation phase is where we take all the fully realized models and environments and bring them to life. If your final product requires complex simulations, customized special effects or elaborate camera work, our team has the experience and access to powerful hardware and software tools to make your story informative, inspirational and aesthetic.
POST-PRODUCTION
After the animation is fully developed, we enter the post-production phase of the project. In post-production, we develop final composites, refine the edit and add music and voice over to your animation.
MUSIC & SOUND EFFECTS
From voice over talent to customized music and sound effects, we have access to talent who specialize in medical and scientific narration, in numerous languages. Once a voiceover talent is selected and a recording session set, we provide you with a dial in number that allows you to listen in and give feedback live, during the recording session. Music and sound-effects are crafted by our award-winning composers to compliment your piece.
FINAL EDIT & DELIVERY
We edit on Final Cut Pro and can deliver the finished animation in any format needed to enable you to maximize the uses of your project across a variety of media, including: PowerPoint, Phones, Website Streaming, Video etc.
DERIVED WORK
We are able to extract still images, either directly from the animated frames at the video resolution or we can create higher resolution frames you select from the project for a minimum cost of time and materials, including making small changes from the delivered video to apply to the high-resolution stills.
We are able to import certain animations to VR. Inquire separately.