What are the steps from storyboard to animation?
The process from storyboard to animation begins with creating a game storyboard or visual plan that outlines the story, gameplay flow, and important scenes in a series of illustrated frames. Once the storyboard for a game is complete, the next step is building an animatic, which is a rough video made from the storyboard panels, usually timed with audio, dialogue, or placeholder music. This helps the team see how pacing, movement, and transitions will work before full production. In a gaming storyboard, each frame is converted into motion—characters begin to move, environments start to shift, and camera angles are tested to create a sense of interactivity. For a video game storyboard, animators may also focus on gameplay actions such as fighting, jumping, or navigating menus, while a computer game storyboard emphasizes UI animations, tutorials, and cutscene flows. After the animatic is approved, detailed keyframe animation is created, where the main poses or moments are drawn first. These are followed by in-between frames (called “tweens”) to make the motion smooth and natural. In the next stage, assets like backgrounds, effects, and lighting are added to match the vision of the storyboard game. Special attention is given to timing, character expressions, and interactive elements so that the final result feels engaging. Finally, rendering and polishing complete the process, turning the rough storyboard sketches into a fully animated sequence or playable cutscene. In short, moving from a storyboard game to animation is a structured pipeline: storyboard ➝ animatic ➝ keyframes ➝ in-betweens ➝ effects ➝ final render, ensuring that the original vision is preserved while bringing the game’s world to life with motion and energy.
