Storyboard artist James McLean assesses the benefits of switching from pen and ink for previzzing his features to dedicated software Toon Boom’s Storyboard Pro.

Article first published: January/February 2008

It’s a essential prerequisite for any artist to remain aware of the changes and movements within their industry. As the digital age continues to alter the dynamics, processes and versatility of design spheres, the commercial artist must also adapt to keep their product as expedient, flexible and, above all, as professional as they possibly can.

For storyboard artists, there have been great changes since the days when pencil and paper were the singular form of their profession. Animation has expanded into video games, and video games themselves have formed a greater allegiance to the processes of film; the market has grown new arms that can stand apart, or hand in hand.

Toon Boon’s Storyboard Pro is a piece of software designed specifically to help storyboard artists bridge these new modes of working in the digital age. Armed with a graphics tablet, Storyboard Pro enables the artist to draw sequences on screen and then create a graphic, animatic or animated final product through the use of a straightforward onscreen interface. Toon Boon aims to give storyboard artists greater flexibility, as well as shortening production time and costs.

I test ran Storyboard Pro on my Mac laptop, which just met the minimum requirement of 512MB of RAM. The recommended spec is around 1GB of RAM, and from my trial runs, I’d suggest anyone wanting to fully utilise this package aim for 1GB. I found that storyboards on a larger resolution suffered from a slight lag that was due to my RAM limitations. Also, make sure you have a free USB port handy, as the package comes with an active USB dongle that is required for licensing the product.

To get the full benefits of Storyboard Pro, I’d recommend a Wacom tablet for drawing. The main focus of the software is to make storyboard construction as straightforward as possible by integrating the drawing element of the process with the sequencing construction of a storyboard. There are a variety of formats in which you can create your storyboard, including NTSC, PAL and HD. There is also a Low format for those running on a lo-spec computer.

The workscreen layout is a hybrid between a vector design package, such as Illustrator or Paintshop Pro, and an NLE. Naturally, Storyboard Pro is neither, given that the nature of storyboarding is not about creating the niftiest picture, or the most snazzy movie sequence, but about creating a solid infrastructure to a sequential story. The application borrows elements from both ways of working, but conforms directly to neither. So while experienced digital users of movie and design packages will find some tools familiar, they may find others renamed or missing entirely.

Regardless of your digital experience, the manual does a fairly good job of explaining the functions of Storyboard Pro, with simple step-by-step instructions. Whether you are a digital novice or seasoned pro, you will probably find yourself relying on the instruction manual to help you get your teeth into the way the application works. My experience in both sequencing and design didn’t immediately help me with Storyboard Pro; many of the tools are familiar, but the contextual application requires some learning. However, there are some informative movie demonstrations located in the Storyboard Pro application folders that come with the installation.

Design aspects

I created a quick storyboard sequence to get the feel of the design parameters, and discovered the design functions to be simple and effective. Using a Wacom tablet, I found the pre-set pressures, line tools and layer functions all straightforward and very practical. Those with a little experience will find Storyboard Pro perfect for tablet work. Further design functions, such as cutting, pasting and moving elements, were a little trickier than in Photoshop, say, but not a real hindrance.

There is a useful ‘lightbox’ option to help manipulate images within a layered shot, and the application comes with a host of library images, including templates for backgrounds, characters and props that can help a storyboard artist make a quick plan, with little drawing required.

Application of color took a little longer to get used to. While the color palette is adjustable, the pre-set colors were too varied in contrast and tone to work naturally together. I found it very hard to locate colors on the pre-set palette that didn’t suffocate my images – certainly, I had to create my own range of flesh tones. This is not an insurmountable obstacle, since these pre-sets are customizable, but in future releases it may be worth Toon Boom creating a range of presets that have a greater empathy with the medium.

On the whole, the design functions are fairly basic, but given that the strength of a storyboard artists comes from their own innate talents rather than flashy tools, the software doesn’t need to be a powerful design studio.

Sequential aspects

Where Storyboard Pro truly excels is in the sequential and presentation aspects of the craft. Like with most movie packages, an artist using Storyboard Pro creates his sequences frame by frame. Those frames – or shots – all fit together in a chain that the artist can manipulate. The simple on-screen layout means the artist can simply click on the chain to choose which particular frame they want to work on, and that frame is then displayed in the design field. The frames can be moved into different sequences, duplicated or amended using a variety of special functions. Regardless of how you intend to export your product – be it as a movie file or paper print-out – this approach to sequencing your storyboard keeps your work orderly, accessible and adaptable.

The preview function is a vital part of the package, both for animated and non-animated storyboard projects. Any sequence the user is building can be previewed and adjusted at any point in the process. When previewed, the sequence runs in real time, enabling the storyboard artist to adjust the time stamp for each frame or event. Quite naturally, this is more important with an animated storyboard, where the artist has to keep a close eye on time and pacing, but it’s a great way for any storyboard artist to view their work as an automated sequence – and give the user the ability to foresee any potential glitches that may otherwise go unnoticed. On a print out, chosen durations are added as timestamps for each frame.

For a more traditional approach, the artist can use Storyboard Pro to set his visual directions to their storyboard – just as they would on paper. You can set the ‘onion skins’ (the rectangular frames to show the start and end of a camera direction) to show a camera movement, or import one of the action templates from the program’s library to illustrate direction. Seeing that Storyboard Pro works entirely on vectors rather than pixels, all the templates can be edited with no loss of quality.

If you are looking at animating your storyboard into a movie format, the same tools can be used to instruct the software to perform the sequence in motion. So using the camera functions to direct a zoom, pull out or rotation on a specific frame will be actioned when the project is either previewed or exported into a movie file. In the same way, elements of the drawn storyboard can be animated to move, rotate or resize in movie format, adding a further versatility to the movie output; not only can the camera be directed, but the internal elements of the image can too! There is even an audio system to allow you to record sounds that can be played in the sequence. On a Mac with a built-in mic, this is an extremely practical and useful tool for movie making.

If you are not making a movie, there are a set of customizable text boxes to allow the script, actions and additional notes to be broken down and organized effectively.

Output

The software’s output proves to be another boon. There are a wide variety of formats to choose from for your final product. The software quickly translates your work into the format that’s required. If you decide to finish your work as a PDF file, the export field has a whole host of layouts to choose from, and even the option of creating your own. The movie export is quick and simple, with a choice of formats. There are other formats enabled, including Bitmap, EDL/AAF, CSV and files for other Toon Boon products.

All these features make for an excellent package, but Storyboard Pro’s true strength comes from the fact that the breadth of the application’s functionality has not constrained too many of its individual functions; that the software doesn’t become too rigid to support so many elements. In fact, Storyboard Pro has a wealth of customizable features that helps the program tailor to the individual – and in a skilled practise such as storyboarding, which encompasses so many styles and approaches from its artists, the ability to remain customizable is invaluable.

A little expensive for the independent artist, this product would probably find a more likely home in a studio that operates animatic or animated storyboards, as well as the traditional process. Regardless of format, Storyboard Pro will help create fast, well presented storyboards that can take advantage of the communication developments of the digital revolution.

If your work diversifies beyond the traditional approach, and you require a package that gives you the power to create storyboards cinematically as well as on paper, then Storyboard Pro gives what the box suggests: a practical, stable piece of software which delivers a final well presented product in a fast and friendly manner.

James McLean James McLean is a storyboard artist, commercial illustrator and freelance writer living in the UK. He has produced storyboards worked for TV, commercials, video games and independent film. He was series illustrator for Channel 4’s documentary Checking Into History and comic artist for a recent international advertising campaign for Sabian cymbals.