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CLIENT GUIDE2011

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An introductionWelcome

Mission Graphics was established in 2000 by Hamish Baird and serves

as the umbrella brand for the range of creative services he provides as a

freelancer.

Hamish has always enjoyed working on a one to one basis with clients

and with technology becoming smaller and more efficient it means that

the laptop has become a portable creative studio.

So when you need a friendly freelancer who can work remotely or come

to you, and who has many creative skills to draw from, Hamish is a good

person to know.

CLIENTS:

Contents of this document...

• Services• Animation tariffs• The animation process

‘Frankenstein’s Cat’ - CBBC

‘Dogg’ - Internet animation

‘Artificial Ignorance’ - Illustration

‘Get Set Go!’ - CBeebies

“Creativity is a natural extension of our enthusiasm”

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ServicesAnimation

• Character Animation• Motion Graphics• Title and Credit Sequences

With over ten years experience in the animation industry, Mission Graphics provides a complete solution for the production of short animations, whether they’re character driven, or more corporate in nature.

Using a mixture of Flash, Photoshop, Motion5, Premiere and After Effects the possibilities are endless.

Graphics

• Logo Design• Stationary• Illustration

Whether you’re after hand-drawn illustrations or rich, digital graphics, Mission Graphics provides a tailored service for each client.

Clients generally know what they want and by working together, I can help to visualize, design and illustrate the solution.

Websites

• Website design• Web banners• Splash Pages

Whereas in the past, Mission Graphics provided interactive websites built in Flash, now the sites are built using the online, front-end, cloud-based development tool known as Wix.

Wix is not only is a cost effective solution, but it put you in the driving seat in terms of being able to manage your site from the ground up.

“Ideas are the beginning points ofall fortunes”

Contact 07779 472 168

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1. Synopsis

A brief one-page outline of the story, character(s), mood and target audience is developed in conjunction with a rough production budget.

2. Treatment

Once the project has a green light, a more detailed brief is developed that includes the script and further notes for production (such as examples of graphic / animation styles, tempo, color palette etc).

3. Character(s) concept designs

Rough sketches of the character(s) are illustrated and returned to the client for consideration.

4. Storyboard

The stages above are used to provide a set of thumbnail sketches that illustrate the story scene by scene.

5. Artwork (backgrounds / props)

Backgrounds and any additional artwork / assets needed for the production of the animation are drawn up.

6. Audio recording

Narration or voice-over is recorded in advance of the animation, so that it can then be spliced and embedded into the appropriate scenes as an audio guide. (Final audio tweaked in post-production)

7. Animatic

Using the storyboard and the audio recordings, a very rough movie is created to test the timings, camera shots, dialogue etc. This is a useful stage, as it can prevent expensive and time-consuming mistakes at a later stage.

The animation process ‘Animation can explain whatever the mind of man can conceive.’

Animation is a fantastic medium to work in. We can do anything. There are no limits. Whatever you want to say, show or do, it’s possible. However, it all requires planning....

The list below illustrates the stages of producing an animation and although not every animation requires such a lengthy breakdown, I felt it might be useful reference material for those clients who have not dealt with this media before.

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9. Rigging the scene(s)

All the elements above are brought together ready for animation, whilst also deciding the intended final size and format for the animation.

10. Animation

Having clearly discussed their movement, style and personality, animation of the character(s) can begin.

11. Compositing / Lighting / Rendering

All the scenes are brought together for post production as well as adding any music or special effects.

12. Delivery

Delivery of the final animation available as the following file types:

• MOV• MP4• AVI• FLV• Quicktime

8. Character(s) modeling

The character(s) are then taken from the initial conceptual designs and rigged for the purpose of animation.

This might include creating 360-degree turnarounds of the character(s) as well as walk or run cycles of the character(s) - depending on the requirements of script.

Footnotes:

• Many of the stages listed above may not be necessary for the production of a more cost effective solution. Backgrounds can be omitted and characters can be radically simplified. More often than not, if the script is well written and the audio well timed, the audience are always more forgiving of the standard or simplicity of the animation.

• Animations that are more corporate in nature, may not have need for the stages such as ‘Character Design / Modeling’. Instead the focus of the project might be more of the style of the camera work, lighting or textual animation.

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Animation tariffs

TARIFF Silver Gold Platinum

Cost £300 - £900 £900 - £3500 £3500 - £10000

Approx. production time 2 - 7 days 7 days - 30 days 30 days - 2 months

Animation length 10 - 20 seconds 20 - 40 seconds 40 - 60 seconds

Appropriate for... Web banners Promotion Production

Character style Cut out Intermediate Advanced

Number of characters 1 - 2 2 - 4 4 or more

Model rigging FrontLeftRight

FrontFront 3Q LeftLeftFront 3Q RightRight

FrontFront 3Q LeftLeftBack 3Q LeftBackBack 3Q RightRightFront 3Q Right

Walk/Run cycle No Yes Yes

Background None Basic Detailed

Approx. number of props

5 15 30

Music No Yes Yes

Lip-sync No Yes Yes

Compositing No Yes Yes

Special effects No No Yes

Export formats animated GIF.mov.mpeg4.avi

.mov

.mpeg4

.avi

.mov

.mpeg4

.avi DVD

In order to help understand what design elements you can expect in accordance to your budget, I have created three simple tariffs.

Naturally all projects a different. So this page really is just to help you visualize the aspects of design, illustration, animation and post production necessary to fulfill your design requirements. I am always happy to discuss any ideas that you have and to clearly outline what may be involved. So if you have any questions or you’d like to just run an idea past me, please do get in contact.

For your information: UK Animation rates can be checked here: http://www.itjobswatch.co.uk/contracts/uk/animation.do

‘A moment's insight is sometimes worth a life's experience’.

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Contact details

Name: Hamish Baird

website: www.missiongraphics.co.uk

email: theteam@missiongraphics.co.uk

mobile: 07779 472 168

Skype: Hamish Baird

‘We have two ears and one mouth. So we can listen twice as much as we speak’.