THE 70-30-10 Rule
As a general rule, when we are producing training and information programs, we often devote as much as 70% of our time to the preproduction process and 30% to post-production with the remaining 10% (if you work at 110% like I do) devoted to the actual Animation. But the world of Animation seems to stress technology. So much attention is given to the production element, it almost seems that if we simply come up with concept & we can instantly create Animation Production design.
 |
AFTER MANY DOODLES THIS CHARACTER GOT SELECTED
© shubham gupta art |
 |
A STARTING OPENING SHOT SCRIBBLE
© shubham gupta art |
I've seen ads in magazines that lead you to believe that the Technical Knowledge is all you need to produce award winning Animation Production. Not quite! The Technical Knowledge is only one element, and a very minor element at that, needed in the production process.
The percentages should tell you where the real work and the success of the program lie. It's not in the 10%. It's in the
70%. Preproduction represents the least expensive part of your production, in actual Amount spent, but will have the biggest impact on the overall project's cost and success! That's justification enough for devoting more time to the pre-production process.
 |
| SCULPTURE @ BEGINNING © shubham gupta art |
 |
| SOME FINAL TOUCH © shubham gupta art |
There is only one thing that can replace good pre-production planning… money. Pouring money into the production can sometimes replace poor pre-production planning, but don't even count on that! Devoting only a few hours to planning a program will have a drastic effect on the outcome of the project. If we spend less time in pre-production, we will spend more time in production and post-production-the most expensive parts of the project and certainly the most mentally and physically stressful.
The time we spend in pre-production will directly affect the percentage of time we have to spend in the other more expensive phases of production. An example would be not planning for a program and perhaps spending as little as 1% of our time in pre-production. We could end up spending as much as 40% of our time in production and close to 60% of our time in post-production, trying to fix the mistakes we made in production because we didn't plan properly.
 |
| ME WITH MY SCULPTURE © shubham gupta art |
 |
BACKGROUND CONCEPT DESIGN FOR MY ANIMATION SHORT
© shubham gupta art |
In a way we can conclude that “99% of the problems that go wrong in production usually can be traced back to poor pre-production planning.”
SUMMARY…
A well planned program for which we devote more time to the pre-production process will SAVE production and compositing time, saving us money in the overall production of the project. The key to successful programs is planning. Whether you are producing video, film or mulitimedia projects, the more time you spend in the planning process, the more success you will have with the program.
