Recently I received a copy of "Professional Storyboarding: Rules of Thumb". Among my daily schedule I'm typing up the screenplay for a project that was put aside when I was diagnosed with throat cancer.
I have dabbled with storyboarding off and on over the years, and although I can sketch I'm no Da Vinci. A few years ago I toyed with the idea of creating a visual novel ( another of those started ideas that have been superseded by another, but I digress). Anyway the book has renewed my enthusiasm to finish a project, at least, before leaving this mortal coil. Below is the beginning of that visual novel using a mixture of real-life scenes and iClone characters to see what I could produce.  The last three frames are there to show the development from a photo of a real building with one of the main characters composited over it. The 'comic' effect was done with a filter in Photoshop. There is probably easier ways to do this, but one has to experiment...
Anyway I'd be interested in my fellow iCloners thoughts and experiences with storyboarding.

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nice work on that story board strip,   I've usually seen them horizontally to emulate a timeline on a video editor ...which helps with visualizing the pacing the timing of your movie.

I don't story board,  but this is also because I'm a one man show running my Music Label -  it's a lot of work and I'm limited not only on time,  but creatively it takes it's toll on you when you are constantly having to be creative in a variety of disciplines - ie - sound design, composing, mixing, mastering, artwork ...each one of those have their own brand of creativity and it can get exhausting jumping from one to another constantly,  because each form of creativity is attached to some form of technicality. so it's not as easy as just making stuff up when part of that creativity is knowing what tools to use to achieve your goals.

What I usually do for music videos is keep my animation software up and video editor and just go with the flow - which kind of melds all disciplines into a form of free flowing creativity - no pausing to think of what software to use or what scene to shoot next,  the software is up,  you are listening to music and creating scenes as you go. 

I do have some scripts that I've come up with though that I'd like to eventually do for film festivals which will require a story board to accomplish -  I've touched on the subject and one app that I found interesting for this is https://trello.com/home   this system has a way of organizing data for team driven projects,  or even working solo that lets you attach a variety of files / links and information that let you post an image from a storyboard,   and give details on what software to use,  provide updates and share workloads with teams.    -  so for example, you attach one picture -  people can add feedback,  post links of related images for a color theme,  or add links and details of the tools and softwares to use to achieve that shot

The workflow I envisioned for trello is as follows -
master image with Movie poster draft - to rep the Entire Project - 
1st sub topic,  storyboard - with a cap of the entire storyboard
subtopic under storyboard -  1 Image from storyboard ...
group discussions about lighting, texturing, prop sourcing, software to use etc...
and finally a link to the final render for the editor.


other sub - topics can be made on funding, marketing ...etc   -  it's very cool tool that can really organize your project in great detail with a "creative" approach lol

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"To define Tao is to defile it" - Lao Tzu

A while ago I began a storyboard for one of my yet unmade movies, by indeed drawing everything, but I didn't like the stick figure characters, so I started to use iClone for that. I converted the renders to drawings and then hand-drew to that.

Now, I rather build the scenes as I go along with writing the screenplay, using iClone as a design tool.

Like PSD, I have to do everything myself, so a storyboard is an extra step. Other than for very short movies, I do write a screenplay.

Since making a movie takes a long time, I have been playing with the idea of creating a graphic novel based on the material that I already have. Sort of animation without animating. I'm also a bit stuck at this point, so I hope it will inspire me.





I have created a Paint Shop Pro script that converts renders into something more comic-like. I then use the Comic Life software to put it together.

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wow,  that's amazing work Animagic!!   -  might be fun to turn that into a motion comic,  there are many styles of motion comics too,  some are just close ups and pans of the scenes with narration behind them - which are very impactful!!  Great work,  totally different than anything I've seen you create before and looks great!!

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I have story-boarded particular scenes while writing some of the few scripts I've worked on but its generally just me jotting down specific visual cues and ideas I'm having while writing the scene for memory sake.  Usually just some hand drawn sketches on the sides of the script.

     

Yeah, I do basically what you do. Some complex sequences I have worked out with very rough sketches to make sure I have the storytelling working right. These are usually sequences where I am building up to some specific climactic shot. However, when I go to shoot the storyboarded sequences, they often change somewhat. That can be because of the constraints of the 3D set,  or some element I can't change which ruins the composition. 

As I have progressed, I find I do less and less storyboarding. Like you, I may get a visual in my mind while I am writing the script and make a note of it, but then I might find something I like better when I am working with the actual set and avatars. I find more ideas and options when I have the complete setting and characters, but I am also more aware of practical limitations. 

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Storyboarding is essential - if you want to maximize your creativity and save yourself hundreds of hours of tinkering - and actually make the film you imagine.  You don't have to be able to draw, it's just a road map for your production - there is not one animator on planet Earth who can "block out" a scene as quickly as someone drawing stick figures in little boxes.  So, ironically... the time saved skipping the storyboard stage is effectively making your scene/film taking days or weeks instead of hours.  There's a huge difference in productivity between opening iClone with an idea as opposed to opening iClone with a plan.  Of course there are "happy accidents" that occur when you're tinkering but having a plan does not stop them from happening - it's just part of the creative process.  I also think that as many of us are "one man shows" it's even more beneficial because it forces you to wear one hat at a time.  Imagine while you're writing you stop mid sentence to "see" what that shot would look like with a camera dolly in iClone... or, when you're sound mixing you drop that to open CC3 and change your character's eyes.  So yes, storyboarding may seem like a chore... but it's the best time to figure out where the weaknesses and strengths of the visual you're about to create - it's not just a stickman version of your script, it's your film in the raw.

For those of you who do storyboard, there is an interesting free program called "Storyboarder":
https://wonderunit.com/storyboarder/
You can add pictures 3 ways:
1) Draw
2) Import (from iClone, PS, etc.)
3) Generate inside the program (it has a nifty "3D" generator where you can add/manipulate character dummies, change camera angles, etc.)

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thanks Gordryd, very interesting. As I'm designer (not professional but I draw) I do all manually. I have a vision before making my scenes