# How to Make an Animatic from a Storyboard

Canonical URL: https://www.cineoboard.com/blog/how-to-make-an-animatic

Turn a still storyboard into a timed animatic: set durations, add scratch audio, watch the cut, then export MP4 before the shoot is locked.

Published: 2026-09-11 · 8 min read · Guides

An animatic is the cheapest place to find out your commercial is 14 seconds too long. Make one before anyone books a camera.

## Start from a board, not from a timeline

Import or build the [storyboard](/blog/how-to-make-a-storyboard) first. Every frame needs a duration even if it is a guess. A timeline full of stills with no shot data is an edit, not an animatic — you will not be able to send it back to the crew as a shot list.

## Set durations from the script, then correct by eye

- Dialogue: time the line out loud, then add a beat of reaction
- VO spots: drop the VO first, then cut picture to it
- Music videos: drop the track first; picture is a slave to the bar
- Action: count “one-Mississippi” per beat, then watch it back

Default guesses that hold up: master 3–5s, medium 2–3s, close-up 1–2s, insert 1s. They are wrong often, which is why you watch the cut.

## Add only the audio that changes a decision

Scratch VO, temp music, and door slams that motivate a cut. Do not mix. The animatic’s job is structure, not presentation.

## Watch it at the real length

Play the whole piece without pausing. If you cannot sit through your own 30 seconds, the client cannot either. Cut frames, do not just shorten every duration by 10%.

## Export two files, not one

1. MP4 animatic for the client and editor
2. PDF board + shot list for the crew

If those two disagree, you do not have an animatic — you have two drafts. [CineoBoard](/animatic-software) exports both from the same frames. Open the [demo](/demo) and press play on the sample board to see the loop.

## FAQ

### What resolution should an animatic be?

1080p is enough. Clients watch these on laptops. Spend the time on timing, not on render settings.

### Should the animatic include camera moves?

Simple push-ins or pans help sell a move you intend to shoot. Full motion graphics usually hide the fact that the board is unfinished. Keep moves that are in the shot list; skip decoration.

---

More machine-readable entry points: [/llms.txt](https://www.cineoboard.com/llms.txt) · [/sitemap.xml](https://www.cineoboard.com/sitemap.xml)