An animatic is the storyboard played back with durations — and usually scratch dialogue, VO or a music bed. It is a timing instrument. It is not the fine cut, and it is not a replacement for coverage.
On commercials, the animatic is how you find out a :30 is actually 44 seconds while changing it still costs minutes. On film, it is how you feel geography and pause. See storyboard vs animatic and how to make an animatic.
What belongs in an animatic
- Every frame already on the board, in story order
- A duration on each frame that you are willing to defend
- Scratch audio against the pictures, not a separate playlist
- Optional temp supers, so legal copy is timed
What does not belong
- Editorial transitions you cannot afford on the day
- New shots that are not on the board (put them on the board first)
- Finished colour and VFX — that hides pacing problems
Common mistake
Exporting a slideshow with one default duration per panel. An animatic with every frame at 2.0s is a flipbook. The whole point is uneven time: a 0.8s insert next to a 4s master.
Related: duration, storyboard, animatic software.