The ultimate guide to animation revisions

The hidden dangers of misunderstanding revision policies

Understanding the revision policy is essential, not only to avoid unexpected expenses or timeline extensions during production. These are just the tip of the iceberg. Real challenges can surface before you start or even months after the project is delivered. Here are the most common scenarios you might encounter:

Getting the Fair Price: Asking for too many revisions can inflate the project quote, leading to an unfair price for motion graphics services. Keep your requests reasonable!

Avoiding Budget Extensions: Budgets can skyrocket during production if there's miscommunication about revisions. Clear communication is key.

Planning the Timeline: Misjudging revision timelines can delay project completion. Make sure to plan accurately!

After Delivery Support: It's smart to agree on the cost of post-production support at an hourly rate. Otherwise, you might end up paying double due to lack of alternatives.

Quality of the Final Product: A weak revision policy can result in subpar final products. Aim for a strong, clear policy!

Additionally, communication issues and project scope creep can present further challenges.

Key strategies to manage and avoid revision pitfalls

1. Strategies for Effective Revisions in Animation

To ensure a seamless experience and avoid any issues, finding a reliable partner is crucial. At Yans Media, we prioritize clarity for our customers. After reviewing each request, we suggest the most optimal strategies and explore all possible scenarios for video usage, providing tailored recommendations.

However, with this guide, you can ensure that any potential issues are minimized.

Beyond the Number of Rounds: Ask for Clarifications

Understand Revision Policy:

The revision policy typically outlines how many revisions you get. However, it's essential to break this down further. Does this mean rounds overall or for each production stage?

Useful Resource:
9 steps to perfect explainer video production process

Clarify the Production Process:

Understand the production process and how many updates you'll receive during production. Some companies only send you the script, story, and final animation, limiting your ability to make important changes.

At Yans Media, we send updates at each milestone: script, concept, mood board, storyboard, style, illustrations, voice-over, animation, and sound design. This ensures you have the opportunity to make corrections at each stage and avoid surprises.

Define What Revisions Mean:

Clarify what revisions entail. Can you change anything you want, or are revisions limited to the current stage? Typically, changes are allowed at each stage, but minor tweaks like script adjustments during the storyboard stage are usually acceptable.

2. Set Clear Goals

It’s important to agree on clear goals because if the production company does not meet the agreed quality level, this should not be considered a revision. Ensure this is included in your agreement.

3. Unused Revisions

If you are promised two revisions per stage and use only one, it does not mean you can use three in the next stage. Make sure you and the production company are on the same page about this.

4. Provide Accumulated Feedback

Before requesting revisions, ensure all stakeholders have reviewed the deliverable and provided their feedback. Gather all notes, structure them, and send your feedback. This prevents issues like approving a style only to require drastic changes later, which can extend the budget.

5. Don’t Over-Require Rounds of Revisions

While it’s understandable to feel insecure with limited revision rounds, requiring more can inflate the price unnecessarily. If you have two revisions per stage, that’s usually sufficient. Asking for additional rounds in advance can lead to a higher overall cost. It’s wiser to pay for an extra round if needed rather than preemptively extending the budget.

6. Save Versions

Most professional companies save progress to revert to previous versions easily. However, ensure you also have all the versions to verify that your requests are executed correctly.

7. Agree on the Timeline

Agree on the time the company will take for making adjustments. For later production stages, this should not exceed 1-2 days per round. This allows you to plan the timeline properly and sync with your marketing team schedules.

8. Fix the Price for Extra Revisions

If you use all your revisions and need more, agree on the exact hourly rate for additional revisions. This is especially important for changes like updating logos or colors after a period of time. For example, we created a successful video for the leading crypto company, Solana. After eight months, they changed their brand colors and wanted to reflect that in their video. Because we had agreed on the price beforehand, there were no surprises, and we updated the colors for the expected price.

Stage-by-Stage Revision Checklist

Understanding what to focus on during each step can help streamline the process and prevent issues down the line. Here's a guide to what you should pay attention to during each production stage for effective revisions.

Script Revisions:

Script lays the foundation for the animation by refining the core narrative.

• Narrative Clarity: Ensure the plot is coherent, and the story flows logically.
• Brevity and Precision: Ensure the script is concise and clear.
• Character Development: Refine characters, personalities and motivations.
• Dialogue: Make dialogue natural and impactful.
• Emotional Resonance: Enhance scenes to evoke the desired emotions.
  

Additional Considerations for explainer and other Marketing Videos:

• Opening line should attract and hit the point of the audience.
• Benefits should be communicated clearly.
• Tone and language should resonate with the target audience.
• Ensure there is a clear call to action that matches your sales funnel.

Moodboard Revisions:

This stage sets the visual tone and atmosphere of the animation.

• Visual Tone: Confirm the mood board accurately reflects the desired visual style and tone.
• Color Schemes: Adjust color palettes to set the appropriate mood.
• Consistency: Ensure visual elements are consistent with the overall vision.
• Inspirational Accuracy: Validate that references align with the project's goals.
• Branding: Confirm that the look direction is consistent with your brand.
• Target: Ensure the visual style will be acceptable to the target audience (e.g., conservative people may not appreciate a cartoony style).

Storyboard Revisions:

This stage maps out the visual storytelling and sequence of scenes.

• Visual Storytelling: Ensure the storyboard effectively communicates the narrative.
• Scene Transitions: Refine transitions for smooth flow.
• Characters: Clarify character movements and expressions, and ensure the right age, race, and environment.
• Composition: Adjust framing and composition for visual impact.
• Sequence: Ensure the sequence of actions is logical and the story is clear without gaps for first-time viewers.

Style Revisions:

Style establishes the aesthetic consistency and overall look of the animation.

• Aesthetic Consistency: Ensure the visual style aligns with the project’s vision and your brand.
• Character Design: Refine character designs for appeal and clarity.
• Background Elements: Enhance backgrounds for depth and context.
• Color Consistency: Ensure color use is consistent with your vision or branding

Illustration Revisions:

This stage enhances the visual details and clarity of all illustrated elements.

• Detail and Clarity: Refine illustrations for detail and readability.
• Proportions and Anatomy: Ensure characters and elements are proportionally accurate.
• Expression and Emotion: Enhance facial expressions and body language.
• Consistency: Maintain stylistic consistency across all illustrations.
• Brand Elements: Check whether your brand elements, such as logo or contact information, are correct and clear.

Voice Over Revisions:

Voice over ensures the voice performances match the visual and emotional tone.

• Performance Quality: Ensure voice acting is clear and emotionally appropriate.
• Timing and Sync: Adjust timing to match animation cues.
• Clarity: Ensure the voice-over is easy to understand.
• Clear Pronunciation: Ensure important information, such as brand name or website address, is clearly pronounced and understandable.
• Tone and Style: Match the voice-over tone with the project’s overall style.
• Pace: Ensure the pace is not too fast to be understandable and not too slow to be boring.

Useful Resource:
How to choose a voice actor for animations

Animation Revisions:

This stage focuses on refining the movement and timing of the animation.

• Smooth Transitions: Ensure animations flow smoothly.
• Realistic Movements: Refine character movements for realism and believability.
• Synchronization: Ensure lip-sync and actions match the audio.
• Timing and Pacing: Adjust timing for emotional impact and natural flow.

Music and Sound Design Revisions:

This stage enhances the audio experience to complement the visuals.

• Sound Quality: Ensure all sound effects are clear and fitting.
• Emotional Tone: Match music to the emotional tone of the scenes.
• Mixing and Balance: Ensure a good balance between dialogue, music, and sound effects.
• Consistency: Maintain audio consistency throughout the project.

By focusing on these key points at each production stage, you can ensure that your animation project stays on track and meets your quality expectations.‍

Final Words

In summary, focusing on key revision points at each production stage ensures your animation project stays on track and meets quality expectations. Effective revisions enhance clarity, consistency, and communication, ultimately perfecting your vision.

Take control of your animation project with these strategies. For expert guidance and exceptional results, contact us at Yans Media. Let’s bring your vision to life!