If you’ve never been part of a 3D animation project, it’s natural to wonder how it works. The short answer: a clear, collaborative process, with touchpoints at key stages where you get to review and approve.
Here’s what happens behind the scenes when you make a 3D animated video with Phantom.
Concept and script: Finding the story worth telling
A 3D animated video starts the same way as any great video: with a strong concept and a script that earns attention.
If you’re starting from scratch, we’ll develop the concept and script together. If you already have an idea in mind, we’ll build a tight script around it. Either way, we focus on three things:
- Story beats that keep viewers hooked while showing the problem you solve and what sets you apart
- A clear path to action, so your target audience knows what to do next
- Your brand’s voice, so the video sounds like you, not like a template
Your touchpoint: We walk you through the script and get your approval before we draw a single frame.
Storyboard and moodboard: Seeing the vision
With the script locked, we rough out the visuals for every story beat and scene. Think of this as the blueprint for your video.
Each frame comes with on-screen notation and short descriptions of what’s happening, so you can see the intended direction clearly.
Alongside the storyboard, we build a moodboard: a mix of image and animation references showing the look and feel we’re aiming for. This helps you picture the style before we move forward.
Your touchpoint: We present the storyboard and moodboard to you. You approve them, or we revise until you love them.
Animatic: Feeling the rhythm of your video
Next, we turn the storyboard into an animatic: a very rough, timed version of the video. It won’t look pretty yet, and that’s the point.
The animatic gives you a sense of the pacing and structure of the piece with music and rough voiceover before we invest in full 3D production. It’s far easier (and cheaper) to fix timing here than after scenes are fully animated.
Your touchpoint: You review the animatic and sign off before we move into production.
Asset collection and creation: Building your world
Every object in a 3D scene is an asset. That includes everything from the hero of your video (i.e., your product) to small background details like trees or pipes. We gather everything the video needs to bring the world to life.
Some projects call for something truly one-of-a-kind. In those cases, we model, texture and rig the asset ourselves, from the ground up. For our Air Creebec TV spot, we designed a custom stylized goose made specifically for the project.
Your touchpoint: We review key assets with you, especially custom-built ones, before they appear on screen.
Styleframes: Setting the look
Before animation begins, we fully render still frames from key scenes. These are what’s known as styleframes, and they help show you exactly what your finished video will look like, with lighting, textures and detail in place.
Your touchpoint: You review the styleframes and approve the look before we start animating.
Animation passes: Bringing your story to life
We animate in passes. The first pass blocks out the big movements: where objects and cameras go, and when. Each pass after that adds refinement, from timing and weight to the small details that make motion feel natural.
Working this way keeps the project on track. Big-picture problems get caught early, and the polish goes where it counts.
Your touchpoint: Sit back. With the animatic and styleframes approved, our animators take it from here, and we keep you in the loop if anything needs your input.
Final animation and revisions: Polishing it to perfection
Once every pass is complete, we present the final animation, fully lit, rendered and ready to review.
Your touchpoint: You share your feedback, and we make the updates. Because you’ve approved the key elements along the way, there are no surprises at this stage, just finishing touches.
What this means for you: A clear path, from idea to screen
Great 3D animation isn’t magic. It’s a proven process, refined over 150+ custom scripts and more than 1.2 million rendered 3D frames for brands like Air Creebec, the Ottawa Senators and Sideshift.
When you work with Phantom, you get:
- A clear roadmap. You’ll always know what stage your project is in, what’s coming next and when we need your input.
- A real say at every step. You approve the big decisions before we move forward, so the final video lands exactly where you expected, with no costly surprises.
- A team clients come back to. 90% of our clients return for their next project.
- A video built to perform. As part of WebMarketers, we can plug your animation into a full marketing strategy that gets it seen by the right people and drives results.
Ready to see your idea in 3D? Tell us about your project, and our team will get back to you within 24 hours to talk through your goals, timeline and budget.
