This is an anime storyboard template on DIN A4 vertical (portrait) page for 16:9 (1.77:1) aspect ratio storyboards, with 5 frames per sheet. This layout draws inspiration from the beautiful Studio Ghibli layouts. You can either edit this storyboard template with Adobe InDesign or print the blank one out to draw on paper.
Boxes:
The first column indicates cuts. Use it to number your shots—you can have several pictures for the same shot.
The second and main column stands for the picture screen. That’s where you draw or place your pictures.
Then there is a space for your script notes for action, dialogue, etc.
The last column, time, is for annotating the duration of your shots in seconds.
Only duplicate the pages you want to use. To import your drawings, place your pictures into the frames that belong to the Images layer. You can use the Rule of Thirds guides located in the top locked layer to help you frame your compositions. Use the Text layer for your notes. Change the template to make it your own. Fill in the header, add your credits and project details, put your production title or logo. And your presentation is now ready for print or screens in no time!
IDML (InDesign Markup) format is compatible with all InDesign versions from CS4 to InDesign CC 2020.
FYI: Since the document grid corresponds to the 16:9 aspect ratio, you can build variations with ease. The smallest module is 21,333 by 12 points. Its height matches the document body text’s leading—in case you’d like to type text, 9 points is recommended for body text. You need the font Avenir installed on your machine for this template to work properly. Use the A-Pagination master for pagination, the A-Master for a clean sheet.
You can always hide the baseline grid and/or the document grid for clarity (View > Grids & Guides > Show Baseline Grid & Hide Baseline Grid).
I hope this template will save you time and help you design beautiful storyboards!
Thought it might be interesting to show how my Mos Eisley piece breaks down in Photoshop! Despite technically being made up of a ton of layers (just for organization and ease of selection), the final piece breaks down into about five parts: inks, flats, shadows, bounce/atmosphere, and overlay.
Sketch I actually blocked out a small scene in Maya to help me compose this shot – Mos Eisley has a lot of domes and ellipses and, as much as I adore drawing in perspective, it definitely helped having a basic maquette for placing the camera. We had to get the sketch approved by Lucasfilm, so I did a quick value pass to hint at the time of day.
Final Sketch This is where I’m finalizing the composition before inking. This meant fine-tuning figure placement, environment details, and any text I had written on the walls. Luke was almost entirely central in the initial sketch, so I shifted him to the left to let the piece breathe a little more.
Inks The first stage of the final piece, and probably my favourite – I can just turn off my brain, zone out, and ink. Since Star Wars is a notoriously “used” universe, I went for a bit of Geof Darrow vibe and let the inks do a lot of the texture work for me. The inking is actually done over some twelve-odd layers (sandtrooper, Luke, foreground moisture vaporator, etc), but that was just to organize my file and facilitate expedient flatting later on. The final inks are a dark green-blue, with a bit of variation in the distance to reinforce the atmospheric perspective.
Flats This aaaalways takes longer than I expect. This stage changes depending on my process, but I went with pretty basic local colors this time around. Nothing fancy.
Shadows (multiply layer) The shadows are all on 1-2 multiply layers, pretty basic. This was a deceptively simple lighting setup, so I wanted to make sure any edges that were catching light read really clearly. I added the warm rim of subsurface scattering to break up the edges a bit.
Bounce Light and Atmospheric Perspective (screen layers) A couple separate layers, but they serve similar purposes. This stage added bounce light from the sky and sand, as well as layers of atmospheric perspective to separate out the foreground, midground and background.
Final (overlay layers) The final piece! I used a subtle overlay layer to marry the colors, as well as some film grain and light watercolor texture to break up the swaths of flat digital color.
So that’s my jam! I’m changing up and improving my process constantly, but this is definitely one way to get things done. :)
I already reblogged this once but this is important:
Like I run a D&D blog. I understand that D&D is the most well-known and popular RPG in the world. But a lot of the time I see people going like “Hey I want to run a D&D campaign and throw out all the D&Disms and here’s all the notes I have for running a campaign about courtly romance and chivalry in a historical setting” and I’m just like STOP YOU DON’T NEED TO RUN THIS USING D&D
There’s a sort of a mistaken assumption that because D&D is the biggest game on the market and that it’s fantasy that it should be the go-to fantasy game but look it’s not D&D isn’t a generic fantasy game it’s a very specific kind of fantasy all of its own, one that steals liberally from swords & sorcery and high fantasy and adds fucking extradimensional cube robots for good measure
So next time you’re thinking about a fantasy campaign in a decidedly non-D&Dish setting consider instead of jamming the square peg that is D&D into a round hole trying to find a system that actually supports what you’re trying to do
And this is not to say that you shouldn’t play D&D: D&D is hella fun. But there’s a lot of genres and styles that D&D does a piss-poor job of doing, and because of that it’s so good we’ve got other games
All right then. I’ve been meaning to dust off my own D&D sideblog for a while, so here we go with providing some examples. I’m limiting this specifically to other types of fantasy outside of the standard high fantasy and sword & sorcery millieu.
Courtly Romance and Chivalry
There are a number of options for this, and they range from standard secondary world fantasy to more historical and mythological settings. My list here shouldn’t be treated as fully extensive.
Blue Rose - based on the romantic fantasy subgenre, specifically as seen in the works of Tamora Pierce and Mercedes Lackey. A lot of courtly drama and intrigue and swashbuckling, based in a fictional world.
Pendragon - naturally based off of Arthurian mythology, and having a lot of stuff given over to the court of Camelot and the chivalric adventures of the various knights. The same company also has a kickstarter for a spin-off called Paladin: Warriors of Charlemagne that might be worth checking out.
Historical Fantasy
This one’s a bit more prominent as historical settings serve as an inspiration for a variety of fantasy worlds and games, and this of course invariably extends to settings that actually use historical settings with a degree of fantasy elements thrown in. Note that I’m going to emphasise Europe here simply due to greater familiarity with games in that millieu, and as a European myself I’m ill-equipped to judge how accurate or respectful games using other settings actually are.
Because of this, feel free to add other examples in reblogs
Chivalry & Sorcery - one of the early tabletop games inspired by D&D, taking a more pseudo-historical approach.
It’s based on 12th century France and strives for a degree of historical accuracy and medieval politics.
World of Darkness, Dark Ages (including Vampire and Mage) - while the World of Darkness has earned some negative attention lately (and for good reason), the dark ages RPGs are still an old favourite of mine. Also worth checking out is Mage: The Sorcerer’s Crusade, set during the Renaissance. The Mage stuff has a really cool open-ended magic system worth checking out.
Ars Magica - this exists along very similar lines to the dark age material above, based around mages and magic-users in a ‘Mythic Europe’ setting. It also has a really cool open-ended magic system, and one of my personal favourites.
Hello! I’m Gabrielle Ragusi. I’ve been a freelance illustrator for years now and, as many other freelancers, I had to deal with difficult situations in the past - recent past. These situations come with the job (for everyone), but they can be easily avoided… if only I had known this sooner!
This post doesn’t paint a pretty picture of the one client, but know that I refer to a very small percentage of people (the clients I work with are actually great).
Yet, the one client exists and these tips might help you face them.
When The One Client tries to screw you over.
From time to time, clients will try to have their way with unforeseeable requests and demands at work started and, quite often, at work done.
Solution: State your terms.
Before starting a project, even a sketch, I strongly suggest sending a contract or a simple Terms of Agreement document in which you state everything: commission process, revisions, payment method, ownership… This way they won’t be able to make up some half-ass excuse for their demands.
Also, you don’t have to be overly generous. If the client asks for extra revisions, ask for extra payment. The extra money will cover the extra time you spent on the project, so don’t feel guilty about it.
When The One Client sells bad ideas or asks for the wrong revisions.
Clients may know what they want, but they also might try to sell ideas that you know won’t work or ask for revisions that won’t make the project look any better. They won’t consciously bamboozle you, but the project has your name on it and judgement will come with the audience feedback.
Solution: You’re the artist in this project, so speak your mind. Giving your clients alternatives and your opinion helps the client know that you care about the project and that you know your stuff. You want the best for your client.
When The One Client wants you to work on spec.
Solution: Don’t.
On-spec work is a bad idea. If clients contact me, I take for granted they’ve seen my portfolio and know what I do, but if you’re just starting as a professional, my suggestion is to ask for a minimum upfront payment.
The power to say yes doesn’t always apply.
This isn’t about The One Client but about our own ‘Yes’, when inside we’re screaming ‘Hell no’, screwing us over.
Yes is not always good. When in doubt, think about your lack of time, disinterest in the project and all those things that lead to bad results!
If you don’t have time to work on a new commission, say no. If the project isn’t your cup of tea, say no.
Also, not all clients are jerks, so if you explain you don’t have time to work on another project right now but they like your portfolio, it’s possible that they will contact you again in the future or ask for your time schedule.
(Don’t) Assume that clients know your art style.
This one is tricky and has a lot to do with the first stage of commissions and my personal experience. When clients contact me for the first time, most have seen my portfolio and know what I do. They contact me because of what I do and how I do it. When these clients say “I love your work”, I naturally assume they’ve seen my portfolio.
But when there are no signals that the person contacting me has seen my work, I can’t assume. This happened just a few weeks ago with a client who asked for my availability to illustrate a book after seeing an illustration of mine (the book was about faeries, my illustration had faeries). Problem is I assumed they knew my work, but they didn’t. What happened is that they asked me to work on spec, I said no and gave them a minimum quote for an initial sketch instead. Feedback received, I finally understood they hadn’t in fact seen my portfolio, although I’m not sure where they found my email address.
I don’t have a real solution to this kind of situation other than not assuming things. I guess it’s a matter of dealing with The One Client once again.
Payment fees are covered by the client, always.
If you receive payments through PayPal and similar services, I’m sure you know about the fees.
Unfortunately, I found the solution to this only a couple of years ago - looking back at all the money PayPal took from me in fees, I want to cry (living in Europe and working with clients based anywhere in the world, these fees vary, from 2,9% to 4,5% + small transfer fees).
Now I send all invoices myself (I don’t let clients send money my way on their own) and I add a tax that covers PayPal or Stripe’s fees to the project’s quote: this is not money that ends up in my pocket, it’s money that PayPal takes, mind you.
My final advice is: be professional.
The One Client will try your patience, but don’t lose your composure. Even in disagreement, be professional, offer your thoughts and compromise if necessary. If the project is successful, The One Client will be happy. You want your clients to be happy.
SHORT STORY/ONE-SHOT/ONE CHAPTER/COMICS 101 CRASH COURSE RAPIDPUNCHES’ STYLE
I’m NOT an expert but I have some working experience I can share. You need experience to become great. Here is my set of instructions, tips, and notes towards making a 12-page comic.
My method is to work backwards. Personally I work “backwards” because the end is the only wholly necessary page or set of panels in the story. Everything in between is open to editing and hacking as the most important moments are emphasized and chosen.
I even plan/draw the end page first. The end is the last page a reader sees- so spend your freshest energies on making it as epic, memorable, poignant, and beautiful as #$%^&.
If you draw the pages from 1 to 12 sequentially you run the risk of fresh to burnt out- an uneven distribution of drawing skill. (treat the first page and the 2-page splash as you would the last).
Roughly… the steps to making your comic is
WRITE
PLAN THUMBNAILS
DRAW
…BEGIN THE WRITING (DO NOT SKIP NO MATTER WHAT) like this, in this order:
How does it end?
Does the protag succeed or fail?
What is the turning point of their story?
What the protag do that led them there?
Where does it start?
Who is this protag?
EXAMPLE:
Guy gets mauled by a bear.
This is a fail on the guy’s half.
The bear must eat something or he’ll starve to death.
It’s the guy’s fault the bear can’t find other food. He caused the avalanche that buried all the cabins.
The guy is yodeling in an avalanche zone.
The guy is some guy.
CREATING “THE BEAT SHEET” Take the above stuff and reorder it to make sense.
This guy yodels.
Echoes roll.
Snow slides down.
Avalanche buries the mountain.
Cabins are engulfed.
This bear has no access to cabin food and garbage.
Bear eats this guy.
Expand. Blow up important beats for emphasis. Keep less important beats brief.
This guy is hiking in the snowy mountains.
He comes across an avalanche warning sign.
There is nobody around but him.
A dumb expression forms over his face and he yodels.
Echoes roll but nothing nearby is moved.
At the top of the mountain the snow drifts twitch.
Guy, satisfied, hikes away from there still yodeling.
Frozen snow cracks.
Snow puffs billow and great slabs of ice crash down the mountain side.
Guy sees this and hightails it to safer ground.
Animals, people, are all panicking and getting pushed over by the rushing snow.
Cabins are destroyed.
The guy takes cover by an outcropping of rocks, fastens himself securely to the rock face, and waits for the avalanche to die down.
Avalanche dies down.
A lone bear shambles over from the other side of the mountain.
The bear goes to where a cabin used to be (only roof tiles are left). Bear sniffs a dish satellite.
Bear forlornly eats a food wrapper.
Bear tries to dig.
Guy comes down from the rocks he as climbing and sees bear.
Bear stops digging and sees him.
Guy runs.
Bear chases him down.
Bear eats the guy.
BEAT SHEET COMPLETED!!!
After the beat sheet, write up all the sound effects and speech bubbles and conversation/dialogue you want to be in your comic.
Since comics are a visual medium, highest priority is given to the beats. If a story can’t be told with the art without the dialogue– you messed up and it’s time to rethink your life choices.
Try to keep all your text chunks as short as a tweet. Professionally you don’t want more than 25 words per speech bubble and no more than 250 words per page.
Next is translating the beats to pages…
STRUCTURE OVERVIEW:
[1] point of entry, in media res, hero intro
[2][3] conflict. establish conflict, setting, and mood by the third page. [4][5] rising action/false resolution to conflict/investigation
[6][7] turning point/plot twist/epiphany (this one epic image, to page spread is pivotal, spend a lot of effort into creating this)
[8][9] aftermath/“darkness before dawn”/struggle [10][11] recovery/“rise and conquer”/“fall”
[12] resolution/final end/cliffhanger
[front cover][interior] [interior][back cover]
——————–
My maximum per page is nine panels but I’ve seen pages that have way more. I like to have about 3 to 4 panels per row or less but I’ve seen the “rules” broken before. Advanced comic book artists manipulate time with the number of panels and the size of each panel.
remember, DIAGONALS!!! open up an issue of batman, superman, spider man, deadpool or whatever youre reading theyre everywhere.
———-
…DRAW IN THIS ORDER:
Page 12,
Page 6 and 7 (this is typically one large image that takes up the space of two pages),
Page 1,
and then the rest.
ONLY “DEVIATION” ALLOWED:
Page 12 and 1*
Page 6 and 7,
and then the rest.
*Draw the first and last page as a spread in situations where the beginning of the story mirrors the end of the story.
Cover is dead last.
———-
(If at the very end you find out you need more pages and it’s absolutely unavoidable and totally necessary you have to add them in fours. Try to stick to 12 pages for this crash course.)
——————–
FURTHER NOTES:
Plan and draw the pages in spreads (the twos) since this is how it will appear in print and when you submit them to an editor for review guess what, the pages with an exception to the first and last will be reviewed as spreads.
You at most only need one establishing panel of the setting and environment (scene) per page.
Forget “true to life” perspective outside of the establishing panel). Practice diagonal composition of objects and subjects within panels. For dynamism.
You don’t have to present the text all in one go (one paragraph or bubble). You can and should break up paragraphs, sentences, and if you need to single out words– to make smaller, more easily managed bubbles to scatter through the panel.
Less important moments have smaller panels and or lesser detail. More details (or more word bubbles) slow down time. More drawn detail also creates a concentration of values (it’s darker and sometimes combines together as one shape or mass)
Know your light sources. Control the blacks. Control the values.
