An animated video is built in layers. Each stage produces something you can review cheaply before the next, more expensive stage starts. Understanding that order is the best way to keep a project on time and on budget, because almost every overrun comes from a decision made at the wrong stage.
This article walks through the full pipeline a studio uses for a typical 60 to 90 second 2D video or explainer: what happens at each step, how long it usually takes, what the client is expected to do, and where the approval gates are. Timelines are realistic ranges for custom studio work and depend on style, complexity and how quickly feedback comes back.
The pipeline at a glance
| Stage | What is produced | Typical duration | Client action |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Brief | Agreed goals, audience, scope | 1 to 3 days | Fill in brief, kickoff call |
| 2. Research | Notes on product, audience, competitors | 2 to 4 days | Answer questions, share materials |
| 3. Script | Voiceover text and scene notes | 3 to 7 days | Review and approve script |
| 4. Style frames | 2 to 4 finished-looking stills | 4 to 7 days | Choose and approve visual style |
| 5. Storyboard | Sketch of every scene | 4 to 7 days | Approve scene by scene |
| 6. Voiceover | Recorded narration | 2 to 5 days (often parallel) | Approve voice and read |
| 7. Animatic | Timed storyboard with voice | 3 to 5 days | Approve timing and flow |
| 8. Animation | Full animation | 2 to 4 weeks | Review first cut |
| 9. Sound design and music | Final mix | 3 to 5 days (partly parallel) | Approve mix |
| 10. Revisions | Corrected cut | 3 to 7 days | Consolidated feedback |
| 11. Delivery | Final files in all formats | 1 to 3 days | Final sign-off |
Added up with normal feedback time between stages, that lands at roughly 5 to 8 weeks for a custom 2D video of this length.
1. Brief
Everything starts with a brief. It answers what the video should achieve, who will watch it, where it will be shown, how long it should be, what style you have in mind, when you need it and roughly what budget is available.
What the client does: fills in the brief, sends brand guidelines, logo files, product materials and two or three reference videos. Joins a kickoff call to talk it through.
Approval gate: both sides agree on scope, deliverables, timeline and price. This is usually where the contract is signed and the deposit paid.
The single most useful thing at this stage is naming one decision maker. Projects with one person who consolidates feedback and has the final say move noticeably faster than projects where approvals go round a committee.
2. Research
The studio learns enough about the product and audience to write about it convincingly. That means reading documentation, looking at the product, reviewing competitors' videos and sometimes talking to a subject matter expert on the client side.
What the client does: answers questions, gives access to a demo or product, shares sales decks, customer feedback and any messaging guidelines.
This stage is short but saves time later. Scripts written without it tend to come back with "that's not quite how it works" notes.
3. Script
The script is the foundation. For a 60 second video it is around 140 to 160 words of voiceover plus short notes on what happens on screen. A good script has one core message, a clear structure (often problem, solution, how it works, call to action), and language the audience actually uses. See our full guide on writing an explainer video script.
What the client does: reads the script aloud (this catches most problems), checks facts, gathers internal feedback into one document, approves.
Approval gate: script locked. From here on, changing the words means redoing work, and the cost of a change grows with each stage.
4. Style frames
Before drawing every scene, the designer creates two to four finished-looking frames that show the visual style: colour palette, character design, illustration level, typography, how the brand appears. A moodboard may come first to agree direction. For larger projects a director's treatment may describe the overall creative approach.
What the client does: chooses a direction and gives feedback on the look, not the content.
Approval gate: visual style locked. Every later frame is built in this style, so a change of look after the storyboard means redrawing.
5. Storyboard
The storyboard turns the script into a sequence of sketches, one or more per scene, with notes about camera movement, transitions and on-screen text. It shows what the viewer sees at each moment of the voiceover. It is usually in rough sketch form, sometimes partly coloured.
What the client does: reviews every frame against the script. Checks that each visual supports the line it accompanies and that nothing important is missing or wrong.
Approval gate: storyboard approved. We go deeper into this stage and how to review it in storyboards and animatics explained.
6. Voiceover
Once the script is locked, the voiceover can be cast and recorded, often in parallel with the storyboard. The studio sends two or three voice samples, the client picks one, and the actor records the script, usually with a couple of takes in different reads.
What the client does: chooses the voice, listens to the recording, checks pronunciation of product names and technical terms.
Approval gate: voiceover approved. The animatic and all animation timing are built on this recording, so re-recording later means re-timing.
7. Animatic
The animatic places the storyboard frames on a timeline with the recorded voiceover and rough sound. It plays like a very rough version of the final video. Now you can feel the pacing: whether a scene lingers too long, whether a point goes by too fast, whether a transition is confusing.
What the client does: watches it several times, ideally with someone who has not seen the script, and gives feedback on timing, order and clarity.
Approval gate: animatic locked. This is the last cheap moment to change structure. After this, the studio commits animator time to every second of the video.
8. Animation
With the script, style, storyboard, voice and timing locked, the animators build the real thing. Designers create final illustrations for every scene, characters are prepared for animation (rigged for cut-out 2D, or drawn pose by pose in frame by frame), and scenes are animated one by one, then assembled. This is the longest stage, typically 2 to 4 weeks for 60 to 90 seconds of custom 2D, longer for detailed character acting or 3D.
Studios often share a first cut or a work in progress at the halfway point so the client can see the movement style early.
What the client does: reviews the first cut for accuracy and brand fit. At this stage, feedback should be about execution: a colour that is off, a movement that feels wrong, a label with a typo. Not about structure, which was locked in the animatic.
9. Sound design and music
Music is chosen (from a licensed library or composed), sound effects are added to give motion weight and texture, and everything is mixed with the voiceover so the voice stays clear. Sound design often starts on finished scenes while the rest is still being animated.
What the client does: approves the music choice early (often at the animatic stage) and the final mix.
Sound is one of the cheapest ways to make an animation feel finished. A video with careful sound design reads as higher quality even if the animation itself is simple.
10. Revisions
Most studios include two rounds of revisions on the animation. The client sends consolidated feedback, the studio fixes it, and sends a corrected cut.
What the client does: collects all comments in one place with timecodes, resolves contradictions internally before sending, separates must-fix items from preferences.
Clear timecoded notes ("0:23, the logo should be the white version") get fixed in hours. Vague notes ("the middle feels off") lead to guessing and extra rounds.
11. Delivery and formats
After final approval the studio renders and delivers every agreed version.
Common deliverables
- Master video: MP4 (H.264 or H.265), usually 1920x1080 or 3840x2160.
- Social versions: 1:1, 4:5 and 9:16 recompositions, and short cutdowns.
- Subtitled version and a separate SRT file.
- Clean version without voiceover or on-screen text, useful for localisation.
- Edit master: ProRes for broadcast or further editing.
- Project files: only if agreed in the contract.
What the client does: checks every file plays correctly in its destination (upload a test to the actual platform), then signs off.
Who does what: a checklist for clients
- Name one decision maker before kickoff.
- Send brand assets, product materials and references with the brief.
- Read the script aloud before approving it.
- Judge style frames on look, not on content.
- Review the storyboard frame by frame against the script.
- Check pronunciation of names in the voiceover.
- Watch the animatic with a fresh viewer.
- Give timecoded, consolidated feedback on animation cuts.
- Test the delivered files on the real platforms.
Where projects slip
- Feedback delays. A week waiting for approval at each of five gates adds five weeks. Block review time in calendars at the start.
- Late script changes. A new product feature added after the animatic means new storyboard frames, new voice lines and re-timed animation.
- New stakeholders appearing late. Someone senior who sees the video for the first time at the animation stage and wants a different direction. Involve them at the script and style stages.
- Unclear deliverables. Discovering at the end that a vertical version and three languages were needed. List them in the brief.
Everything before animation is pre-production, and it is where most of the value is decided. Time spent there is cheap compared with fixing problems once animators are working.
Summary
A typical custom 2D animation of 60 to 90 seconds goes through about eleven stages over 5 to 8 weeks. The structure exists to make expensive decisions early, when they are still cheap to change: words at the script stage, look at the style frame stage, timing at the animatic stage. Clients who keep feedback fast and consolidated, and who respect those approval gates, get their video on time and within budget.
If you would like to see how this process works on your project, look at the 2D animation and motion design services, then send us a short brief on the contact page.