Two, Storyboard Pro files import directly into Toon Boom’s Harmony animation software, sets up all the scenes, all the timings and lays the storyboard into the background as the layouts for the animators. Again, an incredible time saver and less chance for mistakes.

The producers at Bento Box Entertainment not only have all their board artists working in Storyboard Pro, they also got all of their oversees animation partners to use the same suite of software from Toon Boom. This makes the entire process faster, better and with less change orders.

But what about live-action projects? Changes still happen, so it’s best to keep all the art and timings in one master file. But if you really feel the need to edit in another software program, you can export the video in a number of ways including one large video file or EDL/AAF/XML files where every scene is exported as its own video file.

The power, speed, flexibility and the ability to make better storyboards exist in one program, which is quickly becoming the industry standard. Why would you stand in the way of progress that is truly better, faster and cheaper?

Get out of the way of progress. It’s happening whether you like it or not. We are story artists and now our story comes to life even faster!

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Mark Simon is a director, producer, board artist and artist advocate. He’s worked on over 3,000 productions and has been both a strip and editorial cartoonist. His work with Toon Boom on the Storyboard Pro software helped them win a 2012 Prime Time Engineering Emmy for the software. He’s written 10 books for artists and works with TV show creators on packaging and pitching their concepts. Go to www.Storyboards-East.com and www.SellYourTvConceptNow.com.