Nvizage's work is seen in the teaser for 10,000 B.C.. The U.K. studio finds that previs helps to quickly work out mechanical issues for the shoot. © Warner Bros.

Making movies has always been a complicated endeavor, but as budgets soar, audiences expect greater spectacles and digital tools exponentially increase the number of decisions to be made, it's harder than ever to keep a handle on the process.

That at least in part explains the growing use of previs and postvis techniques in feature films, commercials and videogame cinematics.

Proof's Ron Frankel has seen previs evolve from creative engineering to a complete planning and problem-solving solution.

The use of these techniques has grown slowly throughout the past 10 to 15 years, evolving from animated storyboards to an essential quality control process that maximizes creative expression and optimizes the entire production process to save time, money and effort.

"In the early days, it really was very focused. 'Hey, here's the shot. How big a bluescreen do we need?" says Ron Frankel, who is both President of previs house Proof and a previs supervisor. "We couldn't take on entire sequences. It was really about almost creative engineering."

Now, the process has evolved to a complete planning and problem-solving solution that works out every detail of a shot in advance to ensure it works creatively and from a production standpoint.

Generally, it involves quickly creating rough animations of each shot in the computer and using it to determine everything from camera lenses, positions and movement to how and where to set up lighting, rigging, sets and even how much time a shot should take and how long a crew has to work with optimum natural light.

The generation of such data is, however, the second stage of a process that is primarily focused on nailing down the creative elements of each shot.

"For us it's really about honing in on that creative vision and in as few moves as possible getting something in front of the director and prod designer that hits the creative goals and really starts to breakdown what are the technical limits they might encounter, whether it's how big they're building their set, to even limits of daytime," explains Frankel.

Frankel says previs work isn't pretty, but it's more important to be quick and accurate. "We try to work incredibly quickly," he says. "We always aspire to start showing work within the first week."