What is a Storyboard Panel, and How Many should there be in a Project?

Written by Ameya Benare | July-2022

Storyboarding might look so much fun, but the work and confusion that occurs can quite make a wonderful behind-the-scenes video. You will get a lot of video tutorials on YouTube to start with storyboarding.

Though I had prior experience in live-action storyboarding, it was after coming to webdew that I adapted to the storyboarding style of explainer videos. The explainer videos discussed include stock footage, live-action and animations.

However, when I migrate to a new type of video, one question still troubles me: what template should I use for this project? Mainly in terms of the number of panels a storyboarding page should have.

This blog will tell you what a storyboard panel is and how to decide the number of panels for a storyboard project. Before getting into the number of panels, some might wonder what a storyboard panel is. Let’s start with that!

What is a Storyboard Panel?

While making a video storyboard, will be a compilation of many actions. A storyboard panel denotes a single instance of action or dialogue, where one drawing will make one panel.

Put into simple words, these are sketches that a storyboard artist makes, outlining the action of every shot. Having storyboard panels, all set, makes production much easier and saves much money.

Now, you must be clear about what a storyboard panel is. So, let’s get into the dilemma you will probably face and keep thinking about it while starting every new storyboarding project.

How many Panels should you make for a Storyboard Project?

The explainer videos are animated after storyboards are made in Illustrator files with neatly layered illustrations. Adobe Illustrator art boards’ options are flexible and can be exported to PDF format for presentation purposes.

However, the work of storyboard artists like me is a step ahead of that. You must visualize the concepts before creating vector illustrations that can be animated directly from illustrator files later.

For this, you must make hand-done sketches to convey the concept in sketch format with the correct layout and framing of the shots.

Now, this can be done in many ways. There are countless options on the internet for creating many storyboard panels, mainly ranging from 1 to 12, along with styles and types.

Making a 1-panel storyboard for explainer videos with space for numbering, voiceover, and animation notes above and below the panel makes sense. These need to be worked on in detail, and one sketch packs a lot of data, which helps to animate 1 to 3 seconds of footage. But sometimes, montages and intricate movement patterns must be drawn for clarity and can’t be explained in animation notes. All sketches are composed in 1 panel, reducing their size instead of giving one panel for each.

If there are many such montages in a storyboard or if every panel is easy to understand and doesn’t pack a lot of data, then 6 panels a page is also a pretty good option, composing horizontally in 2 rows of 3.
Having multiple panels, like 4, 6, and 9, usually helps with fast-moving sequences. So you don’t have to turn many pages to grasp a sequence. If notes are going to be detailed as nearly half the right side of the page, or if sketches need not be very detailed and can be managed in small sizes, then 4 and 6-panel storyboards can be arranged vertically.

Having 2 or 3 panels per page is also a good idea if the sketches need to be detailed. But it can be presented in small groups. We usually find 3 panels per page as a good option as it keeps the sketches in the group and is not too crowded. These look fairly big but are grouped, so the full presentation becomes fast-paced. Arranging 1 panel on every page has the issue of slowing down the reading speed.

But all this is relevant when you are going to print the pages on a normal a4 size printer, which many people prefer to do. If, in the process, there is no hard copy, then making individual sketches and arranging them in the desired template in software is also one solution.

This process takes little time and effort, but initially, when you are unsure about developing your projects for the first time, it can help you find the correct template.

Ultimately, presentation is a big part of storyboarding, as storyboards are made to communicate ideas efficiently in pictorial form. The experience of going through a storyboard can be greatly enhanced by its presentation. Using the correct template is the most significant part of that experience.

Tips for beginners

If you are a beginner, there are some tips that you should always remember.

Find out your script’s pacing. If it is fast-paced, having more panels on a page is better.
Determine how much average information a single panel packs. If that’s high, then having less number of panels is advised. I started with 6 panels in my initial projects, as my priority was to do them fast.
If sketches are smaller, we tend to focus less on details, which is helpful because some artists forget about storyboarding and start illustrating unnecessary details. Also, some artists are okay with drawings in small areas because they use mechanical pencils because of my technical background.

Got a clear understanding of the Storyboard panel and its use?

So, ultimately, the number of panels for the storyboard depends on three aspects. Firstly, who is going to use it and what they prefer. Secondly, the story’s pacing and expected detailing of the sketches. And thirdly (if there is a choice), whatever the artist is comfortable with while working on the commercial video storyboard panels.

I hope this blog gave you insights into how to get started with storyboard panels. The webdew team creates many types of videos, including character animation, whiteboard videos, and motion graphics.

Need a hand in creating amazing videos for your business? Contact us!

Editor: Amrutha

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