What To Expect When Working On A Project With Sliced Bread

So you finally found us – welcome! And how did that happen? Was it via a Google search, or through one of our blog posts on LinkedIn? Or maybe you were recommended by a client, or partner? Whatever the way we are sure you are now wondering – what happens next? Here at Sliced Bread, we like to make the journey as straightforward as possible, from start to finish. Below is a brief overview of how we work, it’s a general overview, if we were to work together, we would provide a bit more of a detailed plan, don’t worry.

So what exactly is the process from your first contact with us through to delivery?

The next step can come in all sorts of ways depending on the project type, and the deliverables required (see our services list below). However in most cases we start to plan the project pipeline, asking questions such as; Has the scope been defined? Do you have examples of the sort of application you would like to produce? Do we need to create a script? Is there a particular style you’d like us to follow? When does it need to be ready? Who needs to be involved in approvals? etc., etc.,

Below are the services we provide, and whilst varying in delivery, there are commonalities amongst them that we follow to ensure that your project is delivered to the expected quality, on time, and on budget.

Animation

• Illustration
• Traditional 2D
• 3D (CGI)
• Series Storytelling

Interactive

• Development & Learning
• Online Games
• iOS & Android Apps
• Application Design

Immersive

• Virtual Reality
• Augmented Reality
• Mixed Reality
• Haptic Feedback

Brief and costs

The first thing that will happen after we have spoken to you about your project-needs and objectives will be for us to produce a tailored quote and proposal. We work with the information you provide us with, to work out realistically what team members, hours or days are needed for each task. 

When we have worked that out, we then give you a quote based on our rate card. The proposal we will provide will include our ideas of how we will approach the project’s production, we will align these with examples of relevant work we have created.

Typically we work on fixed project costs with a clearly defined scope agreed by both parties, but in some instances we work on a meter (time plus materials).

Schedule

The key to delivering a project on time is creating a good schedule, we use the Gantt process and you can see how that is developed here. This allows both us and the client to know what is going to be delivered and when, and also who is responsible. Having a schedule in place also means that both parties can track the progress of the project.

As well as the deliverables, the schedule we create will include key milestones for client approval and work-in-progress submissions – these are important as they ensure we are on the right track with the work we are creating.

To give you an example these are the typical line items in a schedule for an animation project:

• Look and feel/ concepts
• Script and storyboard
• Voice-over and animatic
• Asset preparation
• Animation
• Final compositing, versioning (an MP4 files etc.) and delivery

We expand more on the animation production process in the blog post here.

As a contrast, for application and immersive experience projects

• Navigation maps, wireframes and mock-ups
• Initial design concepts
• Design of application (Frontend, Backend UI and feedback form)
• New app instance Backend set-up (new domain/ database config/ API calls)
• Frontend user interface (UI) development
• Back-office UI development
• Final testing and approval
• Development UAT, Live UAT
• Final Delivery

There are a number of other aspects we might bring in, for example it might be necessary to do a sprint workshop, or develop personas.

All these line items will be explained to you at the start, and if you have any further questions we would be happy to answer them.

We’re excited! When can we start seeing stuff?

Don’t worry,  won’t disappear during the production part of the schedule – we always like to keep our clients informed throughout the process. Therefore we schedule in work-in-progress (WIP) review points (or milestone previews) at various stages, allowing you to see what we are doing, and to comment on anything that you would like to be adjusted or changed.

You are also more than welcome to visit us in the studio at any point, to see how your project is developing.

To keep track of the project progress we use various tools, like Jira, Confluence, Trello, Slack, Zoom, Teams, Webex, and good old fashioned email.

Final delivery

Ok, and now the exciting bit, and again depending on what type of project it is, it’s time for the final sign off. Animation tends to be a straightforward process, especially when you have been kept up to date at the various milestones during the production. So, once you have confirmed that you are happy, and give us your final approval, we will supply you with the full resolution renders of the animation, for use on TV, your website, intranet, social media, YouTube etc.

Technology projects on the other hand are a little different, there’s usually some further testing and ‘bedding-in’, especially as we phase it out to ‘green users’ for their feedback, before it goes public. These testing phases are critical, as problems can increase significantly depending on your target group. Then we keep an eye on it for a couple of months, with a general service and maintenance arrangement.

So there you have it – you now have a bit of an idea of what it’s like to work on a project with Sliced Bread Animation. If you have any questions on the above, please feel free to let us know.

AND… if you have an idea for a project, you can contact us here, or drop us an email at info@sbanimation.com or give us a call on +44 (0)207 148 0526.