How To Create A Storyboard? A Complete Beginner Friendly Guide

A lot of people make the mistake of diving into a project directly with little to no planning. This results in unnecessary mistakes creeping into the project and requiring corrections halfway into it. Nothing is more annoying than having to redo everything after half the work is done.

But, what’s the best way to avoid it- you may ask?

The best way to prevent this is to make a detailed plan and jot it down to give you a visual representation of the steps you will take in sequence to complete the work.

You can then take it a step further and make it accessible and user-friendly for more people by creating a storyboard to represent the flow and timeline of your project.

So, now that you have an idea on how to deal with the issue, let’s discuss here how to create a storyboard easily using one of the most user-friendly platforms, MakeStoryboard.

How To Create A Storyboard?

You may have earlier created storyboards using presentation applications like Microsoft PowerPoint or Google Slides. If you wanted more freedom, perhaps you directly used markers and boards for this.

Moreover, for those with a creative flair and technological savviness, dedicated drawing apps were probably the go-to solution for storyboards. But these were not applications specialized for creating storyboards.

They might have given you a lot of freedom and capabilities in the drawing and scribbling department, but not so much in the areas unique to storyboarding, and that is where a platform like MakeStoryboard comes in.

So, here is how you can use the interface to create a storyboard:

Step 1: The first thing you have to do is go to the MakeStoryboard Homepage.

Step 2: Once you are there, you need to simply create an account by pressing the Sign Up button on the top right and filling in your name, email address, and password, and doing the necessary security checks. You can alternatively sign up using your Google or Facebook account.

Nonetheless, if you have already created an account on the site, you can simply log in by pressing the Log In button on the top right and providing the necessary details.

Step 3: Now we come to the main section on how to create a storyboard. After signing up or logging in, you will be on your dashboard. If you have not created any storyboards before, you will see a +New Storyboard button right in the middle of the screen.

Pressing this would allow you to create a new storyboard for a project. (If you already have storyboards created on this account, you can also access the same very easily through a dedicated page that contains all the storyboards under the account)

Alternatively, you can also click on the +New button on the top right to do the same irrespective of whether there are any prior created storyboards on this account or not.

Step 4: A new Storyboard pane will pop up once you perform one of the actions of the previous step. Here, you will have to enter the name that you want to give this storyboard in the Type Storyboard Name text field.

Step 5: Once you have done that, just click on the Create button at the bottom right of the pane to create your new storyboard.

Post this, you will be lead to a new page where you can create a new storyboard.

Now, How To Create A Storyboard For A Video?

If you have a movie or an animatic project that you need to work on, a storyboard can help you accomplish it more easily.

And, here, we will give you the basic steps that you need to keep in mind while creating a storyboard for a video of any type.

Step 1: First, you must make a rough plan of what you want your video to contain. You cannot start making a storyboard right away as you cannot arrange the components of the video without knowing what components you even want.

Once you have figured out the basics like the duration of the video, the story, and so on, you can move on to the next step.

Step 2: Now you can start making the storyboard. Create a new storyboard and create the first frame. Add the title of the frame and the rough script that you want to accompany the frame. You can also add the duration of the frame if you like to.

Step 3: Keep adding frames as you conceptualize your video further. You can add images or sketches to each frame to better visualize and give a rough idea of what will go into the frame in the actual video.

Step 4: You can also add notes based on further modifications or refinements that you want to add to the video.

How To Create A Storyboard For YouTube?

YouTube videos can be difficult to plan and implement if you do not have a solid, visual plan in front of you. You need to be sure about the flow, script, scenes, story, and anything else that will go into the making of the video.

Therefore, creating a storyboard for a YouTube video can be much more effort-intensive.

But, you need not worry. We have sorted that out too for you in some quick simple steps. Here is how to create a storyboard for YouTube

Step 1: Plan out your video as usual. Divide the video into parts based on time ticks, topics to be discussed, cues, or any divider that you find convenient.

Step 2: Take pictures or use sketches to depict the scene in the storyboard frame. Add the duration of each in the time field.

Step 3: Add the script for that particular frame, and if you want, you can even add a title to denote the frame.

Step 4: You can even use comments to further make it easier to translate the storyboard into video form when shooting.

How To Create A Simple Storyboard?

Let’s try to understand the creation of a simple storyboard practically through the MakeStoryboard interface, as it uses an intuitive user interface to make it easy for anybody to create storyboards even if they do not know how to create a simple storyboard.

One just needs to follow the steps as given on the screen and as we will describe here:

Step 1: On first creating a new storyboard, you will see a screen as given below. The first frame would be created for you.

Hovering the mouse on the frame would give you the option to either upload an image from your computer or create your own sketch using the in-built sketchpad.

Step 2: Add a description and title for the frame by clicking on the respective field. You can add text fields from the Settings on the right sidebar.

Step 3: Also, you can add how long you want the frame to show by inputting the desired number of seconds in the time field.

Step 4: You can even add more frames by clicking on the frame with the plus sign after the last frame you have created.

You can also add multiple frames at the same time by clicking on the down arrow beside the New Frame card, hovering the mouse on the Add multiple frames option in the dropdown menu, and clicking on the number of frames you want to add at the same time.

Step 5: You can also duplicate a frame by clicking on the ellipsis symbol beside the title text or Label field and clicking on the Duplicate option in the dropdown menu.

Step 6: Lastly, to move a frame, you can do either of two things.

If you know the position you want to move the frame to, just click on the ellipsis button again, click on the Move option in the dropdown menu, type in the required position in the text field of the pane that appears, and click on the Move button on the bottom right.

Another way is to simply click and drag on a frame, moving it to the required position.

But, Why Do You Need To Create A Storyboard?

A storyboard is an essential stepping stone for any project, whether it involves a video or not. Moreover, a storyboard acts as a visual flow chart for the project and allows everyone collaborating on the project to always know the steps.

Additionally, it helps people know where they are on the project and adds important notes and changes directly on the board.

If you are still asking why you need to create a storyboard or what its significance is, think of a storyboard as the straw model for your project that can give you and your team a blueprint of almost all the essential stages involved in the most captivating form.

To Conclude,

Videos are by far the most difficult form of media to make. This means they need extra planning and organization. On the other hand, Storyboards make it easier to create a video without unnecessary mistakes or revisions.

Today, in this digital age, a storyboard app is a must for those who make videos regularly or professionally. For them, a new-age application that has all the features needed and asked for by video-makers around the world is the need of the day.