Products: Kelseus

For many productions, previz can be key. Feature film and commercial shoots, of course, regularly rely on storyboard artists and animators to help in interpreting scripts and sequences. But what if you don't have a talented sketch or 3D artist on tap? Kelseus provides one answer. The Cambridge, England-based company says its Antics Pre-Viz app makes creating animated 3D storyboards easy enough for even the non-specialist to tackle.

Why animated 3D? Traditional 2D storyboards shine when setting the look and feel of a project. But an animated, realtime previz tool such as Antics can help determine the best movement and timings for both characters and cameras. Making it off-the-shelf simple — even the characters interact intelligently with props and sets — opens up shot planning to many more companies and individuals. Animators, for example, can use it to rough out scenes with several cameras, multiple characters, storylines, shots, and interactions. Ad agencies pitching a commercial can benefit, too. Antics Pre-Viz, currently on Windows, will soon release in Mac and Linux versions. www.kelseus.com