A preliminary or early representation of a video ad, comprised of a sequence of images, drawings or shots, often arranged with a soundtrack or animation. Animatics are created before ads have been fully produced, and are used as an alternative to storyboards, to communicate the general look, feel and/or flow of video executions. Animatics are often used to communicate ideas to clients and obtain client sign-off, before full production. They are also frequently used in advertising testing research to understand the effectiveness of the creative ideas, before full production (see “Advertising Effectiveness“). Also referred to as “Steal-o-matic” or “Rough-o-matic.”
