Storyboarder makes it easy to visualize a story as fast you can draw stick figures. Quickly draw to test if a story idea works. Create and show animatics to others. Express your story idea without making a movie.
We built Storyboarder because the storyboarding tool we wanted simply didn't exist. We are making it better every day. In fact, we have released it free and open source. You can and even make improvements.
Can you apply storyboarding and pitches to the story development process as animation has done? We think so. We would love to hear your feedback to make Storyboarder the best storyboarding tool possible.
Fast and Simple
Storyboarder is designed to be simple. We included the tools you need to board fast, and removed everything you don't need.
6 simple drawing tools
Light pencil for roughing, Hard Pencil for fine lines, Pen for most work, Brush to tone, Note Pen to write notes, and Eraser!
Add boards with a click
Theres no friction. Add a board. Draw. Add another. Draw. Duplicate. Copy. Paste. Rearrange. There is nothing stopping you.
Enter dialogue and action
Add metadata for a board on the right panel. You can also enter timing information and shot type.
For everything else, just edit in Photoshop.
Click edit in Photoshop
Draw your roughs and do layout in Storyboarder. If you need more control, just click the edit in photoshop button!
Edit in Photoshop and save
The board will open up in Photoshop. Just edit as you normally would. Once you save, it will automatically update in Storyboarder!
Who's this for?
Story Artists
Craft stories visually from your thoughts to boards as fast as possible.
Directors
Sketch your shot list through boards to see if they work as a movie.
Writers
Take your written stories and visualize them. See the words come to life.
Advertisers
Create storyboards for advertisements so you can visually show your clients.
Dreamers
Have an idea and a dream? Create and iterate on your idea by drawing it.
Anyone with an idea
You can storyboard even the smallest idea. You don't even have to be able to draw!
Do you like storyboarding on paper? Print and import paper storyboards magically.
In Storyboarder, you can print out storyboard worksheets. Draw on as many frames and pages as you like. Then take a picture of the worksheet with your phone and Storyboarder will automatically import the boards into your project.
Export to Premiere, Final Cut, Avid, PDF,
and Animated GIF
Export to any editing program. This is great for cutting together your boards or doing realtime editing at shoots. You can also export a contact sheet of your boards as a PDF, and an Animated GIF – perfect for sharing and collaboration.
Focus with a Sketch Sprint and then share a timelapse.
Need to focus? Set a Sketch Sprint timer and just draw and storyboard until the time runs out. At the end of the Sketch Sprint, we will create an animated timelapse gif of your work. It's great for sharing!
Rest in peace, Mr. Wiggles. (1980-2003) #bettertohavelovedandlost
Timelapse of a random ass cat I drew in 15 minutes during a Sketch Sprint. Mr. Wiggles was lost due to an unfortunate adult circumcision.
Generate a shot just by typing...
Can't draw? Have a shot list? Or just want to quickly mockup reference shots without drawing? Just type a description into the Shot Generator in the sidebar, press return, and generate as many shots as you'd like. Change parameters as you want. Shots are fully customizable.
Double click to put it in the reference layer of the board. The generated shots are meant to be drawn over so they can be used as a guide.
If you can describe a shot and draw a smiley face, you can storyboard!
So you can generate a scene in seconds.
Examples of shots...
Key commands for everything.
Key commands really speed up your work. Pressing "N" for new board, and left and right arrows from navigating is essential. For some, knowing all the key commands is the key to working quickly. If you'd like to know what's possible, just press:
Command + K
Just a few features...
Simple, Smooth Drawing
5 tools, Incredibly fast drawing engine pressure sensitive.
Super Simple Interface
5 tools, Incredibly fast drawing engine pressure sensitive.
Printed Worksheets
5 tools, Incredibly fast drawing engine pressure sensitive.
Works with Wacom
5 tools, Incredibly fast drawing engine pressure sensitive.
Easy Organization
5 tools, Incredibly fast drawing engine pressure sensitive.
Draw Straight Lines
5 tools, Incredibly fast drawing engine pressure sensitive.
Works with Fountain
5 tools, Incredibly fast drawing engine pressure sensitive.
Open in Photoshop
5 tools, Incredibly fast drawing engine pressure sensitive.
Measure Line Mileage
5 tools, Incredibly fast drawing engine pressure sensitive.
Guides to Help Drawing
5 tools, Incredibly fast drawing engine pressure sensitive.
Reference Layer
5 tools, Incredibly fast drawing engine pressure sensitive.
Onion Skin
5 tools, Incredibly fast drawing engine pressure sensitive.
Track Changes
5 tools, Incredibly fast drawing engine pressure sensitive.
Collaborate on Github
5 tools, Incredibly fast drawing engine pressure sensitive.
Export to Formats
5 tools, Incredibly fast drawing engine pressure sensitive.
Built with Love
5 tools, Incredibly fast drawing engine pressure sensitive.
Please click here to read the FAQ to learn more!
Why is Storyboarder free?
Storyboarder is niche software. The market is tiny. There's an inverse relationship between the market size and price we have to charge to make money. We are building this tool for ourselves to make better movies. We make money making movies, not software. We believe creative software should be free. Let's be completely real – I've never known anyone working on dope ass shit to be paying for the software they use anyways.
Storyboard Pro - Shitty software that costs $1000? Boords and other online software that just allows you to order images and costs a monthly fee?
Fuck those guys.
And fuck Sony Pictures. They make the worst fucking movies. What does that have to do with free software? Not much. Maybe use free software to make great movies and don't waste money going to a Sony movie? Fuck.
And fuck Dave Morin. And Gary Vaynerchuk. Ugh.
What are people saying?
"The print, shoot, import workflow is super slick. And it’s the best case I’ve ever seen for QR codes. Well done!"
John August
Writer, Host of ScriptNotes.
"Holy effin dickbutt. This is the best. Far better than anything else out there, and I've basically seen it all."
Pasquale D'Silva
Animator, Co-founder Thinko.
"You don't have a background layer? To be honest, if you hired me to work on your storyboards, I wouldn't use this."
Matthew A. Taylor
Live Action Storyboard Artist
Dearest Friends,
We made Storyboarder because we needed a great storyboarding tool that simply didn't exist.
We use tools every day to help us do things. This is especially true with creative persuits. As many artists before us, we think that toolmaking is an important aspect of creation. Making a tool that allows us to realize our vision in a faster, richer, and more meaningful way is well worth the short term investment for the long term benefits.
It is very important that the primary purpose of this tool is to allow us to create better work. We want to iterate on it and make it better as we learn more from the process of using it. It is important that we are motivated almost exclusively by the betterment of our work, and not by making money. We will make money from creating great stories, not selling overpriced niche software.
We have been accused of trying to rethink the way things are done. "Why don't you just do it the way thousands have done it before?" "Why don't you just make your movie instead of making this tool?" These are the voices of closed-minded, common people. They lack the ability to dream of a better way. They don't push the human race forward. They discourage change. I hope you do not ignore them, but defy them.
Should other people want to use our tools to create something great, nothing should stand in the way of that. Additionally, we think it's important to listen to feedback and ideas, and if possible integrate the truly best ideas into the tool. I beleive great ideas are in all of us. Selfishly, I want to experience your stories. If I can make a tool to help you will them into the world, that would make me happy.
Tools are not a replacement for work. The tool alone doesn't make anything. Work is hard. Refining work into great work is even harder. Storyboarder, at the highest level, is a drawing organizer. It makes drawing and ordering drawings simpler. You could do this with a stack of paper and a pencil. Anyone who makes broad claims otherwise is a liar.
I invite you to use our tools freely. Please send us feedback, ideas, and suggestions. Feel free to share your work with us. We would love to see it. I also invite you to look at what we are working on - the reason why we made this tool. We are looking for people to join our team. If you are compelled by it, we would love to hear from you. Actually, either way, we would love to hear from you!
Charles Forman // Just some dude who cares.
Go ahead, craft better stories...
Download for Free
FAQs
What is the best way to storyboard? ›
The first is to grab a piece of paper or a storyboard template and start sketching. The second is to use specialist storyboard software. Both methods have their place. The advantage of a paper template is it's easily accessible and doesn't require a computer.
Is Storyboarder good for animation? ›For most creatives, the best ideas start on paper, but for animators—it's essential. Almost all animation productions begin with a storyboard. This visual plan on paper includes rough sketches of key moments and scenes and acts as a guide when animators begin bringing the story to life.
What are the 7 steps in storyboarding? ›- 1️⃣ Set Goals for Your Project.
- 2️⃣ Source Ideas and References.
- 3️⃣ Carefully Consider the Timeline.
- 4️⃣ Define Key Video Scenes.
- 5️⃣ Decide on a Level of Detail.
- 6️⃣ Sketch Out All Scenes.
- 7️⃣ Double Check Everything.
Storyboarder uses your graphics card to render high quality brushes. Some graphics cards aren't fast enough, so we recommend turning off the setting for a smooth drawing experience if it is slow.
How do you storyboard fast? ›- Don't make proper sketches. Draw thumbnails. ...
- Use the emotionality rule when choosing a camera angle. ...
- Learning how to plan and shoot more. ...
- Follow the rules for quick drawing:
- Learn to create stories and characters close to reality. ...
- One frame = no more than 5 minutes. ...
- Practice!
- Make a shot list. Take a scene from your script and make a shot list. ...
- Sketch it out. Whether you're working on a feature film or a short animation, choose one of the more complex sequences, and scope out a vision for the scene. ...
- Fill in details. ...
- Add words.