The Production Pipeline
The eight production phases and how Ordinary Animator maps to each one.
Ordinary Animator is built around an eight-phase production model. The phases describe the logical order in which a production comes together — from world-building through to a finished, publishable episode.
You don't need to work strictly in phase order. Most creators move between phases as the project evolves. The phases are a map, not a lockstep process.
The eight phases
| # | Phase | What happens |
|---|---|---|
| 0 | Architect | Build your world. Create characters, locations, and props. Write story bibles, background, and visual references. |
| 1 | Narrate | Write the story. Draft the screenplay. Define scenes and the beats of each episode. |
| 2 | Ink | Refine the script. Write and polish dialog. Ensure every character's voice is distinct. |
| 3 | Mix | Generate audio. Convert dialog lines to speech via TTS, record live, or use voice cloning. Merge per-character audio tracks. |
| 4 | Arrange | Storyboard. Assign characters and locations to each shot. Configure camera directions. Arrange shots into scenes. |
| 5 | Take | Generate imagery and video. Run ComfyUI recipes to produce images and clips for each shot. |
| 6 | Order | Edit. Cut and arrange rendered clips. Trim timing. (In development.) |
| 7 | Release | Polish, colour grade, and publish the finished episode. (In development.) |
Where each phase lives in the app
- Architect (0) — Characters, Locations, Props
- Narrate (1) — Screenplay, Episodes, Scenes
- Ink (2) — Screenplay, Scene dialog tab
- Mix (3) — Shots dialog tab, Character Voice
- Arrange (4) — Scenes shots tab, Shot Context
- Take (5) — Shots actions tab, Cookbook, ComfyUI Queue
- Order (6) — Scene and episode timeline (rendering)
- Release (7) — Not yet implemented
The Episode Plan
The Episode Plan page maps these phases to a checklist of steps and acceptance criteria. You can use it to track progress through an episode and run AI assessments against each step.
The Schedule
The Schedule page shows a read-only timeline across all episodes, with production milestones drawn from each episode's plan.