Things You'll Need:
- Ideas, concepts for ecards
- Design and animation software (Photoshop, Flash)
- Knowledge of Animation or Animators
- Access to sound recording equipment
- Web server
-
Step 1
Stay ahead of the calendar and plan in advance for special occasions coming up - such as father’s day, Halloween or the 4th of July.
-
Step 2
Assign the concepts or themes to ecard concept writers, in case you don’t write the copy yourself. Have a stock of concepts ready for general, year-round occasions and themes such as birthdays, love and appreciation.
-
Step 3
Write (or instruct your assigned writers to write) the copy for the assigned themes in a storyboard format. This includes the actual words that will appear on the ecard and the supporting visual ideas to be animated in each frame
-
Step 4
Review the ecard concepts and select the ones that are most appropriate for the occasion. Also consider how interesting, creative and well-written the concept is and whether it will appeal to the target audience. Edit or modify as necessary.
-
Step 5
Approved storyboard concepts are ready to be animated.
-
Step 6
First, using a software like Photoshop, create the characters necessary to bring the respective storyboards alive. If you hire animators to do this, instruct them to study the concepts and create unique, interesting and original characters that match the concept. Once the characters are finalized, using Flash, create animations based on the visual ideas and the overall concept.
-
Step 7
Review the animations and suggest modifications if needed.
-
Step 8
The approved animation files are ready for sound to be added. Either use your computer’s sound recorder or send the files to a professional sound recording studio, depending on your need and budget. A sound director adds appropriate background music or sound effects for each frame of the ecard and sends back an mp3 file that contains this background music.
-
Step 9
Embed the mp3 file into the Flash editor and create a .swf file. Upload this file to your web servers. The music, visual and copy blend together to create the desired effect and a lively ecard.
-
Step 10
Create a thumbnail for the new ecard and add it to the appropriate folder. This thumbnail is what users see when they first browse through the categories. Update the corresponding category in the database to reflect the new addition. Create the form where the user fills in details and adds personalization, and link it to each ecard.
