animatic

noun

an·​i·​mat·​ic ˌa-nə-ˈma-tik 

plural animatics

: a preliminary sequence of shots, images, or sketches (as for a movie or an animated television program) that is filmed or arranged usually with a sound track and viewed to determine its effectiveness before being finalized

The final step before the material gets sent across the Pacific Ocean is an animatic of the episode, a filming of the layout drawings that gives a rudimentary sense of how the show will move. There's no color and the movements are, at best, jerky, but the animatic gives the producers a chance to see how the drawings and voices work together.

—Joe Rhodes, Entertainment Weekly, 18 May 1990

Word History

Etymology

probably blend of animated and schematic entry 2

First Known Use

1977, in the meaning defined above

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