Board the film before a cel is drawn.
Animators and storyboard artists reach Grid Maker Pro to lock four things a sequence depends on. The storyboard frame fixes the aspect ratio so every panel crops the same. The composition overlays — thirds, golden ratio — stage the shot. The perspective grids build a believable background under the action. And a fixed construction overlay keeps the character on-model from the first panel to the last. Plan the cut on paper; the inbetweens come easier when the geometry is already right.
Four overlays that stage the shot.
A board panel asks four questions in sequence. What shape is the frame? Where does the eye land? What space is the character standing in? And is the character still on-model? The storyboard frame answers the first, thirds and phi the second, the perspective grids the third, and a fixed construction overlay the fourth. Stack them and the panel composes itself.
Storyboard frame
Locks the aspect ratio and the title-safe area across every panel.
Rule of thirds
Stages the subject and eyeline fast, the way a DP frames in-camera.
1 / 2 / 3-point perspective
Builds corridors, streets, and dramatic angles for the background.
Character construction
A fixed head or figure grid keeps the model consistent across panels.
From thumbnail to sequence in four moves.
Every panel shares the same frame and the same character scale, so the board cuts together as a sequence rather than a set of unrelated drawings. Set the geometry once and reuse it: the consistency is what lets a director read timing and staging straight off the wall.
Set the aspect ratio
Lock 16:9, scope, academy, or vertical. Every panel inherits the same crop and safe area.
Stage the shot
Drop a rule-of-thirds layer or a golden ratio shot guide inside the frame. Place the subject and the eyeline.
Build the background
Set the horizon and vanishing points. The action now stands in a believable space.
Hold the character on-model
Same construction grid, same scale, panel to panel. The model stops drifting.
Five ratios that frame most work.
The aspect ratio is to a board what the canvas shape is to a painting — it decides the picture before the picture exists. An aspect ratio frame grid for boarding gives every panel the same crop: broadcast and streaming live at 16:9, features stretch to 2.39:1 anamorphic scope, retro and TV-safe sit at 4:3 academy, and short-form runs vertical at 9:16. Set the frame once and the whole sequence shares it.
The animator's overlay set.
Storyboard frame
Aspect-ratio panel with title-safe and action-safe guides.
→Comic panel
Multi-panel page layouts with gutters for sequence beats.
→2-point perspective
Exterior architecture and street scenes from two vanishing points.
→3-point perspective
Dramatic up-shots and down-shots where verticals converge.
→Rule of thirds
Fast shot staging and eyeline placement inside the frame.
What boarders actually use it for.
Every panel in an episode has to crop to the same 16:9 with the same title-safe. I set the frame once and board the whole sequence inside it, so when the director scrubs the wall the cut reads as a film, not forty unrelated sketches. The frame is boring and that is exactly why it matters.
My backgrounds used to wobble between shots. Now I drop a two-point grid under the layout and the apartment is the same apartment from every angle. The character walks through a real space because the vanishing points didn't move when the camera did.
Short-form is all 9:16 now and clients still send me 16:9 references. I board straight into the vertical frame with thirds on, so the safe area is right from frame one and nothing important ends up under the caption bar. It saves a whole revision round every time.
The questions boarders ask.
Can I board to a specific aspect ratio?
Yes. Set the storyboard frame to 16:9 for broadcast and streaming, 2.39:1 for anamorphic scope, 4:3 academy for retro or TV-safe work, or 9:16 for vertical short-form. The frame locks the ratio so every panel in the sequence shares the same crop, and you can stack a rule-of-thirds or golden-ratio overlay inside it to compose the shot.
How do I keep a character on-model across frames?
Use a fixed construction overlay — the Loomis head or a figure-proportion grid — at the same scale across panels so the head height and feature placement stay consistent. Boarding a turnaround over the same grid keeps the front, three-quarter, and profile views in proportion. The grid does not draw the character, but it stops the model from drifting panel to panel.
Which perspective grid for backgrounds?
One-point for corridors and head-on rooms, two-point for exterior architecture and street scenes, three-point for dramatic up-shots and down-shots where verticals converge. Drop the perspective overlay under the action, set the vanishing points on the horizon, and the background reads as a believable space the character can move through. The full breakdown is in one, two, three & five-point perspective.
Is there a free storyboard composition grid online?
Yes. Grid Maker Pro runs in the browser with no signup and no upload, so the storyboard frame grid, the rule-of-thirds layer, the golden ratio shot guide, and the perspective grid for animation backgrounds are all free to use. Your reference image stays on the device — nothing is sent to a server while you board a sequence.
Frame, stage, and build the space — free in the browser.
Set the storyboard frame, stack a composition overlay, drop a perspective grid under the action, and hold the character on a fixed construction grid. No signup, no upload — your reference never leaves the device.
Open the animator's grids →References
- Williams, Richard. The Animator’s Survival Kit. Faber & Faber (2001). The standard reference on timing, spacing, and constructed motion.
- Muybridge, Eadweard. The Human Figure in Motion (1901). Dover reprint, ISBN 0-486-20204-6. The foundational motion-study plates.
- Loomis, Andrew. Figure Drawing for All It’s Worth. Viking Press (1943). Constructive figure drawing underpinning pose blocking.