Animation reviews at Xylora Studios take place at fixed production milestones to control timing, visual assets, and rendering overhead before final delivery. Each stage requires written sign-off from your designated project lead before the Creative department advances the work into the next production phase.
The production sequence
Animation is inherently linear. Adjustments to foundational choices become disproportionately time-consuming if introduced late in the schedule. To keep deliveries predictable, reviews follow four sequential gates:
1. Storyboard and audio lock: The visual sequence, script, camera framing, and voiceover tracks are finalised. Production does not move into asset generation until this milestone is locked. 2. Styleframes and asset development: The Creative department produces high-fidelity visual stills showing final colour palettes, typography, illustration styles, and character design. 3. The animatic and motion rough: Simplified motion timed against the voiceover and audio guide track. This stage exists specifically to validate narrative pacing, camera transitions, and scene durations. 4. Full motion pass and polish: High-fidelity motion, character rigging, lighting passes, visual effects, and final sound engineering.
Submitting feedback
To ensure our animators can implement revisions accurately without delays, feedback must be specific, consolidated, and actionable. When review links are issued, structure your feedback according to the following standards:
- Timecodes: Always reference exact timestamps (for example, `00:04:12 to 00:06:08`) rather than general scene descriptions like "the middle section".
- Objective instructions: State precisely what must change. Note "extend the final logo hold by one second" rather than subjective observations such as "the ending feels abrupt".
- Single consolidated response: If your team has multiple internal stakeholders, your designated lead must reconcile differing opinions into a single, cohesive brief before submitting. We do not accept conflicting notes sent independently by separate team members.
All review notes must be submitted directly through the review interface or logged in the Ask Xylo chat.
Turnaround times and studio hours
Xylora Studios operates Monday to Thursday, from 09:00 to 17:00 GMT. Production work, feedback logging, and rendering pipelines do not run on Fridays, weekends, or UK bank holidays.
- Our first reply target for acknowledging and logging feedback is within 24 hours during standard operational days.
- Standard minor revision passes typically take two to three working days, depending on render complexity and the volume of asset changes.
- If a review sign-off is delayed past the deadline agreed in your milestone schedule, subsequent delivery dates move back automatically by the corresponding number of working days.
Scope control and revision limits
Standard package agreements include two formal revision rounds per milestone: one primary revision pass to address notes, and one consolidation pass to fine-tune final details.
- Linear lock: Approvals are binding. Requests that reopen an earlier, already approved milestone—such as modifying a voiceover or altering approved storyboard panels during the full motion pass—are classified as out of scope.
- Out-of-scope work: When an out-of-scope change is requested, the Creative department pauses the affected section, and Operations & Client Services will issue a bespoke quote within 48 hours outlining the fee and schedule adjustments.
- Deposits are non-refundable once your production slot is held. Before work begins, sums not yet earned are refunded pro rata; after work begins, completed work and booked time are charged. Defects are fixed free of charge within the acceptance window. The full terms are on the Refund Policy page of the main site. Exceptions are granted solely at the studio's discretion.
Common failure cases
Animation projects typically stall when review protocols are bypassed. The most frequent friction points include:
- Conflicting stakeholder feedback: Different colleagues request contradictory adjustments, forcing production to stop while internal consensus is reached.
- Subjective notes: Descriptions like "make it more punchy" or "give it more life" require subjective interpretation, leading to multiple failed iterations.
- Late audio revisions: Requesting a script alteration once voiceover files are animated requires re-recording the voice actor, realigning phonemes and lip-sync, and re-rendering entire scenes.
Animation review checklist
Before submitting your sign-off or revisions for an animation cut, verify the following points:
- All relevant decision-makers have reviewed this specific version.
- Every comment contains an exact, accurate timecode matching the current cut.
- On-screen text, lower thirds, and kinetic typography have been checked for spelling, grammar, and brand compliance.
- Notes are consolidated into a single written submission via the review tool or Ask Xylo chat.
- Revisions do not contradict decisions approved in prior milestone sign-offs.