Weekly Production Blocks: How We Budget Animation by Time, Not Seconds

Clients often begin with the same question:
“What’s your price per second?”

It’s a common way to compare studios. But in practice, “price per second” almost never reflects what animation actually takes. Complexity varies from shot to shot. Revisions shift the goalposts. Meetings, approvals, and creative problem-solving don’t fit neatly into a per-second formula.

Most importantly: not all seconds are created equal.
A simple dialogue shot and a full-action cinematic moment will never take the same amount of work—yet both are “one second.”

At Grit Studio, we use a different and far more honest model:

We budget animation by weekly production blocks, not by seconds.

It’s a saner, clearer, more predictable way to build animation that fits real-world constraints.

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What Is a Weekly Production Block?

A weekly production block is a focused, five-day creative sprint dedicated entirely to your project.
It represents the one resource that is genuinely fixed: time.

Each block includes:

• Concept development or design
• Layout and shot planning
• Storyboarding or rough animation
• Polish (depending on the lane)
• Revisions and communication
• Internal coordination and technical prep

It’s a complete, structured week of progress—not a quota of seconds.

Three Lanes of Production

Depending on your needs, blocks can be booked in different intensities:

• MVP Block — rapid exploration, rough animation, quick iteration
• Priority Block — refined motion, tighter acting, cleaner staging
• Premium Block — cinematic polish, FX, deeper acting, finishing passes

Every lane represents a full week of focused effort.
The only difference is how much complexity and finish the block is designed to handle.

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How We Translate Blocks Into Real Deliverables

Here’s what a single MVP block might accomplish:

• Rough storyboard and layout for the full piece, or
• Animation for a series of simple scenes, or
• Exploration tests (timing, composition, character motion), or
• Rough pass on a full sequence + one iteration round

Meanwhile, a Premium block might produce:

• A handful of highly polished cinematic shots
• A full dramatic sequence with layered FX
• Acting-heavy moments that require nuance and revision

There is no rigid “seconds per block” rule.
Instead, each block produces a realistic amount of finished work based on:

• Shot complexity
• Character count
• FX intensity
• Required refinement
• Number of revisions

This reflects the truth every animator knows:
A second of animation is only as simple or complex as the shot itself.

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Why Time-Based Budgeting Is More Honest

This model works better than per-second pricing for several reasons:

1. Time is the only guaranteed constant

Shots vary wildly. Time does not.
Clients always get a predictable week of progress.

2. It reduces scope arguments later

Instead of saying:
“Why did this five-second shot cost more than expected?”
you and the studio can align around real effort.

3. It encourages collaboration instead of squeezing

Teams can shape the animation around the available blocks rather than forcing unrealistic deliverables into an arbitrary “per-second” metric.

Time-based budgeting sets everyone up for success instead of friction.

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Planning Projects in Cycles Instead of “Big Bang” Delivery

Weekly blocks let you structure animation in phases, not giant all-or-nothing pushes.

A project might look like:

• Week 1: MVP storyboard + rough cut
• Week 2: Hybrid upgrades across core scenes
• Week 3: Priority pass or second MVP iteration
• Week 4: Cinematic polish for hero shots
• Week 5: Final composite and delivery prep

This creates intentional checkpoints:

• Are we on track?
• Do we need more Hybrid or Premium blocks?
• Should a moment be upgraded to Cinematic level?

Instead of discovering problems at the end, you get clarity every week.

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How Clients Benefit: Clarity, Flexibility, and Fewer Surprises

Weekly production blocks offer several advantages:

Clarity

You know exactly what each week buys you.
You’re not guessing how many seconds a scene “should” take.

Flexibility

Easily pause, extend, or redirect focus between blocks based on:

• Launch dates
• Internal approvals
• Stakeholder feedback
• Evolving creative needs

Predictability

No hidden costs.
No inflated per-second math.
No surprises at the end of the project.

This system helps studios and clients stay aligned from start to finish.

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How We Propose Blocks in a Project Inquiry

If you request a project through our Animation Packages or Contact page, we translate your goals into a block-based proposal.

You tell us:

• Your timeline
• Your goals
• Your desired visual style
• Your scope

We respond with:

• Recommended number of MVP, Priority, or Premium blocks
• A realistic timeline broken into weekly cycles
• What milestones each block will achieve

From there, we begin a structured, predictable process—one week at a time.

If you have a vision or an upcoming deadline, tell us what you’re trying to build.
We’ll map it to the number of blocks that make sense for your project.