[Development] OPPAI Storyboard~!

Hey y’all,

Last month we started working on a new tool to help us with storyboarding our Visual Novels, called OPPAI Storyboard. 

The idea is a simple one. To take the written draft, and make it easy to create mock-ups and placeholders of CG scenes, backgrounds, frames and character emotions, and organize it all automatically.

When we’re working with the placeholders we often have to create multiple files (a working file and an output) for each image that goes into the game. There’s also a series of things we need to keep in mind, like keeping it somewhere that makes sense and naming stuff correctly so if we need to update it, we can.

Multiply that by all the images we need to make, and it gets pretty tedious, especially when we have to do that multiple times for various different reasons before we’ve even settled on the final look. 

Sometimes things get lost in the middle too if we’re feeling particularly lazy that day, which can lead to some real noodle scratchers.

So how did we improve this with the Storyboarding Tool?

The tool syncs with the written draft in Google Docs, letting us make sure we’re working with the updated story. 

In Clip Studio Paint, we open a single “dirty” working file where we will be whacking down placeholder art and ideas.

When we’re happy with that image, we can then copy and paste it in where a CG Scene, background, frame or character emotion is needed, which it will then automatically save the file in the correct format and name for us.

We then go add a new layer in Clip Studio, start painting the next image. Rinse, repeat.

Instead of 10 files, we just have one to keep track of. And instead of constantly having to figure out where to save files, it does it for us. No fiddly set up stuff.

The end result is a tool that keeps all work in the correct places (Clip Studio, Google Docs), but brings them all together in one place where we can review the story with the images, spot any issues and make necessary changes before it goes into the game. 

Hence Storyboard~! : 3

And best of all, it keeps everything organized and easy to find when we do need to start pushing it all into the game. Yay~!

There’s still work to be done with it, and a bunch of ideas we want to explore. But for now, it does the job. 

What do you think? Let us know in the comments.

~ Zuri Sama ~