Start with the deadline
Work back from the tender closing date. An animation needs time for a first draft, at least one round of review, your internal sign-off and the upload itself. Book it early, but only once the methodology is reasonably settled. If the staging is still changing, the animation will have to change with it.
Give your animator the closing date and the date you actually need the final video, which should be a few days earlier.
What to send
- The written methodology: the latest draft, even if it isn't final.
- Staging plans or sketches: hand sketches are fine if they show the order of work.
- Site drawings: a general arrangement or site plan, so the layout is right.
- The stages in order: a numbered list, or an extract from your program.
- A plant list: the main equipment and where it works, if it matters to the story.
- Site photos or aerial imagery: they help set the scene, such as roads, buildings and access.
- Traffic and temporary works concepts: anything you want shown, such as lane switches or shoring.
- Your logo, if the tender allows branding.
Tell the story, not just the steps
An animation that shows every step at the same pace is hard to watch. Tell your animator what makes your method better: fewer road closures, a shorter shutdown, safer lifts, less disruption for neighbours. Pick the three to five stages that carry that message, so the video can spend its time there and move quickly through the rest.
Say who will watch it, too. A tender assessor, a client's board and a community meeting each want a different level of detail.
Check the tender's rules first
- Does the tender accept video, as an attachment or as a link?
- What file formats and sizes does the tender portal accept?
- Is there a maximum length, or a limit on the number of attachments?
- Are links to material hosted elsewhere allowed?
Assume it will be watched without sound. On-screen labels for each stage work better than a voice-over nobody hears.
Confidentiality
Your methodology is commercially sensitive, and tender documents often come with confidentiality conditions. Check that you're allowed to share the documents you plan to send, remove personal details that aren't needed, such as names, phone numbers and signatures, and ask how your files will be stored and when they'll be deleted. Our privacy statement sets out how we handle them.
Reviewing the drafts
- Collect everyone's comments into one list for each review round.
- Check the order of the stages against your written methodology and program.
- Check that labels and terms match the rest of your tender.
- Focus on the sequence and the message. The animation is illustrative, with generic plant and no exact scale, so there's no need to check dimensions.
Quick checklist
- The closing date, and the date you need the final video
- The latest methodology, staging plans and site drawings
- The stages in order
- The three to five stages that matter most, and why
- Who the audience is
- The tender's rules on video, file size, length and links
- Your logo, if branding is allowed