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Product films, launch visuals and interactive experiences.

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XO3D Studio · Guide

Product CGI Timelines, What to Expect.

Production timelines by project type, what makes them faster or slower, and how to plan your campaign calendar around them.

Check your timeline
Five-stage product CGI production pipeline strip
The five stages of a product CGI production: storyboard, animatic, material tests, render, grade.

The studio behind this guide

Whose timeline this is

These are XO3D's indicative timelines as a director-led product CGI studio, not promised dates, and they assume prompt approvals at each review stage. Worth planning against when the launch date is fixed and the product does not exist yet, because CGI can start before it does. A late approval moves the delivery date, and we say so at the time rather than at the end.

How XO3D compares to the other five supplier models

Timeline is the variable marketing teams most often underestimate when planning product CGI. The most common brief XO3D receives that can't be fulfilled well is one with a launch date that's already passed the point where production quality and deadline can both be satisfied. This guide exists to help you plan properly, with realistic expectations for each project type and a clear explanation of what affects the clock in either direction. For a complete campaign, start with how we plan launch visuals from one CGI foundation.

Build review windows into the plan using the CGI briefing checklist and stage-by-stage review guide. For a film-led launch, the Product CGI Films programme explains how the story, motion and final deliverables fit together. For what happens inside each phase, read animation production stages; for the delays to plan out, see ten ways a product film goes wrong.

The core principle: Every CGI timeline has three phases, pre-production (storyboard, animatic, material tests, approval), production (modelling, animation, rendering), and delivery (grade, formats, final export). Rushing pre-production saves days but can cost more later. XO3D settles the story, the product detail and the look in pre-production, before final rendering, so that changes are made while they are still cheap to make. The storyboard formats guide explains what each pre-production board shows.

Timeline by Project Type

Typical production windows.

What these windows include

A production timeline has three different dates in it. The start is the point at which the brief is agreed and the source files and references are ready, not the first enquiry. The production window runs from that start to final delivery of the agreed files. The public launch usually comes later, and press, retailer or event deadlines can come earlier. The window does not include the wait before a project can be booked in. The ranges below are indicative planning guidance for each project type, not measured averages or a quote, and they assume prompt approvals. Your own dates are confirmed once the studio has seen the brief.

Project TypeIndicative WindowWhat's in it
Still Image Suite
8–20 images, studio BG
2–3 weeksModel review, material build, lighting setup, typically 3 rounds of revision on final renders. Fastest project type, no animation stage.
Hero Product Film
30–60 seconds
4–7 weeksStoryboard, animatic review, model + material build, animation, render, grade, sound design, typically 4 rounds of revision on edit. Films can run to 90 seconds.
Launch Suite
film + stills + social formats
6–10 weeksFull pre-production, parallel still and film production from single asset, simultaneous delivery of all formats. Timeline depends on deliverable count.
Technical / Mechanism Film
engineering accuracy
5–9 weeksCAD review, engineering team involvement, mechanism sequencing approval required before animation. Technical review rounds add time.
Social Content Pack
from existing 3D asset
1–2 weeksIf the 3D asset already exists, new social content can turn around quickly. First-time builds always take longer than subsequent content from the same asset.
Interactive 3D Viewer
web-embedded
3–5 weeksModel build or optimisation, lighting environment, interaction behaviour, web performance optimisation, integration testing.

What Affects Timeline

The variables that make projects faster or slower.

Makes It Faster

  • Clean CAD files provided upfront
  • Clear brief with defined deliverables from day one
  • Fast client approvals, to a response time agreed for each stage
  • Single decision-maker with direct sign-off authority
  • Existing 3D asset from a previous XO3D project
  • No structural product changes during production

Makes It Slower

  • No CAD files, model built from physical reference
  • Product design changes during production
  • Multiple internal sign-off stakeholders
  • Approval delays at pre-production stages
  • Brief changes after production has begun
  • Revision rounds beyond those included

Phases and approval stages

Phases and approval stages.

The three phases describe the work. The approval stages are the points where you decide something, and later work depends on it. A still image suite has no storyboard or animatic, so it moves through fewer stages than a film. The map below uses the phase and stage names from this guide; it is not a fixed schedule for every project.

  1. Pre-production

    Storyboard, animatic, material tests

    You approve: the story or shot list, the product detail and the look, before final rendering begins.

  2. Production

    Modelling, animation, rendering

    You approve: the rendered shots or stills, checked for product accuracy and agreed revisions.

  3. Delivery

    Grade, formats, final export

    You approve: the delivered files in each agreed format.

Review time

Put review time on the calendar.

Every approval stage needs a reviewer who is available, so book the review dates at the start, not when the work arrives. Name one person to collect everyone’s comments and send them as one set of notes. Notes that arrive from several people at different times take longer to resolve.

The windows above assume a prompt response at each stage. Agree what “prompt” means for your project, such as 48 hours, and check it against your team’s diaries. If a review runs late, the work that depends on that approval waits; work that does not depend on it may carry on. The studio will tell you at the time what has moved. For what to look at in each review, see the stage-by-stage review guide.

Short on time

If the deadline is already tight.

Reduce what has to be made before you reduce how carefully it is made. Fewer unique shots, or a still set built from fewer camera set-ups, shortens the work more safely than skipping a review. Decide which channel needs its asset first and schedule that; later cuts and formats can follow from the same build. Use the product launch asset matrix to sort the channels by date.

Send everything you have at the start: CAD or drawings, material references and examples of the look you want. Read the brief we wish we got for what makes a fast start possible. Name your reviewers and book their time. Keep the product accuracy check in place: it protects the work that matters most. Tell the studio about the deadline in the first message, and it will say plainly whether the date can be met at the quality you need.

Planning sheet

Plan your own dates.

Work backwards from the first date you cannot move. The blank planning sheet has a row for each milestone, from agreeing the brief to the public launch, and columns for the date it is needed, when the source files are released, the owner, the review window, what it depends on and whether the date is confirmed or still to agree. It contains no calculated dates. Download the blank planning sheet (CSV).

For a full campaign, the Labs hub helps you plan your campaign timeline across channels.

FAQ

Timeline questions answered.

How long does product CGI take?
It depends on four things: how ready the product source is, how many assets you need, how long your reviews take and how far ahead the work is booked. The table above gives indicative windows by project type, measured from the point the brief and source files are ready. The studio confirms dates for your project once it has seen the brief.
What's the fastest XO3D can turn around a product film?
With a complete, clean CAD file, a clear brief, existing material references, and fixed client approvals, a 30-second hero product film can be delivered in 3 weeks. Treat that as an indicative best case, not a promised date. It is not our standard recommendation, compressed timelines carry quality risk and should only be pursued when the deadline is genuinely fixed. We will always tell you honestly whether a deadline is achievable at the quality level you need.
When should I approach XO3D relative to my launch date?
As an indicative guide, for a hero film and launch suite, approach us at least 10 weeks before your launch date. For large, complex campaigns, 16 weeks is a better typical target. Neither is a promised lead time; your dates are confirmed once the studio has seen the brief. The earlier we're involved in the production planning, the better the output, we can contribute to brief development, visual direction, and creative strategy before any production begins, which produces better work than being handed a complete brief at the last minute.
Does the timeline include time for my internal reviews?
The timelines above are indicative production windows at XO3D. They include the revision rounds each project type typically has, three on stills and four on anything with video. Those counts are typical, not promised. They assume prompt client response at each approval stage (within 48 hours). If your internal approval process involves multiple stakeholders and takes longer, this needs to be factored into the project schedule, we build this into the timeline during our initial scoping conversation.
What if the product design changes during production?
Tell the studio as soon as you know. A change to approved geometry can affect views or shots already built on it, so the studio assesses the effect and confirms what moves. Naming the product revision at each approval makes this quicker to work out.
Which asset should we schedule first?
The one with the earliest real deadline, which is often not the launch itself. Press, retailer and event deadlines can fall weeks before go-live. List every channel with its own date, then schedule the first asset needed rather than the biggest one.
Do holidays and booking lead time change the dates?
Yes. A production window counts working time once the work has started. It does not include the wait before a project can be booked in, or holidays on either side. Ask about current availability and closures when you first get in touch, and allow for your own team’s holidays in the review dates.

More guides

About the studio

XO3D is a director-led product CGI studio. Founded by Thomas Howcroft in 2017 and incorporated as XO3D Ltd (UK Companies House 11876020) in 2019, when Alex Mann joined as co-founder. Based at the Business and Technology Centre in Stevenage, UK, with representation at 244 Fifth Avenue, New York. We work with tech, industrial and premium consumer brands on product films, launch stills and interactive experiences.

That makes us the right choice for launch-critical work where the visual standard has to be high and the product may not exist yet.

It makes us the wrong choice for three things, and it is worth establishing that now rather than later.

  • Hundreds of routine SKUs to a fixed template. Continuous template-based output is a different brief from launch-critical creative direction. Choose a production workflow designed for that volume.
  • A website that requires a specific configurator platform. Use that platform where your website requires it, and agree who supplies the models and who integrates the software. A custom configurator is another route: XO3D can build it and hand it over for you to host.
  • The campaign idea itself. If what you need is the strategy, the audience work and the media plan, start with an agency. We are frequently the production partner behind one.
How XO3D compares to the other five supplier models