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XO3D Studio · Resource

Product CGI Brief Template.

Copy this. Complete it. Send it to any product CGI studio, including us. A complete brief produces faster quotes, better creative approaches, and fewer expensive surprises.

A strong brief gives the team a product reference, a clear audience, named deliverables and a review schedule. Make unresolved details visible before production begins.

This template covers every piece of information a CGI studio needs to define the scope, plan correctly, and begin with creative direction rather than questions. Use it for any studio, including XO3D. The brief that comes back from it will be better regardless of who you send it to.

The template

Nine sections. Copy and complete.

The Product

What it is, what it does, what makes it distinctive

  • Product name and category
  • What it does (one sentence)
  • What makes it distinctive
  • Key physical features relevant to CGI
  • Approximate dimensions

Source Files Available

What you can hand over

  • CAD files available: YES / NO
  • If yes, format (STEP / SolidWorks / Rhino / other)
  • Existing 3D models: YES / NO
  • Technical drawings: YES / NO
  • Physical product available for reference: YES / NO
  • Material / finish specifications available: YES / NO

Deliverables Required

What you need produced

  • Still images: YES / NO, if yes, approximate number and intended use
  • Product film: YES / NO, if yes, approximate duration and intended use
  • Social format variants: YES / NO, if yes, which platforms
  • Interactive 3D viewer: YES / NO
  • AR model: YES / NO
  • Other (describe)

Audience

Who will see this and what they should feel

  • Who will see this imagery
  • What should they feel about the product
  • What should they do after seeing it

Brand & Creative Direction

The visual register you are targeting

  • Brand guidelines available: YES / NO
  • Three visual references that show the quality/tone you are targeting
  • One example of product CGI you admire and why
  • One example of product CGI you want to avoid and why

Timeline

When you need it

  • Final delivery required by
  • Is this deadline fixed (launch event, campaign go-live)? YES / NO
  • Key intermediate dates to be aware of

Product maturity

What you are working with

  • Current product revision and approval status
  • Known design changes and who approves them

Approvals

Who signs off and how

  • Primary contact and decision-maker
  • Other stakeholders involved in approvals
  • Internal approval process (who signs off and how many rounds)

Anything Else

Context the brief above does not cover

  • Existing assets we should be aware of
  • Previous CGI work we should review
  • Competitors or reference brands
  • Anything specific that matters to you that isn't covered above

Using this template

Notes on the sections that matter most.

  1. The Product

    "Premium wireless earbuds with aluminium housing, silicone tips, and a charging case in four colourways" is a better brief than "earbuds." The studio can already begin thinking about material approach, lighting, and creative direction from a specific product description.

  2. Deliverables

    List each output, its purpose, format and delivery date. A named asset list makes the scope and review schedule clear.

  3. Creative Direction

    Three visual references is all a studio needs to understand the visual register you're targeting. Don't describe what you want, show it. An image is worth considerably more than a paragraph of adjectives. "We want it to feel premium, modern, and sophisticated" is not actionable. "We want it to feel like this Sony campaign: [image]" is.

  4. Product maturity

    Identify what is approved, what is still changing and who owns the product reference. The visual team needs that distinction before building the product.

Start the conversation

Ready to send us a brief?

Complete this template and send it to us. We'll read it, respond with questions and a creative approach, not a price list, within one working day.

Or see how XO3D scopes investment

Planning your project

A clearer brief. A stronger starting point.

Use this template to describe the product, the communication task and the decisions still to be made. Short, specific answers are more useful than a polished document that leaves the central questions open.

Copy the sections below. Add links to appropriate references. Tell us if sensitive files need a separate sharing arrangement.

Tell us about your brief
AUAR robotic MicroFactory in a homebuilding production setting
AUAR MicroFactory. Explore the project

1. The product.

Product name:

What it does:

The feature or detail the audience must understand:

Current development stage:

Approved product version:

2. The audience.

Who will see the work:

What they already know:

What they should understand afterwards:

The next action the content should support:

3. The source material.

CAD or model files available:

Drawings and dimensions:

Material, colour and finish references:

Brand guidelines and approved claims:

Information still missing:

4. The visual direction.

Campaign idea or treatment:

References and what is relevant about each:

Existing imagery the new work should sit beside:

Visual approaches that would misrepresent the product:

5. The deliverables.

Required film or sequence:

Still-image needs:

Channels and placements:

Aspect ratios and screen specifications:

Product and market versions:

Sound, captions and language requirements:

6. The schedule.

Launch or event date:

Dates each output is needed:

Product decisions still outstanding:

Review availability:

Known dependencies:

7. The reviewers.

Project contact:

Creative approval:

Product or engineering approval:

Claims and language approval:

Person consolidating feedback:

8. The handover.

Final destinations:

Required delivery specifications:

Your implementation or AV contact:

Access and usage requirements to discuss:

Existing assets proposed for reuse:

9. The open questions.

What has not been decided:

Where you need a studio recommendation:

Anything that could change the scope:

Before you send it.

Check that references explain a specific intention. Separate confirmed facts from assumptions. Keep the deliverable list connected to the actual channels.

You do not need every answer to begin the conversation. A brief that clearly identifies its gaps gives everyone a more useful starting point.

Ready to discuss it?

Send your completed brief or a short outline of the product and launch.

From brief to delivery

  1. 01Audience question
  2. 02Approved product source
  3. 03Creative treatment
  4. 04Product and creative review
  5. 05Named delivery formats

Agree the decisions and the people responsible before production begins.

Updated

About the studio

XO3D is a director-led product CGI studio, incorporated as XO3D Ltd in 2019 (UK Companies House 11876020). Founded by Thomas Howcroft (Founder and Creative Director) and Alex Mann (Co-Founder and Managing Director). 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. A volume batch renderer will do that faster and for less. Paying for creative direction on work that does not need a creative decision is poor value, and we will tell you so.
  • A permanently live, self-service configurator across a large range. That is platform software. We can build the assets and, where it is the right route, the experience itself, but the ongoing system is not a studio deliverable.
  • 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