What does an animatic primarily visualize?

An animatic primarily visualizes the timing and flow of an animated project using preliminary sketches. It serves as a rough storyboard that combines the drawn images with time elements, allowing creators to see how the animation will progress scene by scene. This helps in planning the pacing of the animation, determining how much time will be spent on each scene, and ensuring that the narrative flows smoothly.

By presenting sketches in a linear sequence, the animatic allows filmmakers and animators to assess the visual storyboarding aspects, the rhythm of the narrative, and the emotional beats of the project. It is an essential step in the pre-production process that helps inform the subsequent stages, including animation, voice acting, and final production fine-tuning.

In contrast, other options focus on aspects like color palettes, character design, or visual effects, which are crucial in the animation process, but do not directly relate to the animatic's purpose of establishing timing and narrative flow.