Well, you can’t do enough planning in visual effects-heavy movie production.

So Modus FX has added a previs division to its Montreal production facility to bridge the production and post-production processes by getting the heads of directors and other key creative clear on-set complicated shoot requirements.

Previs, short for previsulation, uses animation and other creative tools to better plan action sequences and other demanding camera moves in simple or visual effects-heavy projects.

“This now allows us to offer artistic solutions to filmmakers before shooting begins, saving them valuable time and resources once they’re on set,” Yanick Wilisky, VP production at Modus said in a statement.

The previs division includes stunt choreography and concept artistry, where an illustrator on-set delivers sketches and visual ideas to help a director craft scenes and design computer generated effects.

Modus first got involved with previs on the 2011 sci-fi thriller Source Code, and now has its previs crew visualize how camera shots can be done, before conveying that to the production team.

“We show them the previs set-ups, which help clarify for everyone how to organize the filming. Even the actors are able to block out what they are going to need to do in each shot,” Wilisky said.