What should you put in a brief for a CGI studio?

A good brief for a CGI studio tells them what the product is made of, what you want to see, where it will run, and how decisions get made. In practice that means: product files, every visible finish, the shot list and formats, channels and usage rights, deadline and embargo, and the names of the people who approve. For luxury and beauty, add the details generic briefing guides skip: print-ready label artwork, the exact color of the liquid, and the finish of glass, cap and packaging.

What belongs in every CGI brief?

Eight sections cover almost every project. Use them as a checklist.

Section	What to include	Why it matters
Goal	What the campaign has to do, for whom, and the one thing the image must get across	Lets the studio make good choices you did not specify
Product files	CAD or technical drawings, label artwork, physical samples	Determines accuracy, time and cost
Finishes	Every visible material and color, with references	Avoids the most common revision rounds
Shots	Shot list, references, film length and moments	Defines the scope of the quote
Formats and channels	Aspect ratios, resolutions, print, out-of-home, social, e-commerce	Every format is extra work
Usage and files	Where, how long, which countries, and which files you receive	Affects price and future reuse
Timeline	Deadline, review dates, launch and embargo dates	Lets the studio plan render time
Approvals	Who gives feedback, who decides, how many rounds	Prevents endless loops

General briefing guides cover similar ground. Sprout lists the product overview, deliverables, intended use, variants, CAD availability, timeline and references as the core of a rendering brief. What follows is the part that matters most for luxury and beauty.

Which product files does the studio need?

As close to the factory files as you can get.

• 3D or technical files. CAD exports (STEP or similar) of bottle, cap, jar or compact, or technical drawings with dimensions. Include wall and base thickness for glass.
• Artwork. Label and packaging artwork as vector files, print-ready, with separate layers for foil, embossing, spot varnish or screen print. A flattened JPG of the label is not enough for a close-up.
• Dielines for boxes and cartons, with the final artwork placed.
• Physical samples. A production-quality product, filled, plus the box. If the product is not made yet, say which parts may still change.
• Color references. Color codes for packaging, and a physical reference for anything that has no code, such as a lacquer or a juice color.

If something is missing, say so. A studio can model from photos and measurements, but it should know before it quotes.

How do you describe finishes, color and liquid?

In words and with physical references, because names alone are ambiguous.

“Gold” can mean a cold pale finish or a warm deep one. “Matte” can mean soft-touch coating or sandblasted glass. For each visible part, describe:

• Surface: matte, satin, gloss, soft-touch, frosted
• Material: glass clear, tinted or lacquered; metal polished or brushed; plastic
• Color: the code where there is one, the physical sample where there is not
• Liquid: color, clarity, fill level, and whether the dip tube should show
• Texture: for creams, gels and powders, how thick it is and how it behaves, ideally with a short phone video of the real formula

360 Render recommends sending material swatches, color codes and photos from several angles to cut revision cycles, and for beauty products that advice matters even more. Our article on perfume bottles in CGI shows why glass and liquid need this level of detail.

How do you describe the shots?

With a numbered shot list and references, saying what you like about each reference.

For each shot, write down the product or variant, the framing (close-up, three-quarter, top view), the setting or mood, and the formats needed. For film, describe the length and the key moments rather than every camera move. When you add a reference image, add one line: “the light”, “the color palette”, “the way the liquid moves”. Without that line, the studio has to guess whether you liked the lighting or the set.

Say early if moving liquid, splashes or texture swirls are wanted. Those shots need simulation and change the budget, as our article on what a CGI beauty campaign costs explains.

Why do channels and usage rights belong in the brief?

Because they change both the work and the price.

A 9:16 story and a 4:5 feed post are new compositions, not crops of a landscape image. A billboard needs a much higher resolution than a web banner. Paid media, out-of-home and global usage carry more weight than organic social in one market. Also say which files you want at the end: final images and films, layered files, and whether you want the 3D model for later campaigns. 360 Render advises asking for layered files and the 3D scene files for future variants. If you want them, put it in the brief, so the quote includes it.

How do you handle confidentiality and embargo?

State the launch date, the embargo, and who may see the work, before any files change hands.

Unreleased products are sensitive. Ask the studio to sign an NDA first. Say whether the studio may show the work in its portfolio, and from what date. Ask how previews are shared, whether links are private and expire, and who inside the studio sees the files. If the product name or packaging is still secret, use a code name in file names and emails.

Who approves, and when?

One person decides, and the review dates are in the calendar from day one.

360 Render recommends a single decision-maker who collects feedback from everyone else, and review in stages: shape and composition first, then materials and light, then final color. Write down how many rounds are included and what counts as a round. Agree where feedback lives. Some teams use a review platform that keeps every round and comment in one place, such as Kadrenta, made by the same team behind The CGI Brief. A numbered list per round in a shared document also works. What does not work is feedback arriving from five people in five places.

Whichever studio you brief, including specialists in luxury and beauty such as Not Important Studio, a good one will typically come back with questions on these points: finishes, liquid, labels and who signs off.

What can you leave out?

Technical instructions on how to make it.

You do not need to specify render engines, light setups or camera settings. Describe the result you want and the reasons behind it, and let the studio propose how to get there. Leave out long brand history the image does not need, too. A clear goal and complete product files are worth more than ten pages of background. If AI tools might be part of the production, ask the studio to state which ones and where, so you can judge any labeling needs. Our article on the EU AI Act and CGI explains why.