January 15, 2021 / Creative Humans
Animated videos are great for demonstrating products, introducing new concepts, and sharing ideas with your audience. With the help of a professional animation studio, you can generate content that engages viewers in a way that other types of video content cannot. If you’re interested in creating an animated video, it’s important to understand the complex animated video production process. Here’s everything you need to know to help you plan your project and stay on track!
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The animation production process is made up of several steps and requires a lot of time, effort, and planning. While it might seem intimidating upfront, with the right team in place, creating an effective animated video can be a seamless process.
From beginning to end, the animated video production process is made up of the following steps:
1. Concept
2. Script
3. Storyboard
4. Voice Over & Music
5. Animatic
6. Style
7. Styleframes & Characters
8. Production
9. Animation
To get a better idea of how it all comes together, let’s take a look at what each of these steps involves.
First is the concept phase. Before ironing out the details, it’s important to have a clear idea of your goals and what the end product should look like. In this stage, you’ll need to answer the following questions:
- What is the video about?
- What should the viewer learn?
- What art style should you use?
- How long should the video be?
- Where will this video be shared or distributed?
- Who is the target audience?
Answering questions like these before getting started will help you effectively plan out the entire project and create a final product that accurately represents your brand and business objectives.
The script is a critical element of any animated video. Effective animated productions should be concise, comprehensive, and easily-digestible.
Be sure to decide the length of the video in advance, as this will determine the length of your script. For marketing purposes, one to two-minute videos tend to be the most effective. However, this may change depending on the purpose of your video. As a general rule of thumb, 140-150 words equates to about one minute of speaking time.
A storyboard is a series of sketches that visualize each individual scene of the video. This serves as a foundation for animators to refer to and build from when creating the video. The storyboard will also help to establish the style of the video.
This step often involves plenty of back and forth between the production company and the client. The storyboard will serve as the framework for the animated video, so it’s important to ensure that it best represents the client’s voice, brand, and vision before moving forward in the production process.
Voice acting is an important aspect of animated video production. The right voice and delivery can go a long way in effectively delivering your message to your target audience. Typically, this involves listening to demo reels from several voice actors to find the right fit for your project. Once a voice actor is chosen and the script has been approved, the voice over process can be completed fairly quickly.
This is also when you should choose any music that you want to play during the video. Music should reflect the tone of the video and should be able to be played in the background without overshadowing the voice over.
*** CHANGES BEYOND THIS POINT CAN INCREASE COST ***
Requesting changes to the script or storyboard after the voice over and music step can increase the cost of animated videos, because your production company will need to re-hire and re-record the new script.
Animatics are moving storyboards. While that may just sound like a video, it’s essentially the halfway point between a storyboard and a finalized animated video.
Animatics are generally used to establish timing and scene transitions. They are created by playing each scene from the storyboard in order and adjusting the timing of each scene to adjust the pacing along with the voice over.
Animatics are often played alongside a soundtrack to make it feel more like a finalized video and to help provide a better sense of what the final product will look like.
What do you want your video to look like? Before beginning production, you need to establish an artistic direction for the video. First and foremost, the style should reflect your brand’s image. It’s also important to choose a style that appeals to your target audience.
Often, the best way to establish a specific style is to gather a collection of images from similar videos and brands for inspiration.
Style frames are fully fleshed out drawings of a few scenes from your video. These images aren’t animated but are incredibly detailed and are used to ensure you are happy with the video’s style before animation begins. Everything from colors to character design is established during this stage.
*** CHANGES BEYOND THIS POINT CAN INCREASE COST ***
Ensuring you are happy with the style frames and characters before proceeding with production can save a lot of time and money. It can be costly to rework styling and reanimate scenes if you decide you are unhappy with the style after production has begun.
Now that the video’s style has been established, scenes have been illustrated, and voice overs are completed, production can begin.
In this step of the animated video production process, everything created before this point is assembled. Designs are finalized, voice overs are mixed, background music and sound effects are created, etc. Assuming you’ve taken the time to carefully flesh out the design and concept for the video, production is often a very smooth process.
*** CHANGES BEYOND THIS POINT CAN INCREASE COST ***
At this stage, all assets should be finalized. Requesting changes to assets created in previous steps at this stage can greatly increase the cost of your project.
The final step in creating an animated video is, of course, the animation itself. This is when the script is brought to life through motion graphics and animation.
The animators will compile and put together all of the necessary assets, frame by frame. This process requires a lot of time and attention to detail as even the smallest mistakes can ruin the experience for the viewer.
Several revisions may be necessary before the video is finalized and are generally priced into the production company’s quote. Once you are happy with the final product, you can publish your video and share it with the world.
We hope this guide to the animated video production process helps you plan out your next project. Animated videos are a great way to connect with your audience, establish brand identity, and generate leads. But creating an animated video can be a complicated process to take on alone. Experienced animation production professionals can help to streamline this process and allow you create a high-quality video that achieves your goals.
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Tania Sarra & The Secret Sauce
Tania Sarra has been making waves as a top executive in the film industry for over a decade. She is the Founder of Hot Sauce - a boutique consulting firm specializing in Producing, Executive Production and Creative Direction for major film and television projects. Creative Humans sat down with Tania to learn more about her perspective on today's ever changing film industry and the secret sauce to success.
Tania's services offer the film industry trusted advice from the film executive’s perspective, from the perspective of the business behind the film business, and allows others to leverage creative ideas to build out a successful career in film. Tania describes her business as a place where "creative pragmatics can nerd out on box office figures, industry stats and good looking spreadsheets just as much as a strong story hook in a badass script."
Tania is leveraging Hot Sauce to help guide film projects in the right direction - sharing her secret sauce to bringing great ideas to fruition on the big screen. Hot Sauce offers consulting services on all aspects from marketing and distribution, structuring finance and handling negotiations. By helping to mange all of these moving parts and creating a strategy, Tania helps to ensure creative goals are aligned with the pragmatics of the industry.
Navigating The Post Pandemic Theatrical Window
Tania explained that companies like FOX recently reopened a sales arm in order to exploit different rights outside of the streaming platform. "The theatrical window is still very important to the industry," Tania says, "It brings exposure to the title, because once a filmmaker sells their content to a streamer - not only is there a high chance that content will get lost in a sea of content, but that is also the end of the road for the revenue stream as opposed to seeing returns over a films lifetime." Overall, the bar is a lot higher, especially for independent films, because people have gown accustomed to watching films from the comfort of their own home. From Tania's perspective, it seems like the dust hasn't settled yet on how to capture an audience, and entice them to want to see a film now rather than wait and see it on their monthly subscription.
There's a good chance these things will remain uncertain in the film industry for a while, so there is no better time to learn the recipe for that "secret sauce". Check out everything Tania and Hot Sauce have to offer, from online workshops to consulting services, so you can nail that next pitch, land that finance deal, secure the best distribution and never compromise your ideas or creative merit.
Click here to check out everything that Hot Sauce have to offer!
9 Company History Video Examples from Creative Humans
To build brand awareness, encourage customer loyalty, and establish brand culture, it’s important for companies to establish familiarity and trust with their core audience. One of the ways brands are able to do this is by detailing their stories and company histories through effective video marketing campaigns.
Company history videos allow you to tell viewers the story behind your brand. They tell audiences how your business began, where it started, what it has accomplished, and how it provides value to customers. To help you get inspiration for your project, here are nine great company history video examples from the professionals at Creative Humans.
Creative Humans makes it easy to find and hire top video production studios and freelancers. Create a Free Account to get started.
Day Rate: $800 - $15,000
Director, Creator ID: DIR7707CS
What comes to mind when you think of Tyson? Most people tend to think of frozen grocery store chicken nuggets and similar products. To dispel this notion, Tyson created this company history video that focuses on highlighting the many different uses of its products, from fine dining to a wide variety of grocery store products that many consumers wouldn’t recognize as Tyson.
Production Budget: $10,000 - $20,000
Production Company, Creator ID: PRO5352NF
Rather than creating a video aimed at consumers, Ralph Lauren wanted to create a video to instill in its employees an appreciation for the way that Ralph Lauren sees New York City. This 60-second video focuses on capturing small, hidden moments throughout the city that highlight NYC’s unique cultural qualities.
Day Rate: $1,500 - $3,500
Cinematographer, Creator ID: CIN7693LH
This corporate history video by CVS aims to explain the company’s new focus on its health food and beauty strategy and how the company is counting on employees to successfully carry out this strategy.
The video concisely explains core components of this strategy, like creating sections in stores that are dedicated solely to health foods. The video hammers the message home that CVS is relying on employees to play an important role in this new business initiative.
Production Budget: $30,000 - $45,000
Creative Agency, Creator ID: CRE7760TL
HP commissioned this trade show ad web video for its annual customer conference. This short, one-minute video focuses on the major role work plays in our lives with an emphasis on modern workflows and collaboration. With this in mind, HP goes on to explain how its products improve collaboration and how the company’s focus on innovation allows them to remain at the forefront of modern workplace technologies.
Production Budget: $30,000 - $40,000
Animation Studio, Creator ID: ANI7842AH
One of Patagonia’s key corporate values is #NBBC, or ‘Not Bound By Convention.’ Patagonia employees and brand reps are encouraged to ensure customers have a great experience, even if it means breaking or bending the rules.
To demonstrate this, Patagonia commissioned this video, which tells stories from employees in the form of an animated documentary. The audio comes from recorded employee interviews, and the visuals include hand-drawn animations over backgrounds made of Patagonia fabrics.
Production Budget: $30,000 - $50,000
Production Company, Creator ID: PRO280RM
To highlight Wells Fargo’s partnerships with young mission-driven brands and companies, the company produced a six-part video campaign with each video focusing on a different partnership.
This video focuses on Wells Fargo’s partnership with Clutter to demonstrate to viewers how the banking company is able to help young companies grow through innovative services and banking technologies.
Production Budget: $8,000 - $10,000
Production Company, Creator ID: PRO7714EB
5G technology presents a number of exciting new opportunities for tech companies like Nokia. This company history video highlights these opportunities as they were discussed at the “Converge 2018” conference held by Nokia Bell Labs.
Through a collection of on-stage presentations and one-on-one interviews, this video effectively paints a picture of what the future might hold for companies like Nokia as they are able to take advantage of 5G and Industry 4.0.
Day Rate: $800 - $15,000
Director, Creator ID: DIR7707CS
Zurich Insurance commissioned this corporate video, which involved recording interviews and shooting footage in several locations around the world, to highlight how the development of green spaces can positively impact the world.
This video demonstrates the importance of green spaces by appealing to the human compulsion to help others and bring value to the communities around them. Finally, it closes with an effective tagline that appeals to the viewers’ emotions: “Zurich Insurance. For those who truly love.”
Day Rate: $650 - $800
Motion Graphic Designer, Creator ID: MOT7657ES
SolarisBank is a fin-tech company based in Berlin. Unlike similar companies, it has a German banking license built into its platform. To highlight the qualities that set SolarisBank apart from its competition, this two-minute company history video goes over all the unique ways the company is able to provide value to both consumers and companies through modern banking and financial services.
Company history videos serve as an incredibly effective tool to build brand awareness, encourage customer loyalty, shape company culture, and establish trust between brands and their audiences. By partnering with a professional production company, you can create an impactful corporate video that effectively tells your brand’s story and history.
Creative Humans makes it easy to find and hire top video production studios and freelancers. Create a Free Account or Post a Job to get started.
How to Shoot Cinematic Video with iPhone
With renowned directors like Steven Soderbergh now using iPhones to shoot feature length films, it should be no surprise that the modern smartphone is an incredible tool for shooting video. Even if you don’t need or want to use your phone to shoot your next short or feature, having it on hand for use as a B or C camera can transform a final edit. Here’s how to shoot cinematic video with iPhone in 10 easy tips!
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Hidden away in your iPhone’s camera settings are various options for video, namely resolution and frame rate. If you want to shoot cinematic video with your iPhone, you will want to make sure you have 4K selected, since this will capture the greatest detail and hold up on the latest displays.
Next you should pick a frame rate. If you are one the lucky owners of a flagship iPhone X, you will see an option for 24, 30, and 60 fps. If you are shooting a movie, we recommend 24 fps for that classic look. For YouTube or television, feel free to use 30 fps. Avoid 60 fps unless you need to capture some sweet slow-mo.
Depending on your phone model, you may or may not have life-saving optical image stabilization. However, even with IS built-in you will see a bit of shake if you attempt to shoot longer takes handheld. This is where stabilizers like DJI’s Osmo Mobile 2 (B&H) work wonders. They will smooth out tracking shots with ease and are seriously impressive, transforming unusable takes into cinematic masterpieces.
Creating the shot you visualized in your head last night isn’t just luck, it requires taking control of all the tools at your disposal. To do this on an iPhone, you will have to download a dedicated app that gives you manual controls to the all-important ISO, shutter speed, and focus settings of your iPhone’s camera. My personal preference is for the simple Manual app since it works very well and has a clean design. For high-end filmmaking, I would definitely go with FiLMiC Pro, one of the best apps for recording videos ever made. It opens up a ton of settings, including higher bit rates and a log gamma option.
The hallmark of amateur video is poor audio and bad sound can quickly make a video unwatchable. If you want to make a cinematic video on iPhone, this is easily fixed by simply attaching a microphone to your setup. I would recommend a Rode smartLav+ (B&H | Amazon) for interviews and vlogging-style videos or a Rode VideoMic Me (B&H | Amazon) for run-and-gun shooting, though if you are looking to capture ambient sound or want something with some more versatility you should look at Rode’s iXY Module (B&H | Amazon) for stereo sound on par with standalone recorders.
Handheld shooting has come into vogue in the past decade, partially because it is so easy to capture steady handheld video these days. But we can’t forget about using the staple tripod in your video-shooting kit. Having a nice steady shot can change the look and tone of a film, and the precise movements of a fluid head will certainly up your game when it comes to pro-looking footage. Also, tripods tend to slow you down in a good way, requiring deliberate movements that will help you figure out the best way to frame the scene. To use a full-size tripod, you will need to pick up an adapter like this one from Joby (B&H | Amazon), or just go for the GorillaPod (B&H | Amazon) for something that will let you mount your iPhone almost anywhere (perfect for setting up a B camera).
