Animated Explainer Video Production Process

A detailed overview of the animation production process. 7 Steps To Creating An Awesome Explainer Video.

Animated Explainer Video Production Process
Table of contents

Short and compelling animated videos can easily explain concepts, products, and services by breaking them down into simple and attractive motion visuals.

Animated explainers are also particularly useful for sharing ideas in a world with short attention spans and a craving for flashy images and content.

Got an idea? Our animated video company got the video for you.

Here we’ll talk about the animation production process and how we put all the pieces together to make an explainer video.

7 steps of animation production

1. Brief & Research

Research is the cornerstone of any successful marketing video creation process.

Even if you create a video for yourself and think, "I know everything about my product," trust me, you don't!

Thorough research helps you understand how to position your brand to differentiate it from competitors and resonate with your target audience.

Next, delve into the product itself. Identify the unique selling proposition (USP) you want to promote in the video. If you're unsure, consider creating multiple versions and A/B testing them.

Finally, understand which objections or hesitations potential buyers might have and address them subtly within the video.

Brief & Research

2. Script & Concept

The script is more than just the words in your video; it's the overall strategy and tone of your narration.

  • Know your audience: Imagine your ideal customer and speak directly to them.
  • Choose your tone: Do you want to surprise, educate, have a casual conversation, or even provoke thought?
  • Hook 'em early: Grab their attention in the first 5-8 seconds. Don't waste time meandering.
  • Focus on benefits: Highlight what your product or service will do for them, not just its features.
  • Clear call to action (CTA): End with a clear and concise CTA that tells viewers exactly what to do next.
  • Customize your CTA: If the video will be used in different marketing funnels, consider creating a customized CTA for each one.
Script & Concept

3. Mood Board & Storyboard

  • Mood Board: This visual collage helps you define the overall style and mood of your video. It can include references for:
  • Character design (if applicable)
  • Background design
  • Color palette
  • Animation style (if applicable)
  • Overall tone and feel
animated video moodboard

Think of it as a way to assemble your creative vision.

  • Storyboard: This detailed sketch outlines every scene and action in your video. It helps you:
  • Avoid surprises and additional production costs by planning everything out visually.
  • Ensure proper pacing and balance within each scene.
  • Visualize the flow and timing of your video narrative.

By creating both a mood board and storyboard, you can establish a clear direction for your video before production begins.

Mood Board & Storyboard

4. Style & Illustrations

After finalizing your mood board and storyboarding all the scenes, prioritize your illustration efforts. Here's a smarter approach:

  1. Identify Key Visuals: Select 2-4 storyboard frames that showcase the most important design elements.
  2. Develop the Visual Style: Focus on creating high-quality illustrations for these key frames.
  3. Approval: Once you (or your client) are happy with the visual style established through these key frames, proceed with illustrating the remaining scenes.

If you're an animation studio, this approach ensures you and your client are on the same page about the overall look and feel before investing time and resources into illustrating everything.

Style & Illustrations

5. Voice Over

Voiceover is often an under-appreciated, yet crucial element of animation production. The tone and delivery can significantly impact how your message resonates with viewers.  Here's how to find the perfect voice for your project:

  • Beyond Demos: Don't rely solely on pre-recorded demos. Consider organizing a voiceover audition where potential voice actors can deliver samples specifically tailored to your script and target audience.
  • Matching Message & Audience: The ideal voice should not only complement your animation style but also resonate with your target audience. Think about the emotions you want to evoke and choose a voice that aligns with that goal.

By investing time and effort into casting the right voiceover talent, you can elevate your animation and ensure your message connects with viewers on a deeper level.

voice over

6. Animation

This is where the magic happens!

With a well-defined script, storyboard, and visual style, the animation stage can be a smooth and efficient process.

Just ensure all creative elements, especially character designs, are finalized and approved before animation begins.  Changes at this stage can be costly and time-consuming.

However, by following the steps outlined above, you'll have a solid foundation for a successful animation project.

animation

7. Post Production & Revisions

This is the stage that gives the video its final look.

Post-production involves the complete process of creating and editing the sound mixing, background music, and graphics including lower thirds.

Once the video is finalized, we send it to you for feedback and make any needed revisions.

Finally, your video is ready to be shared with the world.

Animation production process FAQ

How long does animation production take?

Producing a 1-2 minute animation typically takes between 5-8 weeks, depending on the complexity and style of the production. It's important to note that this timeframe usually does not account for the review and revision process needed by decision-makers.

What is pre-production in an explainer video process

Production is the actual work process of making the video. So then, pre-production is everything before that. Research, concept talks, and scriptwriting are all part of the pre-production process. Production officially begins when visuals start being created.

What is post-production?

Post-Production is the final stage of animation production: everything that comes after the main production is finished. It includes the final polishing of animation, editing, adding the soundtrack and sound effects. After the video is ready for export, you can render it in a format and dimensions that fit your delivery channels.

What is a “pipeline” in animation video production?

Animation production pipeline is essentially the workflow, and there’s a very specific order that the work has to move in. Generally, an animated video production pipeline flows like this:

  1. Research
  2. Concept
  3. Script
  4. Style Frame
  5. Storyboard
  6. Voice over
  7. Animation
  8. Soundtrack and sound effects
  9. Full video
  10. Finalization

What are the main factors that influence production price?

Usually, production price varies based on:

• Quality of work (how complicated and detailed the animation is)
• Visuals (3D takes much more time and therefore is more expensive than 2D)
• Illustrations
• Music (custom or stock?)
• Sound FX
• VO artist
• Length
• How fast you need it

How do I choose the best animation style for my brand?

Depending on your marketing goals, we’ll send you references (including prior videos and mood boards) that we may think could fit your business and you’ll make your choice.

How many people are involved in the production process?

When you work with Yans, you get the talents of an entire team. This generally includes a creative director managing the project, a scriptwriter, two 2D animators, storyboard artist, 2 illustrators, VO artist, sound designer, and editor.

Can the video use our company's colors and assets?

Absolutely! We always incorporate any fonts, logos, colors, or other brand standards you have to fit the video to your company.

I have my own illustrations. Can we use them in the video?

The short answer is YES.

Just sometimes the images need to have been created in a scalable (vector) format so that we can work with them and they’ll look crisp in video form.

Sometimes visuals created for websites and design aren’t made that way and look poor when used in video. However, if we can re-create the visual in a vector format, then it is possible.

Can you help me with script?

Sure, we can help you with the script as well as create the concept for your marketing message

If I Already Have My Own Script, Can We Use That?

Sure. We will also help you edit it and make sure it works well as an animated video. Many provided scripts are well written but without animation in mind so we are happy to help make sure everything is aligned to work in the animated explainer video style.

Can we mix live action video or screen capture in our animated video?

Yes, that is possible.

What other content can you create for my business other than video?

We can also provide illustrations and GIFs for AdWords marketing.

What software do you use for production?

We use the best, industry standard software on the market which is the Adobe suite of products. It includes Photoshop and Illustrator for creating visuals, After Effects for animation and effects, and Premiere for editing and finalization.

How does your revision work?

You’ll have 2 free revisions for every stage in the process except for the VO stage, which has 1.

However, you can have unlimited revisions for an agreed price.

NOTE:
Once a stage is approved and we move on, it is considered finalized.
For example, if we are at the animation stage, we can’t go back and make script changes. Building a video is like building a house — once the windows are in you’ve moved on to painting the walls, the amount of time, money, and work needed to go back and change where the windows are is pretty much impossible. That is why we make sure everything is finalized before moving to the next step.

Do you provide support after production is finished?

Yes. We save all assets and project files in case you’d like to make any changes or adjustments in the future. This can happen when a logo or slogan changes.

What’s a Rich Text element?

The rich text element allows you to create and format headings, paragraphs, blockquotes, images, and video all in one place instead of having to add and format them individually. Just double-click and easily create content.

Static and dynamic content editing

A rich text element can be used with static or dynamic content. For static content, just drop it into any page and begin editing.

For dynamic content, add a rich text field to any collection

How to customize formatting for each rich text

Headings, paragraphs, blockquotes, figures, images, and figure captions can all be styled after a class is added to the rich text element using the "When inside of" nested selector system.

text element using
the "When inside of" nested selector system.
  • wS
  • asasA
  • ASas

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