Animated videos have established a proven record when it comes to both online and offline virality (but only if you do it right!). No matter how marketing-savvy or inexperienced you are, the following recipe will always give you the correct ingredients of an animation.
#1 Start with “Why”： How great videos (and everything else) begin
First thing first, what do you want to accomplish through the animated video? And what platforms will the animated video be targeting? If you want to differentiate yourself in a trade show, you would like to couple your booth information with a professional animated video showing what’s behind the scene. If you are a social media expert who want to inject more vibrancy into your content, you should pay extra attention on your audience’s time span, the overall tone, language etc.
#2 What's on your mind?
The script - Most people face the dilemma of staring at the blank sheet without knowing where to start with. This step is not overwhelming if you concentrate on your goals, the theme and the timing. The script should only contains the plots that get straight to the point, which generally translates into a written script of around 150 words for a one-minute video. If you have troubles with the break down, you could reframe the content structure and make the animated videos a featured series! (You may unintentionally killing your video with these mistakes, click to find out)
#3 Umm... What is the right style for me?
Anything is possible in the world of animation. Elements and characters come in a wide array of techniques, motions, shapes or even dimensions! The third step - choosing a suitable style - will fundamentally affects the production time, the cost, and most importantly how successful the animation will be in achieving your preset goals. Simplicity doesn’t equate with boring and uninteresting, and faciness doesn’t always yield positive feedback. Doing internet research on your competitors and industry will give you a more solid idea on an overall direction and a list of dos and don'ts.
#4 Where visuals finally kicks in
The storyboarding. Animated videos are about creating visual compounds from the text-based materials. Storyboarding is an important step of mapping your animated video out, determine how the message will be shown and analyse what the illustrations and design concept will be. Storyboards also lays the groundwork for smooth connections by planning layouts, actions, transitions between scenes and particular elements and camera movements beforehand.
#5 The final piece of the puzzle
Getting close! The final step, voice over and music. Background music, sound effects and voice overs are good seasonings to your animated videos as it have indispensable effect on building emotions and pace throughout the animated video. They are crucial for the animated video to feel realistic and vibrant.
Good Job!
Your animate video is ready to be released! The steps detailed above are applicable to the production pipeline of most designers and production house, and may have little variations depending on the type and scale of project your are embarking upon. If you are yearning for inspirations from your competitors who did it right, or you are actually involved in the production but somehow got stuck, simply send your “cry for help” message here!