Due to the popularity of the Internet and the change in the mode of public consumption and entertainment, animation production services are appearing more frequently than ever in the field of marketing, and are gradually replacing print media as a marketing tool for companies of different sizes and industries. Data shows that people can process animated content 60,000 times faster than they can process text, and new trends indicate that the average person in the modern era consumes up to 17 hours of video per week. Customers are 81% more likely to make a purchase after watching an animated movie than a boring piece of text, and up to 96% of buyers say they have watched an informational animated video from a company to learn more about a product's features.
As animation gets more popular, many well-known brands have also participated in this trend, including Google, Apple, Toyota, American Express, Tripadvisor, etc. Compared with the text and graphic design mediums commonly used in marketing and advertising, animation has become a new favorite in the global marketing industry because of its high degree of freedom, personalisation, relatively low cost and high degree of communication. Short and concise animation naturally occupies a place in the booming social media, but for long animation or video (more than 30 minutes) such as online courses, online seminars, online live events and other videos, in the past decade, also recorded a staggering increase in views of nearly 100 times. Undoubtedly in the post epidemic times, no matter whether it is to purchase, study, work or social needs, people have become accustomed to using animations and video content to satisfy all aspects of their lives.
Boosting the Real with the Virtual
Whether your business belongs to B2B or B2C, audiences around the world not only need short films and advertisements that could instantly grab their attention, but longer, more in-depth animated videos indeed are helpful in a lot of occasions and their importance in fulfilling certain marketing values surely cannot be ignored. Unfortunately, people’s way of consuming information is largely reformed by mobile devices - attention is easily distracted hence hard to be retained. Animations and videos that are too long may also be considered as inefficient in a sense that the messages and focus cannot be clearly conveyed, making it difficult to retain the audience's attention.
Studies have shown that adding animation or motion design to different digital media, such as long corporate films and online virtual events, can effectively reinforce the message delivery process. Therefore, it is important to include elements that can make the screen lively and keep the audience's interest. There is another benefit to combining animation elements with live action film - animation still has a ‘fictional’, ‘out-of-the-box’ image to many people. Animation has less of a connection to reality and humanity than filmed material, and while this is not a你absolute disadvantage, it is a feature that may prevent you from achieving your marketing objectives in certain industries and promotional scenarios. Authenticity in marketing content is still the best way to quickly capture positive impressions and even trust from consumers, for example, using successful case studies to detail the experiences and processes of others, so that potential consumers can relate to them and then make a decision to buy. Looking at the above advantages and disadvantages of animation and filming materials, the most favorable balance can be achieved by appropriately combining the two.
Examples of the use of animation in filming or graphic materials include: embedding animated elements in the film, such as special effects, graphics or animated characters; enhancing and enriching the scene of the filming, such as by adding virtual elements or backgrounds; using animated elements when the speaker is telling a story or explaining a concept to crystallize the concept to make it more prominent; designing animated characters to represent the image of a company or a product and combining them with the filming materials to demonstrate the company's culture or values, building up the authority and credibility of the brand in the long run.
Although marketing animations are popular, can every animation really plant a special impression in the minds of the audience? What have the marketing animations that have successfully become a marketing booster and enhanced brand favorability achieved? Does the production of marketing animations require high costs and resources? Learn how to make marketing animations now! Let's begin with the basic concepts of animation.
Step 1 - Pre-Production Preparation
What is an animated explainer video and why do we need it? Firstly, it is important to understand what you are trying to accomplish through animation. Animation is the production of short films created from images and virtual characters designed to explain how things work in a simple and engaging way. They are often used as a marketing tool to demonstrate the benefits of a company, product or service in order to drive sales or viewer engagement.
The first step in preparing for a marketing project is to gather background information and decide on the direction of the campaign. Your team will try to reach a consensus on marketing goals such as sales volume, campaign audience such as age and gender, and time planning to set the stage for the next phase. Preparation for the production of a marketing animation is no different from the general project planning routine; however, the marketing animation still involves a discussion of the aesthetic format, such as whether to favor storytelling as a structure or interviews. Will it serve as an annual branding material for the company, or does it need to fulfill a purpose, such as launching a new promotional code for a holiday.
The popularity of marketing animation is largely due to the fact that it provides enormous room for creativity and imagination; you don't have to spend money on hiring actors and filming crews to realize any wildly imaginative story in animation. Many long-established brands have successfully utilized the popularity of animation to subvert the ‘old’ and ‘outdated’ perception of the past, and have successfully overcome the youthful transition period and regained the public's love; in the Internet era where the information update cycle is rapid, the easy updating and replication of animation works has become one of the most reliable and cost-effective promotional tools for marketing practitioners. On the audience side, their user behaviors, platforms and devices, and even their online media consumption habits will help you get more inspiration during the brainstorming process.
The answers to these questions will determine the budget, style, script direction, length of the animation, format constraints, production techniques, etc., which in turn will affect the overall animation production process. At this stage, we welcome any ideas and comments from the client, but before moving on to the next step, the animation company or client needs to collate the results of the discussion. After all, animations are limited in length. Trivial and voluminous information is often not communicated efficiently in a few minutes of screen time, and can even be indigestible for the audience.
Step 2 - Animation Script Writing
After the first step of preparation, we believe we all have a preliminary consensus and understanding of the animation project and creative perspective. The script is the most important document in the animation production process, providing the structure and blueprint for the subsequent production steps. The script is the fusion of all creative elements and thematic ideas. To give the animation a contagious effect, creative setting and originality are needed.
Informative animation is often a clear and direct way to state the theme and supporting information that needs to be expressed; while animation with a strong storytelling nature will often adopt problem vs. solution, core conflict, character growth line and other narrative techniques to bring out the core concept. Generally speaking, the animation script will contain a summary of the plot of each scene (mostly one or two sentences of the description of the scene), the description of the scene or hints (e.g., a living room with a gorgeous sunset view with mountain ranges viewed from afar), the character's action descriptions (e.g., the protagonist pacing back and forth in front of the door), the character's dialogue and other elements etc.
There is no universal or guaranteed business-generating narrative structure for animated scripts, especially in the fast-paced world of the Internet. You may want to keep an open mind on the format and angle of your scripts while meeting the objectives of the production, experimenting with different styles and observing the audience's reaction to find your unique corporate style.
Step 3 - Pick an Animation Style
If you are just starting to create marketing animation, you may not be familiar with the difference between marketing animation styles. Allua has compiled a list of common marketing animation styles. You can browse the style catalog according to your marketing objectives, brand positioning, or target customer's preference. 2D animation and 3D animation belong to two different technical fields; different animation styles have substantial differences in terms of the composition of the designers including number of team members needed, their expertise, hardware equipment, production time and so on. You need to spend some time to understand the advantages and disadvantages of different production software, and then balance the expected results and the resources and time required at each stage. In the marketing field, animation that can be produced and modified quickly in response to market demand is usually better able to gain customers' brand love; if the content of the animation is related to the corporate philosophy or direction of development, and there is more time for pre-planning, you may consider trying on a more complex forms and mixture of animation styling.
Hand Drawn Animation
Click here to view: https://vimeo.com/155791039
When it comes to the development of the animation industry, we have to mention the hand-drawn style. The prototype of the animation is drawn by pencil on paper, and all the design drawings are pieced together; except the pencil. Clay, sculpture, models, etc. can all be mediums of design. Most of today's hand-drawn animation styles can be completed using computer software. By imitating the texture and touch of the material, the uniqueness of hand-drawn animation and the emotion and temperature of the creator are reproduced. In recent years, hand-drawn animation has been favored by different companies in the commercial market, re-injecting a strong brand awareness into the brand.
Whiteboard Animation
Click here to view: https://vimeo.com/293295173
The whiteboard animation is based on a white background, supplemented by bright, vivid, crisp text and graphics to provide explanations for the topic. Whether it is recording the discussion process in a meeting or recording the to-do items in life, from important work points to daily trivialities, we are used to using whiteboards or white paper to record them and remind ourselves. The birth of whiteboard animation just satisfies those marketers who need to analyze product and business concepts in a clear, direct and concise way. It is especially effective for marketing projects that need to eliminate screen noise and strengthen audience memory.
Clipart Animation
Click here to view: https://vimeo.com/783220393
Clipart animation, like hand-drawn animation, plays an important role in the early stages of animation production. In the clipart animation, different materials are outlined separately into layers, and their dynamics and changes are presented at a lower frame rate. The chemistry with different visual elements can often give you surprises! Generally speaking, clip animation has higher production efficiency than hand-drawn animation - most clip animation does not require complicated transition processing, and the materials used for collage can be reused, so the production time can be greatly reduced.
Informative Animation
Click here to view: https://vimeo.com/179991024
As the name implies, the existence of informative animation is created based on the purpose of conveying information. Communicating product information to the audience, increasing purchase desire, and answering customer questions are all daily tasks that companies need to deal with. This is why informative marketing animations can be widely disseminated. Whether you are a newly established start-up company or a century-old brand, informative animation can meet different promotion needs. The length of informational animations is mostly controlled within three minutes, the main purpose is to guide and arouse the audience's interest in continuing to browse or learn about the brand; for this reason, a script with a precise structure and concise messages is essential for informational animations. If you want to learn more about screenwriting, you may read this article about script writing.
3D Animation
Click here to view: https://vimeo.com/360991228
The biggest difference between 3D animation and 2D animation is the conveyance of immersion and atmosphere. After all, 3D animation pays more attention to material composition, light and shadow contrast, and object dynamic processing. A labor-intensive production process. The framework of the 3D animation production process is similar to that of 2D animation, but in the storyboard stage (refer to the fourth step - storyboard production) will require additional model and scene modeling and shaping processes, and character design will require skeleton binding In the production process, additional materials and light and shadow processing are required. More correction levels are usually set up between stages to make the finished product more suitable for the picture effect described in the storyboard.
In terms of current technology, almost all 3D animations can be processed by computer software, but this requires a rich experience of designers and animators as well as an understanding of the physical and dynamic performance of each item. In addition to using 3D animation to tell the concept and story of the brand like Disney's products, it can also integrate 3D animation into customer education, such as decomposing the internal structure of the machine to let customers understand the operating principle; or complement the exercise teaching in physical therapy part, showing more detailed and accurate postures for patients to learn.
Step 4 - Animation Storyboard Creation
Whether it is a 10-second animation to be uploaded to social media, or a new product launch reported to the public at an annual event, the presentation of an animation requires careful preparation and planning. The word storyboard may be unfamiliar to those who have not been exposed to animation or film production. The script of an animation or film only uses words to describe the story and the scene; and the storyboard is to visualize the script.
It is precisely because animation is a visually-led communication format that the existence of storyboards is so important. An excellent storyboard needs to provide a detailed visual outline for the subsequent production process. The frames split according to the content of the script need to include scene composition information, camera positions, visual cues, transition effects and other details. Frames are mostly drawn with drawings, sketches or videos. The more detailed this information is, the more specific the planning for the animation production project will be. Detailed storyboards not only help keep the communication with clients transparent and direct, but if something is missed during the production process, you can easily find the problem and check it immediately, saving you money and energy for repeated revisions.
Sometimes in order to save the time and process of project design, designers or customers will choose to use the pictures, templates and designs purchased from the network material library and use them in the animation. Some websites do not require you to purchase additional copyright fees, including Pexels, Unsplash, Gratisography, etc. The quality of the materials may be uneven, but they can meet the needs of general commercial marketing animation production. Websites such as Shutterstock, iStock, depositphotos etc. price copyright based on factors such as the number of materials and the scope of use. We recommend that you learn about copyright regulations from the creator and the website before citing these materials, so as to avoid unintentional violations of laws and regulations.
Step 5 - Voice Over Recording
Sound is an important part of animation, even if your animation does not require dubbing or narration, sound effects and background music are still indispensable elements. The shaping and use of voice is naturally indispensable to successfully present the emotional effects depicted in the script. The existence of Voice Over is not only for telling the story clearly, but also requires the narration to improve or strengthen the atmosphere and artistic conception of the overall story, and increase the credibility and affinity of the animation. Narration and voice actors have different areas of expertise. When selecting personnel for your animation, you may wish to pay attention to the strength, pitch, and intensity of their voices. The fees for animation projects usually range from a few hundred dollars to several thousand dollars.
AI Technology - How Can I Make The Best Use of It With My Voice Over Creation?
In the field of animation dubbing and voice over recording, AI technology can automatically generate voice overs or narrations by natural language processing, deep learning and other means, in conjunction with user-provided text or images. The network has a large amount of training data and models for AI to learn from, so that it can quickly generate text or voice over content that matches specific styles, tones and language requirements. Using AI-generated voice overs or narration allows producers to enjoy different benefits, such as multi-language support and translation, ability to keep up with the demands of content production that needs to be reviewed quickly, and higher accuracy in explaining technical content or specialized areas. Therefore, AI-generated voice overs are already being used in a wide range of production projects, such as film dubbing, radio programmes, animation and other media works. Some professional generation platforms also bring more features to AI voice over technology for users, including a wide variety of voice overs and genres, support for fine-tuning accent differences in speech, adjusting the range of voice emotion and performance, adjusting the characters or speaker's mouth shape in the film or animation while processing the translated text, and using the user's uploaded voices for cloning and learning, etc. Mango AI、Speechify、Lovo etc. are some of the software that support AI voice over generation.
Whilst AI-generated voice overs have the advantage of being fast and cost-effective, they may not be 100% suitable for animation used in marketing campaigns. It is widely recognised that there is still much room for improvement in AI-generated voice technology, with criticisms including the lack of a human touch in mechanical voices, which can result in textual content not being clearly conveyed in a voice that expresses unique human emotions, and the fact that when dealing with multilingualism, it may also be inconsistent with local conventions, which can result in the voice over not being sufficiently relevant to the viewer's everyday language. The overly use of AI generated voice overs may also result in a lack of creativity. Therefore, before using manually generated narration, please be sure to consider factors such as the perception of the screening market and the characteristics of the animation content.
Step 6 - Animation Production
It's time to breathe life into scripts and storyboards! 2D and 3D animation have their own special animation software dedicated: The work of 2D animation production usually deals with editing, color matching, narration, special effects and other fields. 3D animation production will involve additional processes such as model dynamic simulation, material coverage, skeleton binding, camera angle adjustment, and lighting processing.
There are also different programs available in the market to meet the needs of beginner and advanced users/projects and even different operating systems. Animation production software suitable for beginners includes Stop Motion Studio, Moho, etc.; for advanced users or animation production companies, Adobe Animate CC, Adobe After Effets, Adobe Character Animator, Toon Boom Harmony, Moho Pro, TVPaint, etc.; 3D animation production software includes Autodesk Maya, Blender, ZBrush, etc. The selection of animation software usually requires consideration of the following factors.
Auxiliary tools and operating platforms: Computers, tablets, and digital drawing tablets are common digital design tools, and some software could elevate the user experience with the collaboration of specific tools. For example, some software for tablets can sense the pressure exerted by the touch screen pen on the screen, hence producing different brush sizes or brush styles accordingly. You may choose the right software depending on your design habits.
User's knowledge and skill level: Some software is designed for beginners, while others are created for professional uses. The latter's features and interfaces are orchestrated to cope with more detailed results, but the eye-candy interface usually confuses new users and slows down novices’ progress. While the popularity of the Internet has soared, the demand for design in all industries is no exception. Whether it's students wanting to add tools to their studies, or businesses wanting more design work to complement their business development, the resulting delays are unfortunate. Fortunately, more and more developers are concerned about the needs of these groups, and now the market is expected to embrace more intuitive, easier to operate interfaces and software design. Adobe Creative Cloud, which is mostly used by professional designers, has launched a novice-friendly online design platform, Adobe Creative Cloud Express, which provides amateur designers or people with no prior training with basic, full-featured tools for beginning design, and is well suited to meet the needs of audiences with different design knowledge. Similar web-based design platforms for novices include Canva、VistaCreate、Vivipic and others.
Software Pricing: Some software offers monthly or yearly subscription options, while some allow you to purchase the usage with an inclusive, one-off price. Both of which have their own advantages and disadvantages and are built for different groups of users. Subscription is the pricing model used by most of today's digital design software. Some of the merits include:providing customized pricing and features for different needs, allowing developers to regularly update the software's functionality over the Internet and dealing with security and bug-related issues in a more timely manner. The design ecosystem, such as Adobe Creative Cloud, is one of the most popular design tools in the world for both businesses and individuals. It collectively offers bundled pricing packages for various design modules, including Adobe Creative Cloud, and most of its paid software offers a trial period to users. If you feel that the software does not meet their expectations and would like to cancel their subscription, they could avoid the risk of spending too much on unsuitable tools.
Step 7 - Sound Effects, Audio and Music Post-Production
Titanic, Jurassic Park, Star Wars... when you see the names of these movies, many of you could instantly recall their theme songs. Whether it's a Hollywood movie or a ten-second clip on social media, music is one of the most important things that goes beyond the visuals, allowing the audience to enter the world of the story and empathize with the characters.
If you want to create unique music for your animation, there are many computer software and mobile applications that can mix and process different forms of animation to varying degrees, such as GarageBand, Adobe Premiere Pro, Adobe Audition, Logic Pro X, etc. Software is commonly used in mixing and music processing. However, both music composition and recording work require a basic understanding of music, equipment and related software, so most people will choose to seek the assistance of professional composers or sound effects engineers.
If you're on a tight budget or don't have a lot of time to start from scratch, you can buy the usage rights of the preferred tracks from online music libraries. shutterstock and other sites have a wealth of resources to meet the sound and music needs of different types of films, animations and videos, with affordable prices ranging from a few dollars to a few thousand per track. Pricing of these soundtracks usually varies depending on factors such as the regions where the animations will be displayed, for how long the animations will be used, and so on.
Should I use AI-generated music? What should I be aware of?
It is worth noting that more designers are now introducing AI-generated music into their animation work, or using AI to help modify or remix existing music. When using AI to generate music, it is possible to have the style, melody, backing harmonies, arrangement, and notations of emotional ups and downs that perfectly fit the work by using only textual commands, as well as the ability to select the gender and singing characteristics of the singers (who are also human voices imitated by the AI). Even with no experience in music, production teams can easily make a lot of music creation attempts in a short period of time and at a very low cost. Using AI technology in music generation would be a good approach for individual users, undercapitalised startups, or marketing teams that need to produce something experimental in nature.
Common AI music generation software includes Soundraw, Musicfy, Loudly, etc. However, the music generated by AI technology is still subject to a lot of controversies in the international community, including whether it can be used for commercial purposes, whether it will misuse unauthorized materials, and the copyright application criteria remains vague, etc. Before using AI technology, do pay more attention to the copyright related regulations and laws of the place of distribution and production, and more importantly, your consumers' attitude and opinion towards the use of AI elements by corporations.
After completing the above seven steps, you will reach the revision stage. You can make suggestions according to the production materials such as scripts, shot-by-shot images and audio files. The production of animation thumbnails, production of information cards and subtitles, standardization of animation output format, output of different versions (e.g. multi-language versions), delivery of files to web platforms, etc. are also usually finalized in the revision stage.
Summary
After completing the above seven steps, you will enter the modification stage. Customers can make suggestions for revisions to animation production companies based on the production materials such as scripts, storyboards, and recording files. Production of animation thumbnails, production of information cards and subtitles, unified animation output format, output of different versions (such as multi-language versions), file delivery or publishing to online platforms, etc. are usually completed in the modification stage.
The animation production process may seem complicated and time-consuming, but as long as the animation project and expectations are unified with all participants and departments at the beginning and completion of each step, the efficiency of collaboration can be effectively improved and the work of repeated tracing and revision can be reduced. Although the direction and goal of each animation project are different, and there will be some additions and subtractions in the above process framework, I believe this article can provide a real and feasible reference blueprint for marketers who are new to animation production. Make adequate preparations and planning before the project starts.
Allua provides animation production services in different animation styles, and provides a dedicated project manager to guide customers through all production steps. Click here to browse more Allua animation production services, or contact us for an animation production service quotation.
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