Hi, We’re Whiteboard Animation Studio. An American pioneer of Whiteboard Animation and the market leader since 2009. Consistently creating 100,000 to 1 million plus view videos for our clients. But how do we do it?
We do it in these seven simple steps. 1. Why Animate?/ historical context 2. Crafting Your Message 3. What is the process. 4. How long should the message be? 4. How will your video be distributed? 5. How do you make a whiteboard video? or What are the mechanics? 6. How much will it Cost? 7. Why hire a studio?
1. Why Animate? / The historical context
The first and most important thing to note is the recent invention of Video Advertising. Five years ago video advertising didn’t exist. Now, it not only exists, but Video Ads can be created for a fraction of the cost, and distributed for free or a fraction of what a TV Ad used to cost. Then sent to audiences that are so targeted you could easily reach people that like eating spaghetti and watching Game of Thrones. Here are a few mind blowing statistics:
- 1 out of 2 people on the internet today are on Youtube. Now that is an explosion!
- Facebook video views eclipsed all types of online videos views when (except for YouTube) they rolled it out six months ago.
- Twitter only just started offering online videos a few months ago
- More and more online targeted cheap video advertising opportunities are becoming available like Hulu, CBS, Netflix will do it soon, ESPN (Sling), I could go on and on.
- According to Forestor you are 53 times more likely to end up on the first page of Google with a video than without.
- Comscore states online video viewership is out-pacing adspending 2 to 1 and that stat is from 2010.
- Finally revenue, The Abderdeen Group states - 65% of companies experience higher marketing-generated revenue, on the same amount of visitors due to higher conversion and response rates with video.
2. Crafting Your Message
80% of our companies have stated their message so many times in under 2 minutes or less that they don’t really need to craft their message. Instead, they need to know if there message should be packaged in A) a story, B) a diagram, C) a metaphor, or D) just telling it to you straight. That’s where a studio comes in to guide you on the means of conveying your message.
If you don’t know what you want to say then here is a simple boilerplate outline. No matter if you are making a promotional video or if you are creating an internal HR video the outline is the same.
1. What is your viewer’s problem? State this as quickly as possible.
2. What is the solution? (usually your company, your product, or your message). State this as quickly as possible.
3. Break out a few points about why your product is the solution. Is it patented? Is it your process?
4. The Call to Action - Usually your .com address or your phone number.
If you need a script writer there are hundreds of thousands of talented professionals out there. And if you ask me their value is way beyond what they charge. Our studio can help connect you.
(A little fact: 140 words can be comfortably spoken in a minute)
50% of our viewers watch a full two minutes. Why? Because our animations take the viewer on a journey. That is, a simple through-line that is easy to follow, and it asks the dramatic question “what will happen next?”
Two minutes also applies because video advertising is far more targeted today, and the ad space is far cheaper than it was ten years ago. Advertising is crafted for a very specific audience. Going longer than two minutes is fine if your audience is a captive audience or if they have incentive to watch your video. Going for 30 seconds is good if you have a budget for ad spending.
3. How will your animation be distributed?
Animations can be distributed for free lots of ways: on your website, Youtube, Facebook, Twitter, they are played at conferences, at private meetings with a laptop, or simply one on one using a smartphone. There are cheap paid forms of distribution as well such as news sites, popular blogs, cable, buzzfeed, casual games. etc, It’s important to think about your video’s distribution because the content of your message greatly depends on your audience and how people will arrive at your video. Remember ads can be distributed to audiences as small a few thousand these days.
4. What is the process like?
The biggest and most important first step is your message. We can help you craft your message from simple thoughts to a concrete reality. The other milestones are:
- A few storyboards
- Full Storyboards
- Moving Storyboards
- First look Animation then
- Final Animation
5. How do you make a whiteboard video? or What are the mechanics?
There are three methods: 1.2.3.
Our studio uses all of the above approaches and then some… ;-)
To Make a real Whiteboard Video you need: - A High resolution video camera. - A tripod - A whiteboard - Bright global lighting (from all sides) and video editing software:
1. Tracing - Trace the image lightly with pencil. Film yourself drawing on top of the image. Take the video into a video editor and increase the contrast just a bit to make the pencil marks go away. Voila! magic.
2. Erasing - Draw the image first. Get it perfect then erase it. Put it into your video software and reverse the footage frames. Voila! magic.
3. Softwaring - use an animation program like Video Scribing or AfterEffects to create the animation. You would need to buy that software and that leads us to….!
6. How much does it cost?
Video Scribing software costs $500 plus your time. It’s a program that uses a static image of a hand and clipart. This method is not unique though we think it’s value is slightly better than a Power Point presentation. We do NOT use this software.
Adobe AfterEffects is the industry standard software and it’s what they use to make National Commercials. It costs $1200. It’s what my studio uses. Bare in mind that’s $500-$1600 plus your time. The main cost is your time.
Our studio’s animations range from $1200 a minute to $15,000 a minute with the average being $5000. That includes audio, storyboards, animation and the video from A-Z. What is in the cost? It’s all artist-hours. How much time and how many artists do you want working on your project? How much thought? Contrary to popular opinion, it takes time to think. Why do companies spend $15,000 to even millions of dollars on animations? It’s because they want their image to be as professional and as ahead of their competition as possible. Contrary to popular opinion, staying ahead means spending money.
7. Why hire a studio?
You should hire a studio because you want to be a market leader. You wouldn’t want to do accounting yourself if you don’t have a degree in it. In the same vein, you want to hire someone with a proven track record and decades worth of experience. Our studio has animated for most of the top companies in America today. And small to mid-size companies working with us have gone from zero users to millions in a few years.
We work with industries as varied as the American economy itself.
To learn more about whiteboard animation or other kinds of animation like stop-motion, or 3D animation contact our studio www.whiteboardanimation.com or our full-service sister studio www.ideaMACHINEstudio.com
