How to Choose Animated Explainer Video Production Companies

Want to create a custom animated explainer video for your startup? Confused with too many choices of animated video production companies?

Well, explainer videos are a popular video marketing content for start-ups in 2017.

They are short, simple, and engaging startup videos that can increase brand awareness and sales by telling a story and showing how well your potential clients understand your product by including important information about it.

From the content marketing perspective, explainers can be used in many ways, depending on how creative you are.

The tricky part is that not every creative production studio knows what their clients’ customers want. That’s why choosing the right animation studio is very important.

Video Production: Aspects To Consider

There are several aspects that you should consider before choosing the right explainer production company for your business.

1. Affordability

Startups need to learn how to spend their money efficiently. It is necessary to choose an explainer video production company that offers its services at reasonable rates.

Making a full explainer video should cost less than half of your marketing budget, so you can spend the rest to plan the strategy for other marketing campaigns.

It’s completely within your rights to spend more than what you have reserved to create a video with the best graphics, but that’s not advised.

Many people think that you get what you pay for, but that’s not quite true in this scenario.

Customers from around the world are different; some might find simple animation is enough, and some might demand the best of the best. Your job is to provide content that is right for your target audience.

That’s why low cost doesn’t always mean bad for you. There are many reasons why an explainer video company can give you a lower price for your marketing video.

Our clients are mostly startups, and they often question how we’re able to charge what we’re charging for the quality we offer.

There are many reasons that factor into pricing. In our case, where we’re located, contributes a lot to our prices.

Video genre specialty

Not every video production company has the specialty to make animations, much less motion graphics. Writing an explainer video script is also a challenge for those who aren’t experts.

Take the example of a photographer. An expert nature photographer has a different photography sense and a different way to learn from a beauty photographer.

The same thing as making a cartoon and an animated explainer video.

Animation production is a learned process that needs time to perfect. Most of the time, only companies that have been around in the industry can make a reliable choice to produce an explainer video.

Check for portfolios on their website, it will help with seeing their video quality.

Uniqueness

Digital content increases rapidly in number. In order to build your brand, you need to stand out.

Make sure to hire a company whose work is original and made from scratch, not from stock illustrations that you can get from the internet.

A unique explainer video can provide animated videos that feature a distinctive visual touch and recognizable style. Uniqueness will help your customer understand your product/service better.

Explainer videos are, in a way, a form of storytelling made visual. A unique visual aspect is quite important in this kind of animation video.

Distinctive graphics are also simply effective in engaging customers when combined with top-level story ideas. Mix all of them and you’ll give amazing motion graphics that viewers will love.

In addition, here is our blog version of 20+ explainers that will make you stand out.

Expertise

An explainer video production company that has created many videos over the years often already knows which clients they can handle and which clients they can’t based on experience.

They have worked with many businesses, startups, and professionals, which means a lot of intense training. Editing a corporate video or an animated explainer video is different from editing live-action videos.

The post-production process requires more attention, from embedding background music to matching the volume with the whole visual event.

An inexperienced explainer video creator might deliver a final cut that can’t really explain your products that well.

Most importantly, they will not be able to differentiate a commercial from an explainer.

Brands make commercials to hype up viewers for their products through advertising on TV or billboards — they make explainer videos for proper online marketing.

How Much Should You Pay for a Professional Explainer Video Production?

We’ve mentioned briefly about the affordability or price factor. But now, we’re going to dive more in-depth because this is

one of the most common—and important—questions businesses have when considering a professional explainer video.

The truth is, pricing can vary widely depending on a few key factors.

So let’s break it down.

The right answer is: it depends on the production company you’ve commissioned.

An average 60-second animated explainer video from a top company may cost you more than $20,000 per minute, a figure that still surprises some people.

Explainer video costs are an active topic on Quora.

This is because the costs for such videos are not set in stone, even if you buy from the same studio for a second or third time.

Of course, a simple and short explainer video will be cheaper than an animated video.

Factors Affecting The Cost of an Explainer Video

Many factors contribute to the cost of an explainer video, including:

• video length
• the complexity of the storyboard
• quality of voiceover ( the more professional-sounding the voice, usually the higher the voice rates)
• experience of the professionals involved in the making of the video (including Illustrators, animators, marketing experts, voice actors, and scriptwriters).

Explainer videos aren’t easy to make; even an established explainer video company needs several weeks to complete a project.

On that note, the style of explainers also influences the approximate timeframe. For example, a 2D video is easier and usually quicker to make than a 3D video.

However, you should be aware that large agencies are not the only ones who can produce awesome, engaging, and mind-boggling explainers — small or new studios specializing in animated video are also worth considering, particularly when you are on a budget.

The Complexity

An explainer video takes a lot of work to make, even for just one minute (or maybe less!) of animated video.

Creative talent, including animators and illustrators, is a must, and an hour or two with a scriptwriter will help you to create a piece of art.

Other than that, you still need an art director to direct the animation, voice talent to narrate the story, and with some luck, a sound engineer to produce sound effects and a composer for a custom music score for your video.

Sounds like a lot, huh? Well, don’t think that’s all.

Those are only the people needed, you also need to factor in the hardware and software necessary for production, as well as rent, electricity per hour, and other expenses.

The cost of an explainer video is also affected by other factors such as quality, level of detail, demographic location, and taxes.

Considering the complex process of producing a high-quality animated video, it is reasonable to estimate that a video will require approximately 100 man-hours to produce.

It is difficult to say that the cost is expensive without knowing what processes are involved in it.

Designer’s Hourly Rate

The fact that creating an animated explainer video is such a long process is a key factor in the overall cost.

Northern American and Western European countries house some of the best agencies in the world, but they also charge premium rates to get the job done (see the $20,000 example above), as they have expensive living costs, which means an increased salary for the artists.

Agencies and animation studios that are based in developing countries, however, charge less than those in first-world countries such as the US or the UK.

But that doesn’t mean that they produce lower-quality videos.

The difference in their living costs makes it easier for explainer video experts from developing countries (such as Breadnbeyond) to charge less for a similar service.

However, there are always cultural differences that you’ll need to be aware of.

Not all Asian countries are cheaper, though; designers from Japan or Korea might cost you an arm and a leg because of their high living costs.

Elements in the Animated Video Production Process

This is the process of producing an animated explainer video and should help you define the approximate timeframe.

You’ll know how long it will take to finish an animated clip and measure how much you’re likely to spend on it.

Needless to say, the production makes up a big part of the explainer video costs.

1) Script

Writing an explainer video script template is the first step of creating an explainer and is vital to ensure it turns out well.

The script is the key to achieving an explainer video’s ultimate goal: explaining things, mainly products or services.

It does take time for a writer to write an engaging message for your video.

The writer needs to take some time to research your business and products, so they are able to write a powerful script for you.

2) Illustration

An animated video requires illustrations to be made. You may need to assess several different illustration styles before you start and pick one that suits your brand.

Some explainer video companies offer a wide range of styles, while some stick to only a few.

Examples of illustration styles include whiteboard animation, motion graphics, kinetic typography, and 3D animation.

Once a style has been chosen, the illustrator will start visualizing the script with the chosen style. If there are no further revisions, the process advances immediately.

3) Voice Over/Sound

The voice-over is the audio version of the script. It needs to be recorded by a professional voice actor in a closed and soundproof vocal booth to avoid room ambiance.

A high-end audio recording device is used to ensure the crispness of the voice being recorded.

We don’t set separate voice rates– it’s all included in the overall project cost.

4) Animation

The animation stage takes up the most time when producing an explainer video.

After everything is in place, the animator animates all the illustrations carefully, assembling every movement and blending them with voice, music, and sound effects.

Software and Computer Hardware

To deliver a professional result, a production company must use professional design software.

The most popular software used by professional content creators is Adobe Illustrator and Adobe After Effects.

The price of the software is accounted for in the final cost of an explainer video.

Adobe Illustrator is used to draw cartoon characters and other images, while Adobe After Effects is used to animate those drawings.

A single Adobe After Effects license costs $999, and an Adobe Illustrator license costs $599.

This expensive software is necessary, and its cost needs to be factored into the end product.

Adobe After Effects also requires high-end computer hardware in order to run smoothly and render the animation swiftly.

At a minimum, you’d need an i5 quad-core processor, 16GB of RAM, and a graphics card to run the software. Typically, it would cost $1,000 to $1,500 to build a computer meeting these requirements.

Why Breadnbeyond?

We have been working on over 2,000 corporate video projects for various products and services, but surely there are studios that have more experience than us.

If you find any explainer production companies that meet the above criteria, create a list of them.

Then choose one that you think works the best for you, or a company with a high number of portfolios you like most.

The hardest part of starting an explainer video project is choosing the talent who will make it.

It’s the toughest process of all the stages of creating an explainer video — the rest is rather easy for you.

Going straight to big corporate production houses, high-end marketing agencies, or top professional animators might be a good option to speed things up.

Their technology and workflow are supposedly seamless. But as crazy as it may sound, it’s highly possible that their video-style productions aren’t really what you want.

For all you know, new and small companies might offer what you desperately need for a great bargain.

Watch some of the explainer videos on the web to start collecting ideas as to what styles you think will work for your company.

A 2d animation and graphics? 3d animation? Whiteboard? Motion graphic? Don’t rush this selection.

Infographic: Choosing The Best Explainer Video Production

Remember, an effective explainer video is what suits your company and its customer persona as well as is capable of delivering your message to them.

To choose the best video production company, ask this question: “Can they bring your brilliant idea to life and present it to the market in an extraordinary manner?”

If the animation studios of your choice already meet those criteria above, I am pretty sure that their design works will satisfy you and increase your sales.

If you already know a production house that you trust, contact them immediately to see what they’ve got to offer.

Below is the complete insider’s guide to choosing the best explainer video production company. The embed code for this infographic can be found at the bottom of this page.

Those are just some of the factors that affect the production of an explainer video. Every production house has its own standard workflow, style, and production system.

Some production houses may charge more, some less.

Ultimately, supply and demand will also have a huge impact on price.

As a result of their ability to increase conversion rates, everyone is in the market to create an animated video for their product or organization.

So, still interested in a budget-friendly explainer video? Take a peek at our portfolio of videos for our previous clients, and don’t be shy to contact us once you’ve made your choice. Click on the banner below!

At Breadnbeyond, we offer a wide range of animated explainer video packages that are tailored to boost your company’s sales in the next campaign. Click on the banner below!