An explainer video cost can vary greatly depending on the style, length, complexity, and production value. When investing in an explainer video for your business, it’s important to understand what goes into pricing these videos.
Factors like video style, animation techniques, script writing, custom graphics, and editing can impact the overall explainer video production cost.
This overview will break down the key elements that contribute to affordable explainer video rates and quotes. By outlining the video production and design considerations, you’ll be better equipped to set and meet your video budget.
Type Of Explainer Video
There are a few main types of videos to consider that come at different price points. The major options are live-action videos featuring real people and settings or animated videos that use illustration styles like 2D, 3D, and whiteboard techniques.
The type of explainer video production style you select will factor into the overall explainer video cost based on aspects like complexity for designing characters or animating elaborate 3D environments.
Live-Action Explainer Video
Live-action explainer videos utilize real human talent against true-to-life backdrops and settings. This style of video production requires script writing, storyboarding each scene, and directing talent during a multi-camera shoot.
The video editing and post-production also take more time to cut between angles and insert graphics overlays into the footage.
Though more affordable than high-end 3D animation, live-action explainer video costs are still significant due to the production complexity with on-location filming, expensive equipment rentals, crew hiring, and extended editing timelines.
Animated Explainer Video
Alternatively, animated explainer videos utilize illustration and motion design rather than live footage. The spectrum of animation styles ranges from simple 2D approaches to intricate 3D animation with CGI and visual effects.
Computer animation requires visual assets to be designed from scratch but avoids the larger crew overhead of live video shoots. Animation production and custom motion graphics largely impact the explainer video cost.
- 2D Animation Video: The most affordable animation option, 2D explainer videos feature flat vector illustrations. Simple character animations layered over background environments keep the video graphics basic but still visually engaging.
- 3D Animation Video: At premium pricing, 3D animation creates fully immersive CGI worlds with textures, lighting, and camera motion for added production value.
- Whiteboard Video: Whiteboard animation shows hand-drawn illustrations in real-time. This explainer video style is known for breaking down complex ideas in a simple, engaging method that connects with audiences.
Key Elements Of Explainer Video
The main elements that contribute to the overall explainer video investment include the script writing, visual design, and animation style selected. These core video production components greatly affect the time and resources needed and pricing.
Script
The foundation of any successful explainer video is the script development breaking down the core messaging that needs to be communicated. Hiring professional writers to craft the storyline, script formatting, and vocal tone for the narration is essential.
The fees for script writing services factor into pricing, especially if producing an in-depth, information-dense video requires extensive research and efficient information delivery expertise.
Having an optimized script improves other stages like storyboarding, animation, and video editing for a streamlined explainer video production.
Design
The visual design scope explored in the storyboarding stage also heavily contributes to explainer video cost ranges. Simple icon and shape graphics or Cartoon illustration styles take far less time to produce versus intricate 3D environments and character models.
Custom graphic asset creation makes up a significant portion of the production timeline and directly ties to video investment costs. Additional motion design complexity like dynamic camera movements or advanced CGI also increases the video’s design pricing.
Style
As outlined in the video types earlier, the animation style and overall aesthetic look directly relate to the complexity of achieving that desired appearance.
Certain looks like hand-drawn style whiteboard videos take artistic skill to mimic effectively with digital drawing tablet tools. While cheaper video styles exist, prioritizing quality animation often justifies higher costs.
An experienced animation team guiding complex CGI movement or realistic, smooth 2D character motion develops premium production value and demands increased rates while offering a compelling visual style.
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Cost Factor Of Explainer Video
When receiving explainer video pricing, the overall cost comes down to a variety of influencing factors across the production timeline.
The many expense variables make it difficult to pinpoint an exact universal cost, but being aware of the major pricing factors will better inform budgeting decisions.
Video Length
The total length of the video is a big factor in the price. Explainer video companies normally charge per minute, since longer videos need more work to make. A long 4 or 5-minute video with lots of details costs a lot more than a simple 1-minute overview.
The same goes for all the steps—writing the script, editing everything together, etc.—they take more time if the video is longer.
So be clear upfront about how long you want it to be. Stretching a few ideas to fill an unnecessary long runtime adds pointless costs. It’s smarter to keep things short, sweet, and focused. Viewers will stick around more, and each minute will have more impact.
That optimized combo gets you the most value.
Production Time
Rushing everything into a tight 2-week timeline adds big fees to cover the overtime needed from the team. Quick turnarounds leave little wiggle room, so any snags in finalizing the script, creating assets, feedback changes, or editing bottlenecks balloon costs.
Compare that to spacing things out over a few months. This gives the flexibility to refine concepts, storyboards, and scripts based on client inputs without throwing everything off track.
Unrealistic schedules also risk delays and rework from skipping key steps early on. Not locking down the storyboard or branding assets on time extends how long the production takes.
These roadblocks can quickly spike the budget without enough built-in schedule padding.
Mapping out the full animation process upfront secures better pricing. This helps set realistic expectations on how long script changes, asset creation, and intricate editing truly require.
Rushing quality work costs more in the long run than giving your video production the focus and timespan it deserves.
Project Complexity
Intricate 3D animations with advanced graphics, effects, and camera moves take specialized skills and tools to pull off right. This complexity means pricier talent and production costs versus simple 2D videos.
More assets, scenes, and details in 3D environments multiply the modeling and rendering time needed.
It also increases complexity to simplify novel ideas or high-tech processes audiences may not grasp. Explaining cutting-edge science or research requires custom analogies and visuals tailored to that topic.
Often expert consultants early on can help translate dense subject matter into easy-to-digest explanations.
Summarizing multifaceted information into an engaging, emotional narrative is hugely valuable yet undervalued expertise. The production talent to fuse meaningful storytelling with crisp visuals makes an explainer video click rather than fade into forgettable noise.
Prioritizing creators excellent in blending education and entertainment deserves the premium pricing. Simplification looks easy but when done skillfully has immense impact.
Voiceover & Talent
Hiring professional voiceover artists and on-camera talent to bring engaging energy and vocal clarity remains a significant yet vital explainer video investment. The trained acting skills translate printed words into impactful storytelling matched to the branded video style.
Voice-over sessions also take studio time and potential re-records to perfect intriguing inflection aligned to script intent.
The factor for talent sourcing fees to cast the ideal vocal fit from audition demos or existing samples then accounts for hourly rates based on experience.
Negotiate usage terms for potential future video series episodes or brand extension projects upfront in the talent agreements before confirming studio sessions. This foresight maximizes returns from the original casting investment to reuse winning talent.
Script & Storyboarding
The explainer video cost directly links to the effort put into the script and storyboard. It takes time to improve the script flow and structure early on before making the video.
Not outlining the full narrative with key messages, examples, scene changes, and impactful endings leads to more rework later after creating the graphics and voice-overs.
Similarly, visually planning out each script part in the storyboard prevents fixes later when assets are complete and editing starts. It takes several group sessions through storyboards with creators, animators, and clients to ensure agreement on metaphors, graphics, and camera views before major production. This optimization lowers extensive changes from uncertain expectations later on.
Editing & Post Production
Piecing together all visual assets, voiceover files, graphics and more into a cohesive video requires extensive editing time and skills. Refining clip sequence, pacing, transitions, and overlay layering until the core story clicks all factor into post-production costs.
Allowing flexibility for evaluating alternate arrangements, music scoring, color correction tweaks, and final export into optimized delivery formats gives editors needed room.
Rushing the editing phase almost guarantees poorer video optimization and missed refinement opportunities once content locks.
Check Out These 10 Amazing Animated Explainer Videos from Successful Startups.
Wrapping Up
When selecting an explainer video production partner, evaluate vendors based on demonstrated animation talent and storytelling ability over pure price point.
The explainer video investment pays dividends when working with creative teams that prioritize clarifying complex ideas over quick turnaround times.
By breaking down the major pricing factors like scripting approach, visual style, and editing polish, you can better compare project quotes apples-to-apples.
For affordable explainer videos crafted by production experts at scaling informative ideas into engaging motion graphics, contact the animation studio 10 Studio.
Our awesome animators seamlessly blend education, emotion, and entertainment into videos that convert.
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