Video Igniter Animation Blog Archives

Animated Business Video

January 14, 2025/in Video Igniter Animation Blog/by videoigniteradmin

Do you want to hire an animator or an animation studio to help you produce an animated business video? If so, you’re in the right place!

Video Igniter’s guide to creating an animated video for your business has answers to all of your top questions, including:

What is the production process like to make an animated video for my business?
How much does it cost to make an animated business video?
How long does it take to make an animated business video?
What kinds of animated business videos can Video Igniter make for me?

Answers to all these questions and more are coming up in this comprehensive guide – including tips to help you save 10%-25% or more off your production budget! But first, let’s take a look at examples of the types of animated business videos Video Igniter’s team can create for you:

Animated Business Video Examples

Video Igniter can make any kind of 2D or 3D animation for you. You can see some of our favorite example videos below. For additional production samples, check out our animation portfolio or request access to our demo reels and price sheet.

Contact us or schedule a call to start making your video.

Are you looking for a different type of animation example? Send us a message to let us know what kind of production example you want to see and we will follow up with some relevant production samples.

How to make an animated business video with Video Igniter?

When you’re ready to make an animated business video, Video Igniter will guide you through these 7 steps to turn your idea into a custom animated video for your company.

1). Get In Touch To Get A Quote

To get things started, let’s discuss your project and goals. Send us a message with details about your project – or use this link to schedule a call with our production team. We’ll work with you virtually to figure out:

What you want to show in your animation.
What key messages you want to communicate in your animated business video?
How to create an animated video that helps your business achieve its business & communication goals.
What visual style we should use to create your animation?

Once we agree to the scope of your project, you will receive a production contract to sign and an invoice for 50% of your production budget.

2). Script

Download Video Igniter’s Free Script Writing Template

With the contract signed and the production deposit paid, it’s time to start developing the script for your animated business video. Our writers will meet with you virtually to learn:

Who your target audience is.
The problems they experience.
What key messages you want to communicate to them.
And what you want them to do when they’re done watching your animated business video.

Our writers will use this information to develop the first draft of the script for your business video. When the first draft is ready, you will receive a digital copy of the script to review with your team.

We invite your team to add their comments directly on the script document. After all the feedback is in, we’ll integrate your revisions and develop the 2nd draft for your animation. If any further revisions are needed, our writers will continue to work with you to revise your script until you love it.

3). Storyboard

Download Video Igniter’s Free Storyboard Template

Next, we turn your script into a storyboard. The storyboard functions like a blueprint for your animated business video. Each page of the storyboard includes:

A sentence from your script.
A rough sketch or mock up of the scene.
Instructions that explain how things will move in the scene.

After we create the first draft of your storyboard, we will send you a digital copy of the document to review with your team. Give it a thorough review with your team to ensure we captured all of the important details that need to be shown in your video. If we need to add more visual details, let us know so we can properly document them in the storyboard.

Once we get your feedback, our storyboard artists will revise the storyboard and share the 2nd draft with you to review and approve. If additional edits are needed, we’ll continue to work with you to revise and polish your storyboard until it’s perfect.

4). VoiceOver

You will receive a selection of voiceover auditions for your animated business video. Give them a listen and let us know which option is your favorite. We’ll hire that person to record the full voiceover narration and we’ll acquire the appropriate license(s) so we can legally use the recording when we animate your video. You will get an opportunity to listen to the audio and request edits, if needed.

5). Soundtrack

You will also receive a selection of soundtrack options for your animated business video. Give them a listen and let us know which one has the right tone and feeling for your brand. We’ll take care of acquiring the appropriate license(s) so we can legally use the music in your animated business video.

6). Illustrations

Time to create the art for your video! This process happens in two phases. First, we’ll create concept art to develop the visual style and then we’ll create all of the illustrations so they match the style of the concept art.

Video Igniter’s art director will review your brand guidelines and any style references you may have shared. Then, they’ll select a few key scenes from your storyboard and use them to create multiple pieces of concept art for your animated business video.

When you review the visual concepts, be sure to share your honest feedback with the art director. Let the art director know what you like and dislike about each visual concept. This way, the art director can polish and perfect your favorite visual concept.

After the concept art is locked in, the art director will lead the team of illustrators to create all of the art for your animated business video so that it looks like the approved concept art. You will get an opportunity to review all of the art and request revisions before we animate your video.

7). Animation

Now that everything is approved, it’s time to animate your video!

The animator will line up all of the illustrations so they sync up with the voiceover narration. Then, they’ll apply animation to all of the art according to the instructions we documented in the storyboard. The process takes about 1 week for each minute of video we create for you.

When the first draft is ready, you will receive a link to download a copy of your animated business video. Share the video with your team and members of your target audience. After you collect everyone’s feedback, send it our way. We’ll integrate your revisions and render out the 2nd draft of your animation.

Once we get your approval on the animation, our sound team will take an extra day or two to add subtle sound effects to the video. They will also master and balance the audio levels between the sound effects, voiceover and soundtrack so that everything sounds loud and clear.

You will be able to download the final, unwatermarked version of your animated business video after you pay the final invoice for your project budget.

What does it cost to make an animated business video?

If you want us to use 2D animation to create your animated business video, your budget will likely end up costing between $1,750-$7,500 for each minute of video we create. 3D animation and high end forms of 2D animation can end up costing 2x-4x more than standard 2D animation.

Here are 4 ways you can get a quote for your animated business video:

1). Send us a message to get a custom quote.

2). Schedule a call to discuss your video with our team.

3). Request access to our pricing page.

4). Fill out this questionnaire about your video.

How long does it take to make an animated business video?

Most 2D animated business videos can be created within 4-6 weeks (assuming the length is about ~60 seconds). 3D animation and high end forms of 2D animation will take 2x-3x more time to complete the project.

If you need to speed up the production process, send us a message and ask us about rush delivery animation.

Deep Dive: How long does it take to animate a 1 minute video?

Animated Business Video Budget Saving Tips

Combine these tips to save 10%-25% or more off the price of making your animated business video:

1). Write The Script

Writing the script for your animated business video earns you a discount of $500 off the price of each minute of animation we create for you. Download our script writing template for help writing your script.

2). Record The VoiceOver

If you record the voiceover for your animated business video, we’ll deduct voiceover recording costs from your production budget.

3). Create The Storyboard

Creating the storyboard for your animated business video earns you an additional discount of $500 off the price of each minute of animation we create for you. Download our storyboard template and review the included storyboard creation guide to see how easy it is to make your own storyboard.

4). Use Free, Legal Music

Websites like Incompetech and Facebook’s sound collection offer large libraries of free music. If you select a song from one of these sites, we’ll deduct music licensing costs from your production budget.

5). Start Production ASAP

The easiest thing you can do to keep your production budget as low as possible is to start production as early as possible. Rush delivery is available if you need to speed up the production process to meet a deadline – but it can increase your production budget by 10%-25% or more! If you want to minimize or avoid paying extra for rush delivery, schedule a call with our team or send us a message ASAP to start discussing your animated business video project.

Animated Business Video Production Resources

These resources are popular among people reading and researching ways to create an animated business video:

How to Make a 2D Animation
How to Calculate Your Animation Cost
Examples of Explainer Video Scripts

Still have questions about making an animated business video?

Do you have a question about animated business videos that wasn’t addressed in this FAQ? Use this form to send us your question and we’ll follow up with an answer. We’ll also post the question and answer to this page so other people can benefit from the knowledge.

What is Video Igniter Animation?

Video Igniter Animation is an online animated video production service. By working with our team online, you can get your custom animated video produced faster and for less than hiring a brick and mortar animation studio.

Watch the demo reel below for examples of the kinds of animation our team can produce for you.

Looking For An Animated Video Company In The U.S.?

Video Igniter is headquartered in Seattle, Washington.

Success Stories & Testimonials

Don’t just take our word for it – these testimonials highlight Video Igniter’s reliability, creativity, flexibility and ability to deliver animations that exceed expectations. When you choose Video Igniter Animation, you can rest assured that you are working with a trusted and reputable studio.

“Couldn’t be happier with Derek and his team. The quality of the work for the cost far exceeded expectations and surpasses anything in the market. Derek was patient, offered many revisions, and was overall great to work with.”

Alex Novick – Founder, Sproutly.com

“Video Igniter were very easy to work with and the entire process for creating and suggesting edits was seamless and stress-free. I would work with them again and would recommend to others looking to create a modern and stylish explainer video.”

Clair Simpson – VP Marketing, Repool.com

“I run a video production company and outsource animation. The team at Video Igniter did a great job in taking the concept I very crudely drew out and making it into a beautiful animation. The review process was easy and their turnaround time was very quick. I’d def recommend them if you’re looking for an animation project.”

Pat Henderson – Founder, Path8 Productions

“Video Igniter offered us the critical combination of creative value, clear communication, and patience with stakeholder feedback. We ended up with truly high-quality design assets for our video series largely due to the extra level of commitment — and the right balance of efficiencies with flexibility in the process when called for.”

Larry Schlessinger – Sr. Creative Program Manager, Amazon Web Services

“Video Igniter came to us with a number of creative and engaging ideas and were able to create an exciting, impactful video in a short period of time. And the best part was that it cost much less than other options of similar quality. The video they made is a great marketing tool for us.”

Alex Raymond – Founder, Kapta Systems

Get in touch!

Schedule a call to discuss your animated video project.

Get a quote for us to create your animated video.

Request access to our newest price sheet.

Create your Video Igniter account, fill out a creative brief for your video and we’ll begin production as soon as we receive your production deposit.

2D Vs 3D Animation

January 10, 2025/in Video Igniter Animation Blog/by videoigniteradmin

If you’re planning a new animated video for your company and you’re trying to decide if you should use 2D vs 3D animation, you’re in the right place!

This guide will help you understand the differences between using 2D vs 3D animation for your next video project. We’ll answer popular questions like:

When should I use 2D vs 3D animation for my video?
What is the cost difference between 2D vs 3D animation?
How long does it take to make 2D animation vs 3D animation?
When might I want to use a mix of 2D animation and 3D animation?

Ready? Let’s dive in:

When should I use 2D vs 3D animation?

2D animation and 3D animation have their own unique strengths and drawbacks depending on the type of content you want to create. Most animations are either created for a business purpose (promotions & advertising), educational purposes (classes & customer education) or for an entertaining purpose (movies & TV shows).

Here, we’ll explore the pros and cons of 2D vs 3D animation for each of these use cases to help you decide which style of animation is right for your video’s goals.

2D vs 3D Animation For Business Videos

Animated videos for your business are typically created to help the business increase awareness, generate leads, close sales and educate customers about how to use the product or service they purchased.

Businesses typically make purchasing decisions based on their ROI (return on investment). Because of this, most business videos are made with 2D animation because they cost less to produce which means they can deliver a higher ROI.

Example:

Let’s say your company spends $1,000 on a 2D animation and $1,000 to promote the video (campaign total cost = $2,000). If this campaign generates 5 sales worth $2,000 each ($10,000 total), your ROI is 500%. Excellent results!

Now, let’s say instead of spending $1,000 on a 2D animation, your company decides to spend $4,000 on a fancy 3D animation and $1,000 to promote the video (campaign total cost = $5,000). Hypothetically, if that campaign generates 5 sales worth $2,000 each ($10,000 in total), your ROI is only 200%. Your company still makes money, but they could have generated the same amount of sales by only spending $1,000 on the video and $1,000 promoting it ($8,000 profit) vs spending $4,000 on a video and $1,000 to promote it ($5,000 profit).

This is a very basic example but it’s common practice to evaluate business results based on the financial outcomes of a campaign. Creativity certainly plays a factor which can increase the campaign’s ROI but that’s separate from the monetary value and the time spent creating a 2D vs 3D animation.

There are exceptions to this guideline. Primarily, if your company needs to use 3D animation to visualize something that you can’t show using 2D animation (i.e. a hardware demo or physical process), then it’s likely worth it to spend the extra money to create a 3D animation so your target audience can visualize the details they need to see to understand your product/service/solution.

2D vs 3D Animation For Educational Videos

If you’re making animated educational videos, the decision to use 2D vs 3D animation often comes down to whether the concept you are teaching can be produced using 2D or 3D animation. Whenever possible, use 2D animation to keep costs low. That being said, one of the remarkable advantages of animation is that it can be used to show and explain things that are difficult to understand or difficult to film. If 3D animation is the only way to show what you want to show, use 3D animation.

2D vs 3D Animation For Entertaining Videos

When it comes to make entertaining content, you have a lot more creative freedom in the choice to use 2D vs 3D animation. Budget is certainly a concern but if you are creating videos or movies to entertain people, higher production value is often rewarded with higher engagement and more paying viewers.

If you’re creating an animated video for social media, 2D animation is often the route you want to go because there is still some sort of business ROI attached to the media asset. Sure, 3D animation can be used to create something truly captivating that takes off on social media, but it’s a lot of money to spend on a one-off short video that could quickly get buried in the ocean of online content.

On the flip side, if you’re producing a full length movie that people are paying to see, spending money on a higher production budget means you’ll end up with a higher quality video that people will be more likely to pay to watch.

What is the cost difference between 2D vs 3D animation?

TL;DR: 3D animation costs about 2x-4x more to produce than 3D animation.

In general, most forms of 2D animation can be produced for $1,750-$7,500 for each minute of content that’s being produced. Hand drawn animation also known as Cel Animation or Frame by Frame Animation can cost between $10,000-$25,000+ to animate each minute of footage.

3D animation on the other hand tends to start at $10,000 to create each minute of footage and can easily go up to $25,000-$50,000 to create each minute of video when you hire an independent studio like Video Igniter to make your animation. To put this into perspective, the average PIXAR film costs over $100,000,000 to produce, meaning each minute of the film costs over $1,000,000 to create.

If you’re looking for a quote to make a custom animated video, here are 4 ways Video Igniter can help you generate a quote:

1). Schedule a call with our production team.

2). Send us a message with details about the animation you want us to create.

3). Fill out this digital questionnaire about your video.

4). Request access to our pricing page.

How long does it take to make 2D animation vs 3D animation?

If we’re just talking about short 60-second long animations, it typically takes about 4-6 weeks to create a 2D animation. Hand drawn 2D animation and 3D animation take about 8-12 weeks to create a 60-second animation.

If you need to speed up the production process, send us a message and ask us about rush delivery animation.

When might I want to use a mix of 2D animation and 3D animation?

Unless you’re making a PIXAR style film or short video, there’s a good chance you can get a lot of cost savings by using a mix of 2D animation and 3D animation.

Let’s say you’re in charge of producing a video for your company to show how an engine works. 3D animation is a great way to show how the engine works and what all the parts look like. However, the entire video doesn’t need to be made using 3D animation. You might also have a title scene that’s just 2D text on screen introducing the engine. There might be another scene that uses icons to highlight the unique benefits of your engine ($ signs to indicate the reduced operating cost of the engine, a tree to indicate the engine is eco friendly, etc).

If you need help figuring out how and when to use 2D vs 3D animation for your project, send us a message and our team will work with you to develop a plan that makes cost efficient use of 2D and 3D animation for your next video project.

Still have questions about 2D vs 3D animation?

Do you have a question about 2D vs 3D animation that wasn’t addressed in this FAQ? Use this form to send us your question and we’ll follow up with an answer. We’ll also post the question and answer to this page so other people can benefit from the knowledge.

What is Video Igniter Animation?

Video Igniter Animation is an online animated video production service. By working with our team online, you can get your custom animated video produced faster and for less than hiring a brick and mortar animation studio.

Watch the demo reel below for examples of the kinds of animation our team can produce for you.

Looking For An Animation Production Company In The U.S.?

Video Igniter is headquartered in Seattle, Washington.

2D & 3D Animation Success Stories & Testimonials

Don’t just take our word for it – these testimonials highlight Video Igniter’s reliability, creativity, flexibility and ability to deliver animations that exceed expectations. When you choose Video Igniter Animation, you can rest assured that you are working with a trusted and reputable studio.

“Couldn’t be happier with Derek and his team. The quality of the work for the cost far exceeded expectations and surpasses anything in the market. Derek was patient, offered many revisions, and was overall great to work with.”

Alex Novick – Founder, Sproutly.com

“Video Igniter were very easy to work with and the entire process for creating and suggesting edits was seamless and stress-free. I would work with them again and would recommend to others looking to create a modern and stylish explainer video.”

Clair Simpson – VP Marketing, Repool.com

“I run a video production company and outsource animation. The team at Video Igniter did a great job in taking the concept I very crudely drew out and making it into a beautiful animation. The review process was easy and their turnaround time was very quick. I’d def recommend them if you’re looking for an animation project.”

Pat Henderson – Founder, Path8 Productions

“Video Igniter offered us the critical combination of creative value, clear communication, and patience with stakeholder feedback. We ended up with truly high-quality design assets for our video series largely due to the extra level of commitment — and the right balance of efficiencies with flexibility in the process when called for.”

Larry Schlessinger – Sr. Creative Program Manager, Amazon Web Services

“Video Igniter came to us with a number of creative and engaging ideas and were able to create an exciting, impactful video in a short period of time. And the best part was that it cost much less than other options of similar quality. The video they made is a great marketing tool for us.”

Alex Raymond – Founder, Kapta Systems

Get in touch!

Schedule a call to discuss your animated video project.

Get a quote for us to create your animated video.

Request access to our newest price sheet.

Create your Video Igniter account, fill out a creative brief for your video and we’ll begin production as soon as we receive your production deposit.

2D Computer Animation

January 8, 2025/in Video Igniter Animation Blog/by videoigniteradmin

Are you looking for an animator to help you produce a 2D computer animation? If so, you’re in the right place! Video Igniter is an animated video production service that specializes in producing 2D computer animations for businesses, nonprofits, agencies and other video production companies.

Don’t worry if don’t have any video production experience. We’ll hold your hand through the entire production process to create your dream video.

So, how does it work?

In this comprehensive guide, we’ll answer all of your top questions, including:

What kinds of 2D computer animations can Video Igniter make for me?
What is the 2D computer animation process like?
How long does it take to make a 2D computer animation?
What does it cost to make a 2D computer animation?

Answers to all these questions and more are coming up in this guide – including tips to help you save 10%-25% or more off your 2D computer animation budget!

But first, let’s take a look at examples of the types of 2D computer animated videos that Video Igniter’s team can produce for you:

2D Computer Animation Examples

Video Igniter can make any kind of 2D or 3D animation for you. You can see some of our favorite example videos below. For additional production samples, check out our animation portfolio or request access to our demo reels and price sheet.

Contact us or schedule a call to start making your video.

Are you looking for a different type of animation example? Send us a message to let us know what kind of production example you want to see and we will follow up with some relevant production samples.

How to make a 2D computer animation with Video Igniter

When you’re ready to start making a 2D computer animation, send us a message or schedule a call with our production team and we’ll guide you through these 7 steps to bring your video to life.

1). Get A Quote

After you get in touch with our team (send us a message or schedule a call), we will spend time learning about the 2D computer animation you want us to create. We’ll ask you questions like:

What kind of video do you want us to make?
What will you use the video for?
What do you want to show in your animation?
What visual style do you want us to use to make your 2D computer animation?
How long is the video?
When do you need the final draft?
Who will create the script (and the storyboard?) You or Video Igniter?

Once we agree to the scope of the project, we will develop a production plan and a budget to create your 2D computer animation. Then, you will receive a production agreement to sign and an invoice for 50% of your production budget.