The beginning of any project is always the most exciting; but also the most daunting. Especially when it comes to animation. It can be tough to know where to start, what questions you should be asking, and how much you should have figured out before you hop on that initial creative call.

So consider this your in-depth guide to get the ball rolling on your upcoming animation project.  

LET'S START WITH THE BASICS :

Okay so you’re about to hop onto your initial animation call. How should you prepare?

KNOW YOUR BUDGET

Maybe this is obvious, but you’d be surprised how often we meet with potential clients who haven’t put thought into their spending range yet.

Every project is going to have projected costs, and animation is no different. We highly recommend doing some research to know what it’s going to cost to bring your vision to life. Is this a full animation project or are there live elements involved as well? If so, your budget will include talent procurement as well as possible location rental.

Your budget 100% is going to have an impact on every aspect of your animation, so having it nailed down from the start will ensure a more efficient and speedy process.

WHAT’S YOUR TIMELINE?

How quickly are you hoping to turn your animation project around? Having an idea of this will absolutely play a major role in what is or isn’t possible with your final product.

It is vital to be open and realistic about your timeline from the start. Saying you’re flexible only to come back a week later saying you need something ASAP is sure to cause headaches and stress all around.

“Depending on the style of animation, I could spend anywhere from 2 days to 4 months on an animated video. Each project is different, but every challenge is worth it.”

Chris Jon Conti
Editor, INDIRAP

KNOWING HOW TO MARKET YOUR ANIMATION

Where do you see the final project living? Will it be posted to your socials, added into an email blast, utilized for a paid ad campaign? These questions all tie back into your intended goal. Of course you want a high quality video, but if you have no distribution plan then what’s the point?

If you want your animation to be seen, you need to have a strategy in place to get it out there. Doing so is only going to help to minimize edits later and allow for a smoother process all together.  

The more prepared you are the more likely it is that your animator will get you your final result quickly and exactly to your liking. Trust us, giving your editor very little to go off of, only to come back with a million edits once the work has already been done is not the way to do it.

DOES THIS CONCEPT HAVE LEGS?

If your long-term goal is to incorporate more animation into your digital marketing strategy, it’s important to put thought into an animation style that can be worked into your overall branding rather than just this one project.

Maybe the project is a one off. Nothing wrong with that. But can you recycle the animation style or concept so you’re not starting from scratch for your next project?  

Covering all your bases from the start guarantees that this process will only get easier and easier with each new animation project.

EDITOR INSIGHTS

We reached out to seasoned Video Editor, Chris Jon Conti, to offer up some insider insights into the questions he always asks clients before starting their animation project 👇👇

1. WHO IS THE AUDIENCE?

Knowing who we’re talking to can help determine what language and tone is appropriate. It lets us know if we have to simplify complex concepts with iconography, establish emotional connections or show a user experience with characters and scene building, or explain a process with visuals that resemble a real-life example.

2. WHAT IS THE INTENDED GOAL?

Animations can help explain, educate, and engage. Knowing what you want your audience to do after watching the video, helps us guide them toward that target. It could be showing your viewers extra benefits of a product they already have, or establishing a common issue and encouraging them to use your service as a solution.

A solid goal also influences the Call to action at the end of the video. If you want people to go to a specific landing page on your site, let’s make that easy for them.

3. IS THERE AN EXISTING ANIMATION ECOSYSTEM?

Are there a family of assets that this animation will join or will it be a stand-alone product? If there are any pre-existing videos, infographics, pamphlets, pdfs, one-pagers, iconography that’s relevant, we can collect those and either pull assets from source material or use them as inspiration so our designs fit the family.

Keeping continuity across platforms and media helps establish your brand and promotes a consistent message.

"Animation is typically more time-consuming for post-production since we’re creating the shots and scenes as opposed to capturing them. The production and Post-Production phases are essentially combined into one super phase."

Chris Jon Conti
Editor, INDIRAP