5 steps to create a video animation for B2B communication
Video animation is an increasingly popular format in B2B communication. From credential presentations, value proposition documents to content for social media, animations are quite effective and easy to produce.
5 steps to follow when creating a video animation
1. Write out the story
Whether your animation is a character-driven piece or simple kinetic typography, the first step in production is to work out the story you are telling.
Start by creating a basic synopsis that outlines what the action will be. Keep working on it until you have a story that you are confident in. The later you leave it, the more complicated changes are to make.
2. Establish the visual style
Make sure you are as clear as possible when you agree on what the final result will look like.
Curate a moodboard that includes both the graphics and the animation technique you wish to use. Include moving references, like short videos or still images of motion graphics that illustrate the style you are trying to go for.
3. Storyboard
Once you have the story and the ‘look and feel’, you can start building your storyboard.
This will be a document with vignettes that block the scenes of your animation, frame by frame. Each frame in the storyboard shows what will be happening on screen, how the camera will move, and what the characters or voice-over will be saying.
Start with a simple sketched storyboard. Once the action has been approved, you can move on to refine the visuals until the storyboard looks exactly like a still version of what the final animated video will be.
4. Create assets
Now that you have a signed-off storyboard, it is time to create the assets to animate.
Be it vector illustration, typographical or hand drawn, make sure you gather and create all the elements you are going to need, before you move to the animating stage.
5. Animate
There are multiple tips to follow to make an effective animation, but, arguably, the most important is timing. Make sure that the pace of the piece is right. Too fast and it will not be clear, too slow and it will not be engaging.
The movements of the characters are crucial: they must feel organic to appeal the audience. Refining the technique takes time and experience, but animation is a format that shouldn’t be overlooked.
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