When setting off to make your first animated video, you typically have two options:
- Hire an animated video production company, or
- Make it yourself using one of many do-it-yourself (DIY) animated video tools.
If you’re not too concerned with the look-and-feel of your video – and have the time to spend learning how to use the tools – the DIY route can be a great option, especially if you’re on a tight budget.
If you need a unique, high-quality video that stands out and performs the way you need it to, you’re better off hiring an animation production company. Here’s why:
1. DIY animated video tools don’t give you full creative control
As an example. when you use DIY animated video tools you’re limited to a fixed number of templates. Video scripts, characters and artwork in the video can’t be customized, so you’re stuck with whatever the tools offers.
Hiring an animated video production company, however, gives you full control over every aspect of your video, ensuring that it matches your brand and stands out.
Make sure that unlimited rounds of revisions are offered, as many companies offer a fixed number of revision rounds (usually two or three).
2. Your videos won’t be optimized for the latest video platforms
DIY animated video tools won’t give you multiple versions of your video that are optimized for various platforms. Videos on Instagram (example below), require a unique, 1:1 aspect ratio¹.
Many animation production and explainer video companies will provide you with your video for these unique situations, but not DIY animated video tools. Animation production companies stay on top of the latest and greatest formats and emerging technologies so you won’t have to worry about technical details.
3. You have to rely on your own animation production knowledge
If you’ve made your own animated videos before, you probably know what terms like interpolation, keyframes, rigging and vector-based images are. But if not, you’re better off working with an animated video production company who has the technical know-how to ensure that the final product turns out just right.
Animation production companies also have professional script writers, voiceover artists and video marketing experts who can help ensure that your video looks great and delivers a solid return-on-investment.
Getting artwork from your video helps reduce the need to hire graphic designers, something DIY animated video tools don’t provide
4. You don’t get custom artwork from your video
Many animation production companies provide artwork from your video for free. If you want to include characters, scenes or anything else from the video on your website, social media channels, marketing brochures, etc, you’ll want to work with an animation production company.
Including art from your video in other marketing assets helps create a holistic feel for your customers and eliminates the need to hire graphic designers.
5. You should be spending your time on distribution, not creation
Most DIY animated video tools aren’t very user friendly and don’t offer great customer support, meaning you’ll need to dedicate hours to learning how to use them. Instead of wasting time learning how to use them you’d be better off focusing on your plans to distribute the video.
As its said that you should be spending “the most successful content marketers spend only 20% of their time on content creation and 80% of their time on content promotion”.²
Conclusion
Making an animated video can be a complicated and time consuming process and is usually best left to professionals. It can be tempting to go the DIY route to save a few dollars, but in the end these tools can’t support what’s needed to make great animated videos that perform.
Discover what makes Sharp Eye Animation the best animation production company for your video needs, and contact us today for a free consultation.
Start With Your Video Today
Let Sharp Eye Animation create affordable, high-quality video content for your brand!
Sources:
1. https://sproutsocial.com/insights/instagram-ad-sizes/#video
2. https://neilpatel.com/blog/content-marketing-for-startups-entrepreneurs/
