Explainer Video Production Process: A Step-by-Step Guide

We've been making handcrafted animated videos for over a decade, and we're excited to share our streamlined process with you! 

In this blog, we'll explain every step so you can learn how to make an explainer video using our standard 7-step animated explainer video production process.

Working under a streamlined process like ours helps minimize turnaround time, ensures the explainer video production cost is in check, keeps the creative team motivated for the best output, and ensures your complete involvement.

We understand the benefits of using explainer videos, and our animation process is designed to fully leverage those benefits.

It also helps you focus better on the type of explainer video you are making (ex: Tech Explainer Videos) and extract the most out of it.

1. Research
2. Scriptwriting
3. Voiceover
4. Storyboarding
5. Theme & Graphic Design
6. Animations
7. Rendering

Explainer Videos Production Process

Follow these detailed steps and by the end you'll know how to make an animated explainer video:

1. Research

This is the first and most crucial step of explainer video creation. 

After a project questionnaire and kick-off call with you, the client, a professional storytelling writer with relevant industry experience is tasked with researching and creating the perfect script for your explainer video (explained in the next step). 

As an explainer video maker, we ask ourselves:

1. Who (or what) is the hero in your story?
   
   
2. What is the biggest challenge you want to solve for your audience?
   
   
3. What makes you different from your competitors?
   
   
4. How can we build trust with your audience?
   
   
5. What’s your call to action (CTA)?

Once we get these answers, an initial draft will be sent to you for approval. 

We allow two revisions at this stage. 

For example, here’s the script we created for our client, Suse:

2. Write Script for Explainer Video

Once we have our facts and figures all sorted out properly, it's time to make an explainer video script.

While research helps us find the right direction, the script is the map that eventually leads us to the destination.

That’s why we spend the majority of our time writing a script that suits the explainer video we will be making (and does justice to the facts we researched for the script).

3. Record Voiceover

Once the script is approved and finalized, we decide on the tone and style of the video and write a script with instructions for the voiceover (VO) artist. 

We give you a few key choices from our talented pool of VO artists, covering a range of accents and languages as needed. 

The voice-over is recorded in a professional studio following our precise instructions. 

We offer you a few recorded takes to choose from.

It takes 2-3 business days to deliver the voice-over.

The voiceover is recorded first to pace the storyboard accordingly in the next stage of our explainer video animation process.

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4. Create a Storyboard

Next, we start sketching out ideas for the storyboard. 

We brainstorm several different concepts before settling on one. 

Once we have the idea, we create explainer video sketch concepts and a presentation for you.

But first, we design the character according to the demands of the story and share it for approval. 

Once the character is finalized, we start storyboarding.

A storyboard is a visual presentation that gives you a walkthrough of your final video.

We do this through illustrations of consecutive shots with a detailed description of action and movement. 

It generally takes us 5 to 7 working days to deliver the first version of the storyboard, and we allow two revisions at this stage.

Here is the sample storyboard from the same script:

5. Theme And Graphic Design

Our fourth step of the explainer video animation process is to choose a theme that represents the style of the graphics, custom logo designs, text fonts, and color combinations for the video.

The color combinations are generally derived from brand colors, and graphic style plays a vital role in helping the video stand out. 

This stage is a colored replica of the storyboard and is critical for the smooth execution of the animation.

Graphics must be planned in layers, and all necessary frames are designed to reduce back and forth later in the animation stage. 

Here is the sample graphics from SUSE:

6. Animation

As an explainer video creator, this is the most demanding and work-intensive stage of the process. It’s here that we bring your explainer video to life. 

Final graphics are animated along with accompanying voice-over and background music. 

The changes at this stage are minimal, here’s what we normally change:

1. Spelling, grammar, or punctuation errors
   
   
2. Animations that depart substantially from the animation guidance in the approved storyboards
   
   
3. Timing issues where the onscreen movement doesn’t match the voice-over, sound problems such as volume, sound effect placement, or timing of either.

7. Rendering

Once the animations are incorporated into the video, it’s time to give it a final look.

We check each and every frame thoroughly from start to finish to ensure the animations are incorporated perfectly.

Doing this before rendering saves a lot of time rectifying mistakes (if any) during the editing process.

It also helps us have a crude idea of how each component of the video will play out in the end product.

Here’s the final video we created for Suse:

This is the end result!

And now you have some idea of what it really takes to create an animated video for business. 

From conception and brainstorming to art styles and voiceover, to the final animation– it’s more art than science, and we work closely with every client to create something perfect just for them and their specific requirements. 

So every video is unique and different, and we’re proud of every one that we put our watermark on. 

Read interesting articles on animated explainer videos:-

• 4 Animated Explainer Videos For Businesses to Thrive This Digital World
• How Long Does It Take To Produce A Custom Animated Explainer Video?
• 5 Best Animation Explainer Video Production Companies To Look Out For

Conclusion

Making videos is expensive, but a streamlined explainer video production process can help you decrease the cost of production and ensure quality output from your creative team. 

Request a free quote for creating your custom video today!