We love videos, especially animated videos.
It’s an amazing format for explaining a lot of information simply and clearly, grabbing and holding attention easily, and it’s fun and creative to boot.
Whiteboard video is an especially useful kind of animated video, where you can still have all the benefits without the high costs and complexity.
A whiteboard video is a type of animated video where you watch sketches and illustrations being drawn by hand on a plain white background.
Whiteboard videos are often used for educational purposes, presentations, tutorials, storytelling, marketing, and more.
They are popular because they combine visual and auditory elements to effectively convey information in an engaging and memorable way.
Here’s how you can make your own whiteboard video!
Start with formulating the message you want to convey.
Break it down by listing key points and visual cues that must be included.
A big part of identifying what you want to say is understanding who you want to say it to.
Who is your audience?
Why should they be interested in your message?
How does it speak to them and change their lives?
Where will they watch it?
Tip: Feel free to list everything that comes to mind. Once you’re done, you can go over it a few times and cut it down to the core points.
This is probably the most important step, writing a good script. It’s the skeleton that your video will be built on.
You may be tempted to throw in everything and the kitchen sink. But a solid rule in creative processes is “less is more.”
Distill your message down to its core points to keep it short, to-the-point, and interesting.
If you’re not sure about this, a good animation studio is usually staffed with skilled professional scriptwriters who can put your message into words for you.
A storyboard is a series of rough sketches and diagrams that capture the ideas and direction of the entire video.
It’s not meant to be art, but rather, rough minimal sketches.
Even simple stick figures and arrows are enough to do the job here.
A storyboard works in beats, like individual panels of a comic book, for example.
Each shot has distinct points it has to cover, and the accompanying bit of voiceover to go with it.
Here’s an example of one of our storyboards, for Closet Factory:
Again, animation studios usually have skilled storyboard artists that can help with storyboarding.
Your voiceover needs to be clear, expressive, easy to understand and matches the tone and emotion required from the script.
The voiceover and visuals need to work in-step, like a pair of feet dancing.
They do different things at the same time, but they’re working closely together.
You can’t have one going faster than the other or it all falls apart.
Use a good microphone and a quiet, insulated room for best results.
If working with an animation studio, they would suggest options for the best voice talent that suits your needs.
Create a cache of resources you will need, like images, logos, sounds, audio clips, fonts, and background music.
That way you’ll already have everything you need when it’s time to get started with the animation work!
If you plan to do it yourself, there’s a wide range of animation software available.
Don’t think of it as trying to get the best or most expensive one.
Rather, consider it a question of finding the right fit for your needs and skill.
Of course, a better route is to go with a whiteboard video maker or a studio that does this kind of thing professionally.
Admittedly, animation can be expensive, but there are solutions that meet every budget and requirement.
So do some shopping around before deciding!
Animation is no different from any other creative work, like writing or art, in that you start with a basic “skeleton” or roughs and fill in the details and transitions later.
Timing is important. The animation needs to keep in step with the voiceover and pacing.
Avoid places in your video where there’s nothing happening on the screen while there’s a lot of voiceover, or vice versa, where there’s a lot of busy visuals that need to be shown but there’s not enough voiceover to fill in the audio side of things.
This is why a good storyboard is so important because it’s at that stage that you can plan out the timing, matching the visuals to the voiceover
Then, it’s just a matter of creating the video.
The whiteboard effect is typically a hand holding a marker or pen, drawing out the video, so the viewer gets to watch the art being created from scratch.
This is not only quite simple to animate but also visually interesting to the viewer.
This effect is what makes a whiteboard video a whiteboard video.
Once created, go over your video carefully and add in any small details like text overlays or musical flourishes as needed.
Share it with a coworker to confirm everything flows well and you haven’t missed anything obvious.
Then, export the video to the desired resolution and format and share!
And here’s the final result of our storyboard! You can watch the entire video here:
Don’t know where to get started?
The best way to get inspiration is to check out how others have done it well.
Santen wanted to educate about eye irritability and how they solve this problem.
So we recommended the whiteboard explainer video style to engage viewers’ attention best.
Here’s how we did it.
Epicor wanted to produce a whiteboard explainer video series to simplify its product offerings but took a very educational approach.
So, we recommended a whiteboard animation style customized with their brand colors.
Click here to read more about how we crafted this video.
Short. Simple. Engaging.
These were the three words that popped into our minds after watching the series of whiteboard animation spots by Ford.
This campaign was designed around the message of "IT'S EASY TO GET INTO A FORD".
It is amazing how the video talks about everything in just 15 seconds and leaves you wanting more.
Ford brand colors were smartly used with the whiteboard style and car images were seamlessly blended together.
Note how the hand movements were animated just at the right moments to keep the engagement going.
This whiteboard animation video by RSA maybe ten minutes long, but it manages to capture the gist of the socio-political and economic influencers when it comes to something as simple as choice.
Although talking about the philosophy of Renata Salecl might go on for hours, this whiteboard explainer video educates the audience with ease.
Each frame of this animation has art worthy of being your next desktop wallpaper.
The use of animation to enliven the time-lapsed drawings works in tandem with the narration of complex sociopolitical theories.
The ability to simplify such complex concepts like these through the use of art and animation proves what whiteboard video animation can really do.
Whiteboard animation is a great way to really connect with your audience without breaking the bank. It’s engaging, and cheap without looking cheap.
As a final word of advice, remember that this is more art than science.
There’s no one established formula that will work for everyone and every need.
So don’t be afraid to experiment and try different things to see what works.
It’s time to start telling your story!
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