Whether you’re drafting a brief to send out for quotation, or working on a live content piece already, the planning process for a new video is (arguably) the most important. It sets out the target audience, the messaging (voice, tone, content, personality) and the purpose (your aims and KPI’s).
Here’s 4 pointers to get you started on your animation journey.
1. Trying to cover too many bases
We’ve mentioned some of the considerations during planning above but your target audience really guides the meaty parts of the visuals. Trying to hit multiple job roles or responsibilities such as marketing, sales, technical and training all in one video means three things –
- It’s going to be loooooong….
- Which can cause viewers to disengage, cost more and increase the delivery time for your new content
- Messaging will be diluted
- This isn’t even looking at different industries, but roles such as sales vs marketing vs operations; they all have their own objectives and different results will resonate with each of them.
- Performance measuring could be messy
- Though there are demographics built into some campaign managers (the channels not the people!) it can often be difficult to separate the metrics of which audiences are responding; i.e. most value
Focus on who you want to respond to your content and plan to connect with them through the USP’s that matter most – to the audience.
We can help with marketing your content too!
View our Nerak Case Study for more info.
2. Including mountains of technical data
This does depend on your target audience, but the customer journey from discovering to exploring your brand and products is an important one to help them along the sales process. If your target audience is an architect or site manager, they may want to know performance statistics or technical specs to compare their own current provider or to your competitors.
The problem is, at what point do you stop sharing that technical data within the video? Dimensions, energy usage, production throughput, durability, capacity, applications, users….
What you don’t want is so much text within the video it becomes more of a slideshow where viewers have to read. You can say a lot more through visuals but more importantly, say what matters the most.
3. “I want that one”…
As creatives, we take inspiration from the world around us and the work that others put out there. It’s great to gain ideas and learn new skills or techniques, and when it comes to look-feel development through to delivery that inspiration can help guide the overall style of the content we create.
Where this can be counterproductive is being focused on replicating a specific style or even video, just with your own product. Yes, some of the big brand products have arty videos with lots of cool graphics, or that engineering company has a great cross-section of their new generator, but that’s because it works for their products/services.
“At first I was nervous about such a drastic change to our “light” look and feel. But you guys have smashed it, and I’ve been converted to the dark side!” – Tracey – FFE Ltd
It’s not the same at every studio but we take the time in understanding your product and what design styles would work best – I mean, that’s our job! And as your partner looking in from the outside, we can see you from the perspective of the customer.
4. Cracking out the camera phone
Stock photography can be used to help highlight the problem statement in videos, while reference photography or images help us ensure the content we create is accurate, especially if the CAD is limited or even not available. We love technology, and getting our hands on a piece that can be sent to us in the studio is perfect for us to learn exactly how it works. The problem is when there’s a 20ft piece of machinery or a wind turbine!
Photos and videos can be incredibly helpful in understanding a process; to replicate and visualise in an animation.
Providing stable and clear photos or videos with detailed explanations or diagrams will:
- communicate those complex movements more efficiently
- and reduce the chance of additional amends later into the project
Reap the rewards
Whether it’s us or another studio, these tips can ensure a smoother creation process whilst;
- improving estimates and quotes you receive from the studio
- reducing internal planning time
- reducing amends, delivery time and potential additional spend
- and most importantly, improving the impact of your final video.
Want to use CGI and 3D animation in your business? Get in touch
To find out more about how we can help you produce stunning 3D animations, contact us on 01622 535345 or email hello@durty.co.uk.
Take a look at our recent work.
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