Whiteboard Video Essentials: Steps, Process, and Estimated Costs

Over the past decade, animation has proven to be a powerful tool that can make your marketing campaigns and learning materials not only more efficient but also easier to understand. Yet, if you have a startup or a corporate study course, the expense of professional animation, especially with multiple characters, might deter you from choosing video as your medium. Good news: beyond video, there’s a whole world of artistic techniques waiting to be explored, and many are quite affordable. 
In this article, we will discuss one of such techniques – whiteboard animation. Learn how to make it from scratch, and what is the process of creating a video with a whiteboard animation production company. Read on. 

Whiteboard Animation: a Definition 

Whiteboard animation is a type of video where you see a drawing come to life on screen, like a hand is sketching the story in real-time. Imagine a classic classroom scene with a teacher explaining something by drawing on a whiteboard. That’s the basic idea. In fact, this style first emerged in learning DIY videos created by experts in various industries. Since they couldn’t afford video studios, they just used what they had on hand: a blackboard or whiteboard and a marker. 

You don’t have to be a pro artist to make an animated whiteboard video. Many tools can do the job for you by mimicking hand-drawing on the screen. But if you’re unsure how to make a whiteboard animation that really grabs your audience and delivers a clear message, things like your script, drawing style, quality, and even the voice you choose all matter. Let’s see how these elements impact your end product by exploring the process of creation a whiteboard animation. 

Bringing Your Whiteboard Animation to Life: Key Steps

Whether you opt to DIY your whiteboard animation or enlist a production studio’s help, knowing the production process will save you time and money. There are several key steps: 

Preparation 

Before you start anything, you need to know what you need and why. At this stage, you define marketing goals, develop your core message, and research how competitors have approached similar projects. List the platforms where you intend to publish your whiteboard video, determine the desired duration, and note any brand visual constraints. Be more specific! Examples could be target audience, budget, or call to action.

Script Writing 

It is supposed to give a narrative skeleton for the whole video. Later, your whole team will work with it – including designers, animators, artists, voice-over professionals. 

Selecting a Voice-Over Artist

A very important part of your animation video is a voice that leads a viewer through the story. It can make or break the overall success of a video. Moreover, commercials featuring atmospheric music and voiceovers are more likely to resonate with audiences and prompt them to take specific actions. It’s crucial to ensure that your chosen voiceover actor aligns with the mood of your video.

Storyboard 

Outstanding illustrations are the secret of a video that converts. A smart move is to create illustrations that match your brand’s style. This way, your brand becomes more easily recognizable.
Remember, for whiteboard videos, all illustrations should have a painted look. This means there are some restrictions, but you can still tweak shapes, colors, and shadows to give it a classic or modern feel.

Making a Soundtrack

A sound designer either records or picks out a soundtrack for your video. They might create original music or select one from a stock music platform. They also add sound effects to finalize the soundtrack.

Animating Content and Finalizing the Cut

The last step in making a whiteboard animation is the animation itself. Nowadays, you can automate this step using various software, either free or paid. Then, you can add titles and a soundtrack to your video, making any final tweaks before completion.

How Long Does it Take to Create a Whiteboard Animation? 

The answer to this question is simple: it depends. However, there is a list of variables that can impact a final price: 

• Duration of the video: Longer videos typically require more time and resources to produce.
• Complexity of whiteboard illustrations: Custom graphics may take additional time to create compared to standard templates.
• Number of scenes: Each scene adds to the overall production time and complexity of the video.
• Motion design quality: More realistic drawing animation styles can be more time-consuming and costly to produce.

Should You Hire a Whiteboard Animation Studio? Pros & Cons

Since a whiteboard animation is very easy to create, you might find yourself facing a simple dilemma: should you create it in-house or hire a studio? Let’s weigh all the pros and cons. 

Creating a Video In-House

Pros: 

• Full control of a production process; 
• Fast communication with a team; 
• Gaining experience in video production. 

Cons: 

• Using standardized motion design patterns and illustration templates can limit script options and uniqueness.
• Investing in and learning whiteboard animation software may not be practical for occasional use.
• Developing an engaging script can be challenging without prior experience.
• Achieving satisfactory results in video production requires specific skills.
• Expect a significant time investment, especially due to the learning curve involved.

As you see, if you don’t possess animation-making already, the cons will be more tangible and impactful. 

Hiring an Animation Studio

Pros:

• Hiring an animation studio ensures future video needs are considered and customization is provided as needed.
• A professional production studio handles all aspects of video production; 
• Specialized companies can produce high-quality whiteboard animations faster than inexperienced in-house teams; 
• You receive a whiteboard video of consistent quality. 

Cons: 

• Cultural, timezone, or workflow differences can impact your satisfaction with the video; 
• Hiring an agency may be more expensive than in-house development. 

Conclusion 

A whiteboard animation stands out as a cost-effective solution that still can bring significant marketing outcomes. Modern whiteboard animation can help businesses and educators differentiate themselves from competitors and experiment with video as a communication tool to test marketing or educational strategies.