videos for learning

how long should animated video be
  • Pam Jones
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How Long Should An Animated Video Be?
How Long Should An Animated Video Be? 560 315 Pam Jones

One of the early concerns clients have about animated videos is: How long should an animated video be? It’s a very good question. And the quick answer is:

“It depends on what you’ll be using the animated video for.”

However, we won’t leave it there. This answer does need explaining further.  In two previous articles, we looked at ways you can use animated videos in your business and for learning.

In this article, let’s look at a few of the uses again so we can give our recommendations on video length.

Animated video which showcases your testimonials

If you want to use animated video to showcase your best testimonials and client feedback, then in our experience you can do this effectively without a voiceover script. The aim of this kind of video is to:

  • Give a quick and powerful summary of what your customers say about your business.
  • Draw attention to the words your customers have written

Therefore, the testimonials and feedback will be designed using, colour, animated text and a variety of video effects.

The text can be supported with some graphics – but not too many.

In our experience, a video like this should be no longer than 1 minute.

Any longer, and you might lose the viewer’s attention and risk boring them.

Animated video which explains and markets your products and services

This kind of animated video is best designed with a voiceover script. Graphics are then used to support the script.

There’s a knack to explaining your products and services in a video without it coming across too “salesy”.

Your script needs to talk to your customers. Connect with their problems. And then you connect their problems to how your product and service can help them. We use a specific formula to write scripts for videos like this.

In our experience, a video like this should be between 2-3 minutes long.

Animated videos which teach or educate

The purpose of these types of videos is to simplify the complex. Typically your audience will be learners or students. Your learners are struggling to understand a topic. The animated video needs to be designed in such a way which explains the topic easily and visually. For this reason, this type of video always need a voiceover script.

We’ve created many videos like this for Universities and businesses. These videos need more time than a couple of minutes. You might have to write a story around the topic so you can teach from a different perspective. We have a magic learning design formula to write scripts like this.

In our experience a video which teaches or educates learners is between 5-10 minutes long.

Any longer than 10 minutes and we’d suggest revisiting the script and reducing the length.

How do we work out the length of the video?

For any scripted videos, the word count helps to assess how long the video will be. But to get a clearer idea of how long a script will be as a voiceover recording here’s what we do:

  1. Copy and paste the script into free Text to Speech software (easily available on the Internet).
  2. The software records the script using a computer generated voice.
  3. The recording shows you how long the voice recording is
  4. We then add an extra 10-15 seconds to allow for animation and script pauses

This process is repeated a few times during the script writing phase. In our experience it’s pretty accurate in telling us how long the animated video will be.

And of course, our clients are not alone in writing a script. Depending on the type of video they want us to make, we either write a script from scratch or edit a draft script which they provide.

 

Are you planning to use animated videos for your business? Book a FREE call to let us know what you’re planning – we may be able to help.

To learn more about how to use video in your business, check our online course for video tips, ideas and examples.

Why use animated videos
  • Pam Jones
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7 Reasons Why You Should Use Animated Explainer Videos
7 Reasons Why You Should Use Animated Explainer Videos 560 315 Pam Jones

In previous posts, we’ve spoken about the cost of animated videos and given examples of animated videos we’ve created. But why use animated videos?

In my experience and opinion, there are seven key reasons why you should use animated explainer videos.

1. The data speaks for itself

There is a lot of research to support how powerful videos are in engaging your audience and getting your message out there. A 2017 article by Invisia, listed some powerful statistics about why you should use videos in your business. Here are the first three statistics:

  • In 2017, online video accounted for 74% of all online traffic
  • 55% of people watch videos online every day
  • 65% of video viewers watch more than ¾ of a video

You cannot afford to ignore statistics like these. If you do, you risk losing some BIG opportunities to reach, engage and connect with your audience – whether they’re learners, customers, prospects or staff.

2. Animated videos are more effective at getting your audience’s attention

Use animated videos to go beyond just text. Graphics, video effects, voiceover and music are all used to create a highly engaging and visually rich experience for your audience.

Remember the phrase “A picture paints a thousand words”? Then think about the power of a moving, highly visual, audio-driven video.

In an information overload society, your audience does not have the time to read dense paragraphs of text. Use animated videos to cut through the text density and get your message across quickly and easily.

3. Create multiple animated videos

Do you need more than one video creating? Perhaps you need different videos to market different products and services? It’s easier and cheaper to achieve this by having a series of animated videos created, than using filmed video. You can reuse graphics and visuals in multiple videos. This saves production time. In other words, create more animated videos for less cost.

4. Animated videos are cheaper and quicker to produce than filmed video

Unlike filmed videos which need real people and locations, for animated videos you don’t need to pay for:

  • Equipment
  • Actors
  • Studios
  • Locations
  • Props
  • Film crew

Filmed video also takes longer to produce. You have to plan ahead and book locations, actors and any studio times. All this planning means filmed video can take a few months to produce.

Animated videos don’t need any of the above so can be created in a matter of weeks. In fact, we have scripted and produced a video in less than one week for a client who had a very tight deadline.

5. People enjoy watching animated videos

Let’s face it – everyone loves video. Think about your social media feeds. Would you rather watch a video or read a detailed paragraph about the same thing?

Because people love to watch videos, they’re more likely to click the play button when they see your animated video on your website or social media channels. And that means you’ve connected and engaged with them.

6. It’s easier and quicker to update animated videos

If you need to update your video, then it’s easier to update an animated video than a video which has been filmed.  For example, you may have rebranded your business so need to update the video with your new logo, fonts and colours. Or perhaps you’ve launched a new service and want to add some extra scenes to the video.

7. You don’t have to worry about being in front of the camera

Some businesses have filmed videos of key team members promoting their organisation’s products/ services. But, not everyone likes being in front of the camera. It can be a nerve-wracking experience. Animated videos don’t need people so no-one in your business needs to worry about being in front of the camera. Just get creative and enjoy the process of making a fun, eye-catching, engaging video for your business.

Hope this has been helpful in understanding why you can/should use animated videos.

 

Are you planning to use animated videos for your business? Get in touch to let us know what you’re planning – we may be able to help.

To learn more about how to use video in your business, check our online course for video tips, ideas and examples.

  • Pam Jones
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Why Are We Called Eight Interactive?
Why Are We Called Eight Interactive? 150 150 Pam Jones

One of the first things people wonder about when they work with us is the company name. They ask “Why are you called Eight Interactive?” More specifically, they want to know more about why the number eight.

One thing that doesn’t change for us is our passion for learning and how we help clients achieve their goals through elearning and video production.  So here’s an insight into the ethos behind our name and how this translates into what we do, how we work with clients and what sets us apart.

We are Eight Interactive.

Eight

The number eight means different things to different people.  To many Asian cultures it is a lucky number.  In Hinduism it is the number of wealth and abundance.  In the middle ages 8 was the number of “unmoving” stars in the sky, and symbolized the perfection of incoming planetary energy.  We like that, but to us:

eight = 4 simple characteristics that define our approach (our USPs) + our 4 stage process for delivering effective engaging e-learning & videos.

Our Four USPs

  1. Creativity – we aim to engage and inspire learners through our work.  Dull content presented as dull text does not achieve this.  We design creative and visual elearning and videos that the learner can connect with.
  2. Simplicity – ‘complex’ should not mean ‘confusing’.  We have a knack of taking complex ideas and subject matter, and simplifying them.
  3. Focus – we use a focused approach in designing learning content and video. Focus on the end learner, learning objectives and business goals.  If we do not maintain a focus on these areas, then any amount of innovative design and simplicity will not create effective learning.
  4. Fun – learning should not be dull!  We enjoy what we do and if we’re having fun creating digital content and videos we know that our creativity, simplicity and focus will shine through, resulting in  videos that everyone wants to watch.

Our Four Stage Process

Our four USPs are ingrained in the four stages of the process we adopt: Define; Design; Develop/Produce; Deliver.

  1. Define – fundamental to each video project we work on is an exploratory phase to understand the client requirements and the end audience. We work with you to understand the purpose of the video and help you write the perfect script.
  2. Design – next we design the storyboard for your message and audience.
  3. Develop/Produce – the next step is to take the video’s storyboard and produce a video with any voiceover script, video effects, music and graphics. In both cases the storyboard is finally brought to life.
  4. Deliver – After detailed reviews  video is delivered to the client and…ultimately the audience.

The four USPs and four stages of the process comprise our “eight interactive principles of effective learning.”

Interactive

A simple dictionary definition of interactive is:

(of two people or things) influencing each other.

allowing a two-way flow of information between a computer and a computer-user; responding to a user’s input.

The interactive element of our name permeates everything we do:  our interaction with clients, the interaction between each stage of the process and the interaction that is enabled between what we create and the audience experiencing it.

At every stage of the process we interact with various people – subject matter experts, designers, voiceover artists, the client, and other members of the team – to ensure that the  video we create always demonstrates our four USPs.

We hope this has given an insight as to why we’re called Eight Interactive.

 

To learn more about how to use video in your business, check our online course for video tips, ideas and examples.

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