Animation provides an overwhelming horizon of possibilities, which is why it’s beloved by producers. Anything can happen in an animated video, and it can look however you want it to. 

01. Is Animation Right for My Industry?

Animation can work for anyone, so long as you choose the right style for your brand. Company branding is the most important factor when choosing your video’s animation style. Look at your existing content: does it use characters? Or icons? Does it mix live-action footage with animation? 

Choosing the right animation style for your video is important as, once it’s released, the video will become a part of your brand. Branding can be influenced by a company’s industry – for example, a financial company may prefer stock-footage animation while an educator might favour character-driven animation; but these are not set rules. 

Squideo has worked with companies from dozens of industries. We’ve split these into eight categories to group our client examples: charities and non-profit; commercial; construction and engineering; education; finance; healthcare; technology, and; training. Visit our industry pages to see samples of the animation styles chosen by companies in these sectors and get inspired!

02. Do Adults Want to Watch an Animated Video?

Animation is entertaining for people of all ages and is excellent at capturing audience attention and conveying your message. Memory is improved by 92% when watching an animated video when compared to a talking head video, which is brilliant when you want your video to explain complex concepts. Additionally, many adults like animation. In 2018, Cartoon Network reported that 60% of its audience was aged between 18 and 49. 

Animation remains a favoured tool by marketers, companies and educators alike. However, there is a difference between animation and cartoons. There are more mature styles of animation, such as icon-based and isometric projection animation, which could be more appealing to an older audience. 

03. What Animation Styles Can Squideo Produce?

How long is a piece of string? There are more animation styles available than we could list but, to simplify the process for our clients, we’ve broken down our animation styles into six broad categories to make it easier to choose. 

1. Character-Driven Animation. Squideo’s Video Producers expertly craft animated characters using our in-house cartoon animation software. Character design depends on the client’s preference.
2. Icon-Based Animation. If characters don’t feel right for your brand but you still want a visual representation of ideas or concepts, icon-based animation is a great alternative. The icons, like characters, can be designed in a range of styles to suit your brand.
3. Isometric Projection Animation. By adding the illusion of depth, perspective rendering and playing with dimensions, this animation style adds a three-dimensional quality to your video. Isometric projection lends itself nicely to videos for construction and design industries.
4. Line Animation. With the illusion of smooth motion and animation, you can better set the mood and create an engaging, powerful story that truly captures your audience by employing line animation in your video.
5. Screencast. A screencast is a video recording taken from a computer or mobile, overlayed with animation and audio. This is a great way to show off software and apps to potential users as it lets them explore with the narrator as their guide.
6. Stock-Footage Animation. With access to millions of commercially licensed clips, Squideo also produce videos that blend animation with stock footage, eliminating the need for filming. Alternatively, the client can send us specific footage. 

04. Does the Animation Style Affect How Long My Video Can Be?

Your video, your choice! Squideo has produced videos from ten seconds to over one hour. It can be as long as you want, however, if you want to keep the project affordable it may be worth considering screencast and stock-footage animation to drive down the cost of producing a fully-animated video. A typical Squideo project is five minutes or less, which is created within 4-8 weeks, so if you’re planning something longer you may need to factor in a longer production period. 

05. How Large Are Animated Video Files? 

Typically, animated video files are larger than recorded video. But the final size of your video file will depend on a few factors:

• Video length
• Resolution (i.e., SD, HD, 4K)
• Compression tool
• Frames per second (FPS)

The number of animation layers is another consideration. A video with animated backgrounds, multiple characters and scenery overlaid will come to a larger file size than a static background with animated text. Squideo can compress your video files if requested and we transfer the final files via WeTransfer to get around the support limitations of most email providers. 

When it comes to uploading your video, the majority of sites will support it. On YouTube, the maximum file size is 256GB or twelve hours, whichever is less. Some social media channels will not accept videos over a certain file size or length – for example, Twitter only supports videos up to two hours long, and that is only accessible to paid users. For the rest of us, the limit is 140 seconds. 

Get Started With Your Video

Ready to create a unique animated video of your own? Watch the video below to get a better understanding of how Squideo can help promote your business, then get in touch with us to find out more!