Now that you’ve chosen animation for educational purposes, it’s time to find a studio and make it happen! But, to hire an animation studio that can fulfill your needs is no hasty job. Indeed, before putting your trust and investment in somewhere, there are many aspects to consider first. So, what are the standards and criteria? Look no further! Cause we’ll give you some guidelines on how to find your trustworthy dream team!
1. Choose a well-experienced team
There is nothing better than a seasoned animation studio. That’s right, their experiences and insights will only benefit your needs. Moreover, when encountering obstacles, they will figure out the best solution for you. Simply, because they have done that many times before. But, how do you know if a studio is experienced or not? Well, you should pay attention to 3 of these things:
A. The portfolio
You know what they say, the easiest and fastest way to judge a book is by its cover. The same goes for portfolio, except you can learn so much more about the people behind it. Particularly, the portfolio will give you the first and overall look of their works. Therefore, ask yourself a simple question “Does it match my aesthetics?” If yes, then hire the animation studio that has the same taste as you!
What a good portfolio looks like?
Great animation studios always come with great portfolios!
First of all, their portfolio should have a clear structure. Everything should be meticulously selected and simply presented in a way that’s easy for you to navigate. In contrast, watch out for messy, over-the-top ones, they indicating unprofessionalism
Secondly,their images should be in high-resolution. Cause no one wants to work with a studio that provides low-quality products, right?
For example, this animated video could be a short portfolio of an animation studio. From this video, you could learn what field the studio is focusing on (in case of F. Learning Studio, it’s animations for education). Also, you will have a quick understand on their style from some of the works shown off. As you can see from the video, our mission is to fight the boredom of learning by applying animation, to make learning more fun and effective. What we bring is a solution for education, not just creating animated videos. You could take a deep look at out portfolio on Vimeo here.
B. Previous works
This is where you can get a deeper insight into their experiences. So, take a look and see if it match your expectations. Are they seasoned as you hoped them to be? If yes, there are 2 other aspects to look for in their previous works:
Variety
Make sure the animation studio that you’re gonna hire, has variety in their previous products. Usually, it means they have been dealing with various subjects and different materials before. Hence, when you give them something unfamiliar or new, they can handle them smoothly and calmly.
Good problem-solving skill
Naturally, every customer has their own obstacles when working with educational animation. Maybe, they don’t know how to get learners more engaged, some have problems decreasing the dropout rate, etc. Commonly, it’s the studio job to use animation as a tool to enhance these education experiences. In other words, making learning more fun and effective, for better outcomes.
So, you should read the “previous works” section carefully. To see if the studio was able to bring good solutions and improvements to their past customers.
C. Feedback
Reading feedback from learners and past customers is the quickest way to view the outcomes. Hence, a trustworthy animation studio should have nice reviews and satisfied clients.
2. Hire an animation studio that has a well-built profession
Professionalism is one of the most important qualities among everything else. Why? Because, the way a studio operate their business and services will affect their customers greatly. Thus, make sure your dream team owns these crucial traits:
A. Transparent working process
From brief to delivery, you should be able to see their whole working process. And from there, you can judge if their methods are smart and time-effective enough for you. Furthermore, an efficient team will keep you updated on every stage so you always know what’s going on at all times.
It’s an example of F. Learning Studio’s working process, you could learn more here.
B. End-to-end services
The most ideal thing would be an animation studio that offers end-to-end services. That way, there will be no third party involved, hence, no extra cost come along. You should be well taken care of, from beginning to end. Also, this means revisions and consultations are given pre and post-process. And, it’s best if they’re free!
3. Hire an animation studio that included reasonable pricing policies
Speaking of prices, let’s talk about the pricing policies. There are 3 main questions that you need to answers:
- “Does it fit my budget?”
- “Is it worth it?”
- “Do their payment methods suit me?”.
The first question is to say, the cost of animation can vary a lot. For instance, the price ranges from $30 to $3,000 per minute of animated visuals. So which range can you afford? Expensive or competitive? Choose wisely.
For further understanding:
» How much does an educational animation cost per minute: $30, $150 or $ 3000?
Second, with different cost, come different types of quality. For example, there are freelancers that do 1 minute of animation for just $5. But, the figure’s motion will be too basic. It’ll leave no room for uniqueness. On the other hand, the custom animation is, of course, more customized. Though, it is more expensive, however, the result will be beautiful, smooth animation.
Lastly, the final question. Some studio requires full payment in advance, some only need you to pay 30% each time. Hence, go for the one that fits your financial condition the most!
Tip: UK or US-based animation studios tend to have high pricing. While Asia-based ones have similar animation quality but with a lower cost!
4. Hiring the studio that specializes in educational animation
Why? The answer is far more obvious, the educational animation studio simply on the same page with you. Plus, they are much more familiar with this area than other regular studios.
Still, there are few criteria in hiring an educational animation:
A. Knowledgeable and professional
Naturally, the team should know what they’re doing and is no less professional than other studios. But, how do you examine their knowledge and business operation? Well, read their blog and FAQ section. Quite simply, isn’t it?
Blog
Search no further! Here lie the studio’s expertise and valuable information. Through articles, case studies and posts, you should be able to figure out how deep is their knowledge. What do they know about educational animation? Do they have relevant insights? Can they offer any new aspects to the matter? Well, it all manifests in the way they expressing themselves within written words.
Frequently Asked Questions
This section is interesting because it does not necessarily feature the most asked questions. But rather, an organized collection of valuable information about the studio’s products and services. In order to help customers make a purchasing decision. So, you learn not only about their products but also how well they handle education-related concerns from clients.
B. Visionary and passionate
“People love what other people passionate about”. Indeed, you can always tell products from an enthusiastic team vs normal team apart. It’s only natural wanting to work with the more exciting and visionary studio! Specifically, here are a few suggestions on how to determine such people.
Read their “Home” page
Within this page, you’ll get the first glimpse of who they are and what they do. Furthermore, it’s the way they presented themselves that can be said a lot about them.
Read their “About Us” page
This should indicate the team’s mission and beliefs. Here, you will learn about their stories. There should always be reasons why they choose educational animation. Specifically, it can be the desire to make learning more fun and entertaining, or just a personal interest. Henceforth, go with the one you feel reasonably drawn to. Likewise, this section is also where they express their beliefs and missions. Certainly, they should be dedicated to this firm belief. And know clearly what to do to achieve it! In other words, understanding their own strengths and what can be brought to the products as well as the educational services.
Conclusion
There you have it, a complete guideline on how to hire an animation studio for education services. In short, experienced, well-built profession with a reasonably pricing are the must-have traits of your dream team. But, hiring a specialized educational animation is the most ideal option!
Do you find this article helpful? Stay tuned for more awesome posts about education and eLearning!
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