Creating a realistic animation budget is essential for ensuring the success of your project. But how can you accurately estimate costs without getting overwhelmed by the details? In this article, we’ll introduce three simple templates that will help you quickly calculate your animation budget based on the scope and complexity of your project.
- How to Measure Your Animation Budget
- 3 Simple Animation Budget Templates to Help You Plan Costs Effectively
- 1. You said ‘Yes’ Twice. Your Animation Budget Should Be from $400 – $10,000 Per Minute.
- 2. Up to 5 Questions? Your Animation Budget: $3000 – $20,000 Per Minute Video
- 3. If You Answered ‘Yes’ More Than 5 Times, Get Ready to Splurge!
- Conclusion
How to Measure Your Animation Budget
Based on the Animation Application’s Proportion
How much time should animation take in your video? A few seconds, 1 minute, or more? Do you need to apply animation at all? The animation duration will affect your budgeting animation process. For example, you may want to set a budget for:
- A short animation that visualizes your content
- Some story-telling videos to use for case studies
- A series of videos with varying purposes for a full animation-based course
IMPORTANT: although animation is good for education, you should keep each clip short (2-3 minutes), otherwise they may become DISTRACTING!
Also, the number of videos affects your animation budget. Moreover, each of these calls for a different budget. However, once you have decided to invest in animation as a teaching aid, you will want to have more than just one video since animation provides huge benefits. Perhaps you can already guess that a short animation will require a smaller budget than a whole series of more complex clips.
Based on Animation Types
From here, you will likely also start thinking about what type of animation suits your online course. Specifically, do you want whiteboard, 2D, or 3D animation? Obviously, the higher the technology required (e.g. 3D), the more money you’ll have to set out for it.
| If you are not sure what type of animation you want, spend a minute for this article: > Use animation in education: choose the RIGHT animation type |
For instance, the animation budget for whiteboard animation can be around half of 2D animation one with a simple model. That’s because of simple designs and movements, and accessible tools. Meanwhile, a basic 3D animation might be charged at least 3 times as a 2D video. This is because the technology and skills needed are much more complex and expensive to get your hands on.
Based on Your Output Expectations
For each animation project, you have to think about the quality of individual clips. These may include asking yourself:
- How many characters would you like to have?
- Is the script going to be heavy on technical content or visual content?
- Do you want them to be richly colored or are basic color schemes fine?
- What will the audio of the video be?
All these have a bearing on your animation budget – the complexity of the script and the requirements you have for the audio that will affect the cost of animation. Altogether, these considerations will affect your budget.
| Find out about what is included in the cost of animation here: > How to estimate price for a 2D animation video |
All of these considerations ultimately come down to what your learners expect or can get from this addition to their course. For example, when the video is doing most of the teaching, like this TedEd clip below, and the students expect to learn a lot from it, the quality of the image and smoothness of motion should be high. We also provide an animation price calculator after that so you can get an initial assessment of how much you need to pay for your animation.
3 Simple Animation Budget Templates to Help You Plan Costs Effectively
Now that you know roughly what affects your budget, we can start thinking about specific amounts. To help you get there, we’ve created a list of yes/no questions, the answers to which will give you an indication of your budget. Here’s the list:
- Is using 2D designs going to be better than whiteboard animation for my course?
- Will 3D animation be necessary? (they might be for highly specific content like medical training)
- Should the motions be swift and smooth rather than simple?
- Will I need a complex color scheme?
- Do I need help with the script? (Does my script rely more on the visual effects animators can create?)
- Are characters going to make my animation more engaging and effective? If so, will I need more than two characters? (the more characters, the more pricey your animated video is)
- Will there be a need for a voice-over that I cannot do by myself?
- Are you building a brand image for your course through animation?
- Will you require consultation with educational animation experts?
In case you can’t decide besides 2D and 3D animation, check this out:
> 2D vs 3D animation: which works better as an animated educational video
Answer these questions, and count the times you said ‘yes’, We have the answer for you!
1. You said ‘Yes’ Twice. Your Animation Budget Should Be from $400 – $10,000 Per Minute.
This indicates one of three kinds of animations.
- Simple, short story-telling clips, often for children, that require characters that are often colorful but not very specific. You can also do your voice-over for this.
- Demonstrations of expert knowledge that may require more detailed designs but a simple storyline, and little expertise in animation knowledge.
- A series of basic videos, most likely whiteboard animation, to use in several lessons and situations
In both of these cases, the work will be less complicated, as long as you communicate well with your animator.
2. Up to 5 Questions? Your Animation Budget: $3000 – $20,000 Per Minute Video
In this case, you may be looking for more high-tech animation, with effects and movements that require more work. Perhaps these have to be unique designs or even hand-drawn animation since your video is not use generic characters or objects but very specialized ones. As a result, the clip will cost you more, so expect to pay more!
3. If You Answered ‘Yes’ More Than 5 Times, Get Ready to Splurge!
Requiring more than 5 of the elements listed above means that you are looking at rather complex scripts and high-quality animations. You may need detailed, 3D designs for which there are no existing templates. Similarly, the movements and transitions of the videos may be technically advanced. This high level of expertise will necessitate a higher animation budget!
However, you can find more affordable options at F.Learning Studio:
Tool to calculate your animation budget at F.Learning
How much does an education cost per minute? $30, $300 or $3000? (updated 2021)
Conclusion
With these three easy-to-use templates, calculating your animation budget becomes a straightforward task. Of course, as we’ve mentioned before, the animation budget breakdown process varies in each of these three budget estimations depending on which type animation studio you approach. A bigger, well-established one may have access to some more advanced programs but will indeed give you a high quotation.
On the other hand, smaller studios can give you much lower offers, and still give you a lot of expertise that you as an educator will not have. They are a great option for beginners, since the budgeting animation required will be moderate, and the products will be worth it!
Want to find a suitable animation studio, check this article:
Hire an animation studio
Struggling to find the best animation studio for education? Don’t miss these 5!
If you still have doubts or questions about other aspects of producing animations for educational purposes, check out some of our other posts below or contact us for a free consultation!
Read Further:
- How much does an education cost per minute? $30, $300 or $3000? (updated 2021)
- Tool to caculate your animation budget
Sean Bui, the founder and creative director of F.Learning Studio, is a respected leader in the e-learning and multimedia production industry. With over 10 years of experience, he has dedicated his career to helping organizations create engaging and impactful learning experiences.
Under his leadership, F.Learning Studio has grown into a trusted partner for organizations in the education, healthcare, and corporate training sectors, producing over 2,000 minutes of educational animation.
