So you have come to the conclusion that there is a marketing barrier that needs a video to break through. Maybe you have a product and you need an accompanying video to show new feature in an quick and entertaining way. Maybe you are just starting your business and are looking to get the word out and you need a way of telling your story in a way that people will tune in to. These are just a couple of examples of avenues where a video can help bridge that gap and be the solution to a problem. But now you start looking at companies and see that both live-action AND animation videos are services that are available from most agencies. So what do you choose? Well there are a few determining factors that can help you decide.

BUDGET

Usually when it comes down to it, money is the biggest factor when it comes to which you will pick to tell your story. Due to the vast amount of equipment, actors, locations, props, time, shoot days, this becomes the more expensive option. Animation tends to be on the cheaper side of things, but that doesn’t mean the stories told can’t be just as emotional or powerful.

TIMELINE

This is another large factor when it comes to deciding. Sometimes there are tight deadlines and you need a project to be done quickly in time for a product launch, or a conference, etc. Usually in these cases animation would be the better route. Because there is so much pre-production and planning and moving parts in the live-action area it is really hard to try and move things along quickly without sacrificing the quality of the video. With animation it is much easier to plan out the pre-production and get into illustration and animation in a rushed setting. You can do things like getting animation started on scenes as you finish them and not wait for the full illustrated frames which can cut time considerably. In animation you are also free to imagine any scenario and have it come to life, with live-action there are simply things you cannot accomplish through video so planning each step and carrying it out can be a lengthy process that sometimes isn’t realistic with your timeline.

SUBJECT MATTER

What is your video going to be about? This is such an important question to ask yourself when determining what path you will choose. Most often when there is a physical product that you are showcasing, there is a benefit to showing real life people using it and showing its features. This creates a sense of realism and familiarity that’s essence might not be captured in animation. On the flip side of that animation has no boundaries. You are able to create any world, any character, any story that you can imagine. The beauty of animation is you can tell your story any way you want with no holds barred. This gives you an edge in creating a story that is unique, and can give life to things like high tech and software that live-action would have trouble doing.

A good story can be told in so many different ways, styles, and approaches that it can be a difficult decision. What we do to try to help is take into consideration the objective and goals of each video, and come up with a plan that best serves that purpose. But using these points can help you give some critical thought to which approach you might want to take when tackling a video.

Robert Johnson