How long does it take to make a cartoon?

Shoppers, visitors, and potential clients will spend 88% more time on web pages with videos compared to static pages. That fact is causing many designers and businesses to rush and implement high-quality animation and explainer videos on their sites, social media, and marketing campaigns.

Check out this example of a quality explainer video and imagine how something like this could elevate your brand.

While adding video media to your arsenal of visual tools, you may want to consider how long to make an animated video. If you do not use proper planning and work with a professional studio, you could be spending more time making animation than you would want.

At Darvideo, you can expect up to two days to gather all the information about your cartoon project before starting the workflow process. The typical time to complete a medium-difficulty 2D video is roughly 3 weeks. A lot can change based on the complexity, length, and needs of the client.

What is the Studio’s Animated Video Creation Workflow?

How long does it take to make a cartoon will depend on the value of the workflow from the studio and the experience of the team implementing the individual stages? Many different processes go into a quality video animation that includes:

• Scenario
• Storyboard
• Graphics
• Animation
• Sound Design
• Licensed Music

Here is a brief overview of each of these workflow elements to give you a better understanding of their individual goals.

Scenario

The whole character video process begins by defining the parameters of the project. For example, what are the video length, language, key points, mod, target audience, and other contributing factors? This information is put into a Project Card and used as the basis for a scenario that includes the exact number of scenes, what voiceover or text you will need, sound requirements, and visual references with explanations.

Storyboard

Storyboarding is taking your ideas and putting them into an easy-to-understand visualization. These are basic visual representations of each scene in your animation using sketches in black and white. Clients receive a link for the pack of frames that will be present in the final video to review and give feedback. This is an essential and industry-standard animation production step.

Source

Benefits of Storyboarding:

• Reduces time by focusing ideas
• Promotes universal consensus of design and structure
• Allow for more accurate planning
• Increase communication between client and studio
• Crafts an artistic style

Graphics

This step includes everything from initial artwork to formal illustration. Artists add style, depth, spacing, and personality to your animated explainer video. This step may take longer to make animation, but it is one of the more creative aspects of the process and the meat of the final product.

Animation

Now comes the really fun part of how long to make an animated video. In this workflow stage, the studio will engage their animators to liven all characters and graphics using animation time in After Effect, Animate, Moho, and other professional software applications. They will incorporate sound and other audio aspects of your instructional cartoon to polish up the look and feel of the final product. Check out the emotions evoked in this animated short.

Voiceover

A good voiceover for your character cartoon needs to resonate with your target audience. You cannot simply spit out some text and hope it inspires an emotional response. That is why working with a professional voiceover actor is crucial to your final product.

You want the proper excitement, inflection, and mood of your animation production to really hammer home the visual experience you are trying to deliver. Look how The Rock imbues a mood while doing voiceover for Moana.

Benefits of Voiceover:

• Conveys the right mood and tone
• Evokes relatable emotions
• Identifies with the target audience
• Fosters credibility

Sound Design

This stage of your project involves approving the voiceover, sound effects, and compositions being used for each of your visual frames. You want everything to match up smoothly so there aren’t any jarring moments during the animation that will distract your audience from the intended message.

Licensed Music

If you decide to incorporate any licensed music, you will need to finalize usage rights and allow the sound engineers to integrate the audio into your explainer video. This can be a highly valuable tool as certain songs immediately create specific moods that are incredibly relatable to your target audience.

What Risks Slow Down the Video Production Process?

• Feedback and rendering time are the keys to keeping momentum when considering how long does it take to make a cartoon. Every step along the project workflow will include areas for client feedback.
• A professional video company needs to have productive and beneficial feedback to really nail down the final product, but if it takes too long to receive, or the client spends an extra amount of time thinking about what they want to say, it can drastically extend the delivery of the final product. The studio works quickly once the client gives feedback.
• Rendering is the process of putting the entire instructional cartoon into a single file that can be used on your website, social media, or shared around the web. It can take a longer time for more complex videos. Really tough projects may take several days to render in the background. This isn’t a matter of human asset work. It is the speed of the software.

What Factors Can Make the Workflow Quicker?

Communication is a crucial element to improving the speed for animated video time to make during production

The clearer of an understanding the studio has from the client about the project parameters and scenario, the faster the production team can get the work done and send it to rendering.

Working with a high-quality and experienced video production team

That is also crucial to speeding up your animation video workflow. It takes previous knowledge to know the tricks and tips to improve the efficiency of each stage.

Planning is also critical for timing

If a video production company doesn’t take the time to go over all the details upfront, then you may want to consider working with someone else like Darvideo. You should come away from your planning meeting with a clear concept of every step that will occur and the responsibilities of the studio and client during feedback and communication.

How quickly do Animators, Artists, and Illustrators Work?

There is a fine creative line to walk when crafting a new instructional cartoon. You want to get the artistic quality of a professional, but in the timeframe agreed upon in the beginning planning stages. It can be really frustrating to work with artists who take lengthy amounts of time to complete every role stage.

The human factor can be unpredictable, and that is why a professional studio like Darvideo hires people from all backgrounds and skills that are talented and professional in their specific skills. The goal should be to deliver work as quickly as possible without sacrificing quality, so the end product remains highly engaging.

In fact, Darvideo has implemented speed and quality standards clearly communicated throughout their studio, so every team member understands the deadlines of each project milestone and where their particular role fits into the overall workflow.

Creating an Animation by Yourself

If you are someone really concerned with how long to make an animated video and you believe you can take on the project faster than a professional studio, you should consider all the steps first. Certainly, there is plenty of technology available to complete your own video production, but if you entertain shortcuts, you risk the quality of the final product.

Want a quick idea of what it takes to make an animation? Check this out:

You will want to use some of the same steps as a professional studio will use in their workflow, including:

• Gathering Information
• Concept & Scripting
• Voiceover
• Storyboarding
• Visual Style & Graphics
• Animation
• Music & Sound Design
• Rendering

Keep in mind that each one of these stages is an acquired skill. It may help to use a few strategies when you begin your own animation process for a new explainer video.

Use an Animation Maker or Templates

Integrating premade scenarios and templates will really cut down on your overall animation production timeframe. Many small businesses or individuals on a tight budget that need a quick 24 hours turnaround will utilize premade videos that allow you to insert text, visuals, and narration without building the entire video from scratch.

Build a Freelance Support Team

There are numerous online sites where you can hire freelancers who have become experts in specific areas you may not have skills. There is nothing wrong with hiring someone to polish your script or for providing final illustrations. This is actually a precious tool for voiceover work. It allows you access to a wide range of possible moods and styles for the narration of your instructional cartoon. Check out Fiverr.com or Upwork for potential talent to acquire.

Focus on the Problem and Solution

An often overlooked problem with doing your own explainer video is the conceptual echo chamber. You may get so wrapped in the time it takes to make animation that you forget to focus the visual experience on the problem you are overcoming and the solution you provide to your customers. Ensure these two elements are features and front and center of your animation, so the concept is clearly communicated to your target market.

Don’t Forget the CTA

A call-to-action, or CTA, is a marketing term that refers to the next step you want your target audience to take once they have consumed your video. Are you directing them to a product, service, email signup, social media account, or something else entirely? The point is to lead your customers to a final point where they can complete an action to get more from you so you can encourage more engagement and sales from them.

Integrate Social Proof

It never hurts to add some social proof to your character cartoon. This isn’t a practice of pride or bragging. It is a way to build your trust capital with your audience. Remember that you want a highly engaging final product, and using reviews or input from other customers is a great way to make the content more relatable.

Always Double-Check Legal Requirements

Don’t skimp on licensing. Many clients that reach out to professional studios like Darvideo asking how long to make an animated video are there because something they created involved images, graphics, video, or music from a licensed product. These can lead to sticky situations where your video may be taken down and expose your company to legal actions. Always double-check the proper usage rights of your materials.

Tips to Remember

• Focus on your audience, the problem, and the solution
• Start strong to increase engagement
• Use a good script and keep it short
• Provide strong narration
• Make sure all elements set the mood and tone of your brand
• Have fun!

Wrapping it Up

If you really want to speed up the time to make animation videos, you should really hire a professional studio like Darvideo. They have spent years perfecting their workflows and use a team of highly experienced artists, designers, animators, and music specialists to deliver incredible videos.

You can always go about the process independently, but it can be a real challenge to get so many moving parts to work together well enough that your target audience will relate. If you still feel doing the work yourself is the best option, look into the templates provided on Darvideo’s site for creating your own explainer video. This will save you time and money without sacrificing the quality work your customers expect.

No matter what, have a little fun. This is a creative endeavor where you can stretch your imagination a bit while also creating content your customers will appreciate.