What is a simple video?

Among a variety of animated videos, 2D is one of the main choices for a number of clients. There are three types of such videos: simple, medium, custom. However, there are still lots of dimness that surrounds each of these, so we are going to bring more light, explaining how they work.

Today we are going to talk about a simple video. Let’s start slow. Simple videos are the kind of videos that – excuse us this funny tautology – really the simplest clips that we can offer. For example, in medium videos, there is more complexity – including characters, a story, etc.

Simple videos, unlike medium ones, resemble infographics.

One more fact: simple videos are extremely popular. That is right! Reasons? Here you go:

• they are very cheap – 900$ for a video, while for a medium you’ll have to pay twice as much;
• they easily depict complex data;
• if you need some video to be made quickly, you’ll get a simple video.

When is it appropriate to get a simple video?

A simple video is at its very core a compromise. It is not that kind of video that would demand of you to spend weeks creating a curvy way from brainstorming an idea to drawing a complex storyboard (probably a few versions) ending up with lots of editing and so on. No. A simple video is actually the opposite of it. 2-3 weeks is enough to complete a simple video.

If a client asks an agency for a video that must be done on very short notice, they will probably offer him a simple video. So, another definition of this term is quite straightforward: urgent video. For example, if a client needs a video for an event that is coming, – in order to present it, to highlight some details of the event, or simply to attract people visiting it, – this type of video is perfect for such goals. 

Medium and Custom videos are needed when you have to attract the audience with your product, maybe there is complex storytelling that must be embedded in it. If a client wants to tell a story with characters, a simple video will not fit his requirements.

Simple videos are perfect to bring out some facts about the company, to show some statistics. If your marketing goal is to get people involved emotionally, then you don’t need a simple video.

Simple videos mostly consist of very beautifully arranged slides. Quite often a client asks for a video to test an idea. In such cases, simple videos can be a great pick for customer development sessions. This is an ideal way to present some concept if you have a startup, but you are not sure if the product can hit the market.

Why is it a compromise?

Every one of us is familiar with the concept of minimalism. However, in this case, we are not doing it out of fashion or something in that manner. To cut out a bunch of details is necessary to build a coherent narrative when your time is almost up because you have only a little of it 🙂

Minimalism here manifests itself in the form of one-color background and usage of a few colors in an animated video. That’s compromise number one: to sacrifice complexity for minimalism and yet achieve the highest level of picturing the subject of a video. Ordinarily, most of the animated videos look better with characters.

For some videos, the presence of characters is extremely important. In our case characters are limited to some geometrical shapes – for example, heads could be just circles. Interfaces are another object of simple videos. It could be phones, computer interfaces, and so on. 

When you can apply a simple video: the cases

Imagine that you have to prepare a pitch video. You have only one week to complete it. Urgency! Remember the second definition of a simple video? Yep, this is the case when you can ask a studio to make a simple video in order to fascinate investors.

Quite often this works for startups impeccably. They don’t want to spend too much money, so such an approach completely justifies itself. Imagine another situation: you have a product, but you haven’t prepared yet the design, visuals, etc. Great! A simple video can cover a client’s need in presenting some exciting information about the product without gaudy details.  Sometimes presentations must be converted in the form of a video. As you already know, a simple video very much resembles infographics. No one is going to read 40 pages of such a presentation, but to make a video out of it and send it as a part of an email campaign is a wonderful idea.

Our cases

Bluetail – is aircraft software that helps virtualize all the paperwork that is vital for air companies. Owning an aircraft demands an ideal approach to projecting and storing important records. While papers are commonly stored in fireproof safes, and digital are spread between different storages, searching for a specific one can be an arduous task. In this video Bluetail explains how the software will help to gather all of the records into one secure platform, turning them into searchable, shareable, and actionable assets. 

California Consumer Privacy Act Solution Platform – CCPA created some challenges for different businesses in California. And its potential scaling can enlarge these challenges more. Alerts.com is a platform that will help to manage those challenges smartly. Our video shows how it works and how you can start using it to your benefit right away. Such a video requested a client from the United States.

This video was completely built on the interface of the program, which is called 2d screencast infographics with video segments. It took 2 weeks for us to create it. The clip is strictly informative – this is quite a common quality for simple videos. 

Arterium Infographical Presentation Video – an example of a simple video for the Ukrainian pharmaceutical company. Basically, it is the kind of video we talked about earlier in this article: a presentation that was converted into an infographic. However, this video was made for the clients and partners. So, its goal is rather marketing.

Why choose a simple video then? Well, this is an exception. The thing is that Arterium has a rather formal, conservative tone of voice. They don’t need characters, colorful design decisions, and so on. If the tone of voice allows you to use a simple video in order to display some important information about the product, why decline it? 

Crow Creative Animated Opener – unusual way of dealing with simple videos. It is a short video – 25 seconds only – that has been made without a voice-over. Basically, it’s a series of shots with slogans and creative ads that are related to the company. 

Leading business platform – another software platform that is perfect to be presented with a 2D simple video. The 1-minute video took us 2 weeks to make. 

Plastic processing – a simple video that uses objects to explain the technology that works with plastic waste for clients from Switzerland. What is the purpose of such a video? It can be highlighted to investors, partners or presented at thematic events. 

City Health Care Network Animated Video – we used here the map of the New York City metro to show how the Health Care Network works in the city. The client is from New York, so it was important to show that on each metro station there is at least one department of this medical institution. 

The goal of the video could be a way to gain the trust of its customers.

Summary

2D simple video is a comparatively cheap and effective way to wrap some ideas into fine form. However, a simple video shouldn’t be perceived as some fancy type of video – there are many complex categories of moving pictures. Nor should it be perceived as some plain marketing shot.

Simple videos include voice-over, music, and some zest – usually, it’s an effective decision in the very core of the video, like we did in the last case with the New York City metro. Every one of these features can highlight your idea in accordance with your goals.