The time it takes to create an animated explainer video depends on numerous factors. I covered some of these in my articles, What Is The Process for Making an Animated Video? and How Much Does Motion Design Cost?

In this article I want to dive a bit deeper and give you some more understanding of how these variables link together and affect how long it takes to create an animated explainer video.

Length of The Animated Video

This is probably the most important factor that affects the time it takes to create an animated video. A 30 second animated video could take as little as a week depending on the style and complexity, and a 2-minute animated video could take many weeks.

Complexity and Style of The Animated Video

After considering the length we have to consider the style and complexity. As mentioned, these two variables tie very closely together when determining the amount of time it will take to create the animated video.

Consider these two animated videos I created below which are about the same length in time:

This animated video above took me about 1 week to create from scratch. This was possible because the style of this animated video is very simple. There’s no characters or complex illustrations ,and there’s only two colours. It’s mostly circles and typography with slick transitions. In addition, there’s no voice over that I need to match the visuals to.

Another key thing that affected the amount of time it took to create the animated video, is the fact that my client needed the video very quickly. As a result of this need, I worked with the client on site and the feedback was virtually immediate. This saved a lot of time and we reached the deadline successfully.

Now this next video took me around 3-5 weeks to create:

This is because, as you can see, the video is much more complex. There’s animated characters, a script was written, custom made design elements, textures and a voiceover. One thing to bear in mind also is that because this was a passion project created for self-learning and enjoyment, there was not the usual client amendments. If this was the case, the video most likely would have taken longer to create.

Animation Assets Provided

Sometimes clients come to me with all the assets premade, in addition to a script and voiceover. In these cases all I would need to do is create a storyboard from the assets and tie everything together in my motion graphics design software, Adobe After Effects.

These scenarios are great because the time it takes to come up with a style is already settled and the animation process can move along faster. An example of this would be the animated explainer video I created for award winning designer Ian Paget:

Ian came to me with ready-made assets and a voiceover. I was needed to add in a few elements of my own and bring everything to life with animation. Altogether the animated video took around 2-3 weeks to create including a few tweaks to the script and feedback from Ian.

Amendments to The Animated Video

Another key factor in determining how long it will take to create an animated video is how fast feedback is delivered to me the animator/motion designer, as well as how complicated the set of feedback is.

If I share a first draft of an animation and a client takes a week to respond in addition to the feedback being major changes to the video, this will of course take up time. A week to receive the feedback, plus the time to implement the changes contributes to how long the whole process to create an animated video will take.

Ideal Scenario

If all goes according to plan, an animated explainer video like the below can take around a maximum of 4 weeks to create from scratch.

By according to plan I mean, a good briefing meeting at the start of the video project to make sure the overarching idea and vision is set in stone, and quick feedback from the client to make sure things keep moving forward smoothly in a timely manner throughout the process.

I hope this article made the animation process more clear for you. If you have any questions feel free to contact me.