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Step-By-Step Procedure to Create an Awesome Animated Demo Video

      Businesses around the world are making their presence felt online through animated demo videos. From startups to well-established brand names, the use of videos has given businesses a new medium to promote their products and services. New businesses in particular can benefit hugely from the added exposure brought by the videos. Before you rush to make your own animated demo video, it is imperative you go over the various aspects of the job.

      There are eight steps you have to follow while making an animated demo video. The steps can be divided into two groups of four. The first four steps, included here, cover the process of creating the video.

Scriptwriting

      The script is the nucleus of your demo video. Getting the script spot-on is essential or else the house of cards collapses. There are some scriptwriting guidelines to follow:

• Around 70 to 80 words are communicated in a 30 second video. Decide the length of your video so that the word count for the script can be calculated.
• Focus on the features and benefits of your products/services. Don’t make the video a sales pitch. Rather, use it to inform viewers.
• Add a call to action at the end to hold the viewers’ attention and convince them to buy your products.

      Keep a strict watch on the word count to ensure no points are missed out. You can use Final Draft or simply Microsoft Word to write your script.

Storyboarding

      Storyboarding is the expression of how you envision your demo video. The storyboards comprise the frame by frame outline of the video. Each scene is drawn out on a paper. The storyboarding process can be done digitally, provided you have the right tools for it. It helps to look at samples of storyboards created by professionals so you have a fair idea of what you have to do. Google Sketchup is reliable software for creating storyboards.

Voiceover

      The golden rule of doing voiceover in an animated demo video is to be conversational. Don’t sound as if you are just reading from a piece of paper. Add some expressions and feeling to your voice. It helps keep the viewers interested in watching the video.Needless to say, your pronunciation and accent have to be flawless so the listeners understand each and every word. Record the voiceover on your iPhone using the voiceover app or you can download software on to your PC or laptop. One important thing you have to keep in mind is that there should be no noise in the background whatsoever. Most recording software have the tools for filtering background noise.

Animating

      Animating is the most important step in the process. You have to get the animation right so that it syncs with your idea, the script and the voiceover. Use online tools to get help with animation or hire a professional to do the job for you. Animation is a challenging task and will take up a lot of your time. The key is finding topnotch software, like After Effects.

      When you have the right tools at your disposal, your job becomes much easier. The software best for your project depends on the type of animation, for instance, Anime Studio is the best for 2D animation and 3D Studio for 3D and Flash animation. Startup businesses should look to save costs and go for a 2D video with quality sound and visuals.

      These are the four initial steps to follow for creating the video. Don’t be in a hurry; you still have to get through post-production.

      Once you have made the video, complete with animation and voiceover, it is time to enter the post-production stage. This is where you will work on your video to bring it into its final form. Most experts believe that this stage is more important than the first one where you make the video. This is because viewers only see the final product. They have no idea of the hard work you would have put in initially to create the video.

      Here are the four steps to follow to bring the video to its final shape. This stage may take up more time than the first one.

Sound Effects

      The sound effects and background music have to complement the animation and voiceover. You can opt for creating your own effects and music or use from the stock music available online. Regardless of your decision, make sure the music is in keeping with the theme of the video.

      The demo video is a crucial component of your business’ brand imagery and you have to leave a good impression on viewers. Avoid loud sound effects that can drown out the voiceover. Use the best possible software and recording equipment for recording the audio. Audacity is a great resource for sound effects and you can edit them on the software too.

Editing

      Getting the sync between the video and voiceover right requires a perfect editing job. Fortunately, the length of animated demo videos is short enough to edit for a person with no prior experience. The first step is to find a quality editing software. There are a number of editing tools available online, Final Cut Pro being considered the best.

      Since the video is short, you will only have to do some basic editing. The key here is to get the audio and video perfectly synchronized. Out of sync videos leave a bad impression on the viewers. Final Cut Pro is easy to use and you will be able to edit your videos perfectly.

Delivering

      The dimensions for videos to be uploaded vary from site to site. There are different file formats in use, namely MPEG, VLC and QuickTime. Delivering your video to a number of websites requires you to compress and encode the video according to their specifications.

      Decide on the websites you want to deliver your video to before you create it. This enables you to get done with the compression and encoding quicker. There are innumerable options for delivering your video, the foremost being YouTube. Most of the video sharing websites require you to sign up before you can upload your videos.

Promoting

      An awesome animated demo video promotes itself, but you do need to do your bit. Promote your video through social media marketing, using Facebook, Twitter and the likes. Post your video to your fan pages and website and get your fans to ‘like’ and ‘share’ it. Let your fans create the buzz you need to promote your video. Promoting your video is by far the simplest of the eight steps covered in this series. There are a lot of platforms through which your video can be promoted including YouTube.

      This concludes the step-by-step procedure to create an awesome animated demo video for your business.