- In this video you will learn how to create a great
whiteboard animation in seven easy to follow steps.
But why should you consider
creating a whiteboard video in the first place?
Well, research conducted by Professor Richard Wiseman
at the University of Hertfordshire
found that when compared to a more standard
talking head video, whiteboard animations better help
the audience retain factual information
and have a greater chance of being liked and shared.
This makes them one of the best video styles
for creating high impact educational content.
(upbeat music)
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Also, after watching the video,
if you have any further questions
regarding creating whiteboard animations,
let me know in the comments below.
Because I will be checking the comments regularly
and will do my best to help.
So let's get going.
Whiteboard animations involve images being drawn
on a white background with a moving hand appearing
to be doing the drawing.
They are usually accompanied by a voiceover.
Quite simple right?
If you want to produce something a bit different
than the classic whiteboard animation,
there are some variations of it which you can consider
which pretty much involve the same steps to create.
These include black board animation,
stitch board animation and notebook animation.
Although our personal favorite here at Spiel,
remains the classic whiteboard animation.
So let's now get into the exact steps
involved in producing a whiteboard video.
Step one, scriptwriting.
The first step in the process of creating
a whiteboard animation is to write your script.
A good script is key to the success of your video,
so make sure you really put the effort
into making it the highest quality possible.
In this video, we won't go into depth on how to write
a high impact script as we've covered this
in other videos on our channel,
so check them out if you need further help with this.
One thing I will mention here is that when writing
the script for your whiteboard animation,
make sure you keep it as short and impactful as possible.
A good rule of thumb is to remember that every 150 words
of your script will be equivalent to approximately
one minute in video duration.
Step two, record your voiceover.
Once you've finalized your script,
the next step in the process is to record your voiceover.
It is important to record your voiceover straight
after you have written your script because the voiceover
will be used to mark the timings
for the animation during the storyboard stage.
You can either do your voiceover yourself
or get it recorded by a professional voiceover artist
to a high standard and at a relatively low cost.
If you decide to record your voiceover yourself,
make sure you use a good quality microphone
and have a quiet, soundproof room to do your recording.
And make sure the tone of your voice is expressive
and upbeat, as a passive monotone voice
will lower the engagement of your video.
Step three, storyboarding.
The next step in the production process
is to create your storyboard.
This basically involves creating rough sketches
of the visual images you want to appear in your video
during specific time intervals,
pretty much like a comic strip.
It is useful to use a storyboard template
to help you with this.
There are numerous free storyboard templates
online and available to download.
Step four, create your illustrations.
Once you have finalized your storyboard the next step
in the process is to create your illustrations
using a software tool such as Adobe Illustrator or Inkscape.
If you don't feel comfortable drawing your own bespoke
images or simply don't have the time, don't worry.
You can use pre-existing ones from the stock image
galleries available in popular whiteboard animation
production software such as VideoScribe and Doodly.
Step five, animate.
The next step of the process is to animate your video
using your preferred software.
We at Spiel use the Adobe Creative Suite
to create our animations, which are great to create
studio level videos, but it is more catered
towards experienced professionals.
If you are looking for a simpler software tool
which requires having little
to almost no animation experience,
then check out some of the others that are available.
VideoScribe, Animaker, Explaindio,
GoAnimate and Doodly to see which one works best for you.
Step six, add your voiceover and sound effects.
Once you are happy with your animation,
the next and final step to complete your production
is to add your voiceover and sound effects
which you should be able to do with the software
you have used to animate your video.
For best results, I suggest using a separate
audio editing software such as Adobe Audition
to make sure it's to a professional quality.
An important thing to remember when adding music
and sound effects to your video
is that they should complement
your story but never overshadow it.
So it's important to make sure that the volume
of your sound effects and background music
doesn't overpower your voice over.
Step seven, thumbnail and video activation.
Having an engaging thumbnail is essential
for making sure all the hard work you put into creating
your video finally pays off.
The more engaging your thumbnail,
the more compelled people will be to watch your video.
If you need more information
on how to create engaging thumbnails,
you can watch our video which will teach you exactly this,
the link to which I have included in the description below.
Promoting your video is another
important component to consider.
This includes creating a high conversion design
for the landing page on which you will add your video,
and following the best practices for the social media
channels that you will use to promote it.
Bonus tips to enhance the engagement
of your whiteboard animation.
Before I leave you to get creating,
I will go through four important tips that you need
to be aware of if you want to get the most
out of your whiteboard animation.
Tip one, keep it flowing with interconnected sketches.
One of the key differences between whiteboard animation
and other styles such as cartoon animation
or motion graphics is the use of interconnected sketches.
What this basically means is that you should aim
to continue adding your visual images to the same screen
without too many erases or cuts,
so that there is a nice continuous flow to the video.
Making sure you make good use of interconnected sketches
in this way will ensure higher engagement levels
than if you keep erasing the board
and starting with the visuals from afresh.
Tip two, generate emotion.
Another key factor which separates great whiteboard
animations from the more standard ones
is that the higher performing ones do a significantly better
job of generating the desired emotions in their viewers.
So make sure you take into consideration
how you will accomplish this through your narration,
the tone of your voiceover and the use of visual images.
Upbeat and expressive videos almost always deliver
better results than monotone ones.
Tip three, keep it traditional.
Most whiteboard animations stick to the same format
of a white background with black sketches.
There is a very good reason
why this formula keeps getting repeated.
And that's that it simply works.
In general, diverging from this time tested approach
and over-using color, particularly in the backgrounds,
tends to reduce the impact of the video
as it can distract the viewer from its message.
Now this doesn't mean that you should never use color,
just that you should use it more conservatively.
For example you could add a few touches of your brand colors
or use color to emphasize particularly important points
such as your call to action.
Tip four, don't make your video too long.
To get the maximum engagement from your whiteboard video,
make sure you don't drag it out.
Whiteboard videos that are crisp and to the point do better
than ones that are unnecessarily long and drawn out.
Alongside a better video, this will also help reduce
both your production cost and the time needed
to create your video.
I hope you enjoyed this video.
If so, please remember to subscribe to our channel
so that when we release more videos, you will get notified.
If you would like the help of a whiteboard animation company
to create your video for you,
then you can get in touch with us here at Spiel.
Simply visit www.spielcreative.com.
Thanks for watching, see ya!