How to create an animated explainer video for your research

Struggling to communicate your complex research in a digestible and dynamic way? An animated explainer video might be the solution.

No one will remember your research if they can’t get their head round it.

But, let’s face it - sometimes research can get pretty complex. And, sometimes, it can be difficult to simplify that complexity to communicate your findings to your wider audience. An animated explainer video is one way to overcome this.

An animated explainer can offer a short, engaging, and informative entry point that brings your research to life in a dynamic way, breaking down complicated data or abstract concepts into easily understandable visuals more effectively than with a static infographic. Unlike text-heavy reports or presentations, animated videos can convey information in a way that is easy to digest. You can create a narrative to build your audience’s understanding step-by-step, walk them through your findings, and make it easier for them to grasp (and remember!) your key messages. This is particularly helpful when you’re trying to reach non-expert audiences, but even the most technically-minded will stand to benefit.

In this article, we’ll take a quick look at how to get started creating an explainer animation, and the some of the steps we’ll take you through.

1. Preparing your ideas

Before anyone even touches a pencil to start storyboarding, it’s critical that you’ve got a really good understanding of two things: your research, and your audience.

1. Your research

What is it that you’re trying to say? What’s new, and what’s relevant about it? Why should anyone care about it, let alone retain, or act upon it? Being able to understand - at a really fundamental level - what your research is about will make it much easier to dissect and translate the key messages into the building blocks for a great script.

2. Your audience

Who are you trying to reach with your animation? What are their interests and what do they already know about your research? How does your research affect them, or their work? Understanding your audience will help us tailor your animation to their needs, and ensure that your message is clear and concise.

At this stage we’ll also explore ideas around the intended use of the final video (where it will live and how it will be used, etc.), and the concept for the piece (is there an overarching narrative type that we can draw upon, for example), and any other important considerations (sourcing of imagery, type or origin of voiceover, etc.).

2. Structuring your ideas: Crafting a Script

One of the first major steps in creating the animation is creating a script - the fundamental skeleton on which the entire piece will hang.

In this stage we’ll be thinking about how to craft a compelling opening to draw your audience in, and how to pace and time your messages to keep them engaged throughout. It’s important to strive for clear and concise language, and to avoid jargon, to ensure that your video is as accessible as possible.

When developing the script, it’s also a good idea to think ahead to what kind of things you might want to see on screen at the same time; how will the visual elements unfold or assemble? How can the language reflect and reinforce that?

Using a voiceover?

If you’re intending to use a voiceover on the final piece, we find it often helps to regularly read the script out loud - how does it sound? Does the tone reflect your organisation, and your research? Hearing it spoken can often reveal stumbling blocks, or weird turns of phrase.

If you’re not planning to use a voiceover - perhaps the text will just appear on screen, or as subtitles - there are different considerations: are the sentences short enough to fit on screen? Will your audience be able to read it in time, or can you break it up more?

3. Giving it form: Storyboarding

Once we’ve created the script, the next step is to develop a storyboard - a visual representation of your script, which includes sketches of the scenes, characters (if you’re using them), and objects that will appear in your explainer animation. If we can think of a script as the skeleton, the storyboard is the muscles, the tendons and the skin the start to bring it to life.

Rough storyboard

When developing storyboards, we like to initially start quite rough. We’ll produce some simple sketches, marked up to indicate the movement and development of the piece, and talk you through them. The purpose of this stage is to focus on the ideas and concepts, making sure they’re consistent throughout the piece, and thinking through how things will move and the way this can reinforce the messages we’re communicating.

Refined storyboard

We’ll build in your feedback from the rough storyboard, and make sure the foundations feel solid. We’ll then refine the visuals, honing them into an art style that supports the tone and objectives of the explainer. The visual style can range from very literal (using photos or video, or realistic illustration) to very abstract (using shape, colour and motion in creative ways) depending on the concepts we’re looking to communicate.

If your organisation has a strong visual identity or style guide, we can make sure that’s reflected. Or, if you have any references that inspire you, we can take this into consideration too. If you have neither of these things - don’t worry! Drawing on our experience, we’ll put together a range of suitable styles for you to consider, and work with you to develop it until it’s exactly what you’re after.

4. Bringing it all to life: the animation stage

Fun fact alert - did you know that the Latin root of ‘animation’ means ‘to give life to’? It certainly feels apt for this stage of the process where everything starts to come together.

Once we have a signed off storyboard for your animated explainer video, we can start animating. This stage can feel like sculpting a figure from rock: in the early stages, you can see a rough likeness, but things are still quite blocky and in very broad strokes. But as the process goes on, things become more and more refined, until the final piece begins to emerge.

Working from the ideas we’ve developed in the storyboard, we generally work to produce a rough draft, a refined draft, and a final draft - each stage chipping away a little more rock. And before you know it, the final piece is ready for you to begin sharing.

Rough draft

At this stage, we’re bringing together all of the artwork, voiceover, and music, and roughly sequencing them. The movement and transitions will still be quite rough and jerky, but we want to make sure that the timing and pacing feels right and that everything feels like it fits together.

Refined draft

Once the animation feels like it’s standing steady on its own two feet, we’ll begin to refine it. Polishing the movement and transitions, we’ll be looking to make it feel seamless and natural.

Final draft

This is it - we're approaching the finishing line. Having built in your feedback over the last two rounds, at this stage we’re tightening all the nuts and bolts, checking for any wayward punctuation, and giving it last polish before the final rendering and sending it out into the world on its own.

How do I begin?

Creating an explainer animation is a great way to communicate complex and abstract ideas. It’ll allow you to talk about your findings in a dynamic and memorable way. We generally recommend planning on having about six to eight weeks from the scripting stage to having a final piece - but this can be longer or shorten depending on your needs.

If you’re interested in creating an animated explainer video to share your research, drop us a message today and we’ll be excited to talk through your ideas with you, and to discuss how we can help.

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