👨🏫 3 Animation Styles to Consider for Your Online Course
Don't underestimate the power of animation in e-learning!
Using animation in e-learning is a great way of grabbing the attention of your students and simplifying the subject matter. Some concepts are easily explained with a PowerPoint deck, but complex ideas might require some visual aids.
Whether the course is for corporate training or personal finance management, there is no denying that animation is now widely used in the e-learning industry because it provides the following benefits —
Animation is attention-grabbing because constant motion on the screen makes viewers take notice and keep watching.
Animations add emotions to visuals and make it easier for viewers to relate to.
It’s more engaging and fun.
But there are several visual styles to choose from… which one suits your brand and topic best? Keep reading to find out!
⬜ Whiteboard Animation
What is it?
Whiteboard animation is a style of video that looks like the content is being hand-drawn on a whiteboard. Typically, the art is accompanied by a narration that walks the audience through the story that is being told within the drawing. It’s simple and most importantly, engaging.
The minimalistic style focuses viewers on the content while keeping them engaged with the art.
Why it’s great:
It’s simple
It’s memorable
It’s easy to make yourself
It’s versatile (good for everything from education to marketing videos)
It’s fun!
How expensive is it?
This type of animation is less expensive than others since they are easier to storyboard and develop. A 1-minute long video with a good animator will be about $200.
🧑 Character animation
What is it?
Character animation is the art of making characters come to life on screen. It isn’t a widely used style in e-learning, but the courses that have it gain much more traction and have a higher completion rate.
Why it’s great:
It’s a good way to evoke emotions or give something a human touch by using body movements and facial expressions.
It’s a good way to tell a personal story or recount instances from real life when giving practical examples.
It acts as a replacement for a teacher or trainer.
How expensive is it?
Depending on the level of detail you want for your video, character animation videos for 60 seconds will cost anywhere between $700 to $1200.
📈 Infographics
What is it?
An animated infographic provides information using a combination of images, icons, charts, graphs, and text all animated to add movement. Over the last few years, this has become a popular way to make complex information easily digestible.
Why it’s great:
Makes marketing more effective
Makes content easier to understand
It’s easily customizable to suit your brand tone, so you can choose how simple or busy you want it to look.
How expensive is it?
Actually, not that much! You can get a great 1-minute video for about $80 to $110!
If you’re still not decided on what style suits your brand, you might want to try a different route. I discuss other video formats for courses in this article.
If you’re thinking of creating a course and need some guidance on structuring and scriptwriting, you can contact me through my website! I offer additional services like branding, animation, voice-over, and promotional content creation.