For small businesses and nonprofits––two of our favorite groups to partner with––cost is a major consideration.
It can be hard to convince your boss that a video will pay off and hard to know where you’re money is going. Sure, with the right marketing strategy, we’ve seen donations to organizations spike and new sales leads pour in. In fact, we wrote a piece recently about how one of our videos closed a $45M Deal. But, we also know it can feel like a gamble cloaked in a mystery every time.
To help shed some light on the process, we’ve created this handy dandy guide to animation pricing.
Generally animation studios fall into one of three camps.
Outrageously Expensive
These kinds of studios charge $30,000 as their base rate. You’re essentially hiring Pixar (or one of their cunning imitators) to create your marketing deus ex machina. You’ll get something fabulous… but also might not be able to afford next month’s rent.
Ludicrously Low Budget
These studios have incredible turnaround times and cost a mere hundred or so dollars. How can that be? Formulaic scripts, reused drawings, underpaid workers, and the ability to pause time are all possible suspects. Still, you’ll come out of the situation with video!
Happy Middle Ground
These tend to be around $3,000 to $6,000 for a minute and can deliver innovative scripts, custom artwork, inspiring voice overs, and a fun, supportive creative team. Not to brag, but this where Next Day Animations magic happens.
But what exactly are you paying for?? Why is there such a big range in pricing??
There’s a lot that goes into making a video––distilling the message, scripting, recording voice over, drawing your fabulous characters, animating, a couple rounds of edits to make your video absolutely PERFECT, and final rendering and file delivery.
So when you’re paying more, it’s because you want a higher level of artistry––aka more hours that illustrators, animators, and writers are spending on your video.
That’s why we have a conversation to figure out what best suits your needs and goals before giving an exact quote.
What goes into an animation quote?
- Length
The longer the video, the more hours involved for illustrators and animators. - Timeline
Tighter turnarounds mean more resources are required. On average, animations take four weeks to produce. - Style
More complex characters and more complicated animation (like stop motion or 3D) call for more time and attention. - Quantity
Discounts apply for projects that require several videos to tell their story.
We like to keep pricing simple, inclusive, and transparent.
Any more questions about animation process and pricing? Give us a call at (202) 747-0404.
