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Production

4 Undeniable Reasons to Love Whiteboard Animation

Al Black

Al Black

21 January 2020

4 Undeniable Reasons to Love Whiteboard Animation - Voquent

So, you want to learn how to change a tyre, review a product before you buy? Or be entertained while you wait for your bus—what do you look for?

A video of course!

Most of us prefer to watch a video over reading the same content in text form. It’s no surprise when we can absorb information much faster in the video, and they’re more engaging. However, there are lots of different types of video, and they each have various benefits. 

In this blog, we hear directly from the team at VideoScribe about why whiteboard animations are so effective, when to use them and how to easily create your own. VideoScribe is a quick, easy and inexpensive tool to help you create dazzling videos in no time!

 

What is whiteboard animation?

Suppose you’re not familiar with whiteboard animation. In that case, it’s essentially a style of video that creates the illusion of images and words drawing themselves to build a story on a white or whiteboard-style background. Initially, these kinds of videos were hand-drawn, and individual clips of the process were edited together to make one video. If this sounds like a long process, it’s because it was! 

Thankfully now tools like VideoScribe exist, making whiteboard animations much easier to create. All you have to do is add your images and text to the canvas, add audio or a voiceover, and watch as they draw themselves like magic before your eyes. 

 

Voice-over by Emily

 

The benefits of whiteboard video over traditional video content

1. They're captivating, and research proves they're more memorable.

Whiteboard animations help us process information because:

  • The combination of words and images means that we're storing data in multiple places in our memory.
  • Animations can direct learners' attention more easily using visual cues.
  • We can process visual information 60,000 times faster than text (Hubspot), making them very effective when you want to share information or explain complex topics in a short time frame.

A leading psychologist, Dr Richard Wiseman, showed that information recall after watching a whiteboard animation was 15% higher than after watching a talking head video. He tested viewers' memory after watching one or the other to see which one helped them learn the best. He was astounded by the results saying:

“Anyone involved in education or research will know that is absolutely massive. Normally you have to work incredibly hard to get a 5%, maybe 10% increase in any kind of behavioural measure like that. Simply by animating you're seeing a 15% increase.”

 

Browse Narrator Voices

 

2.They make editing a breeze

If you’ve ever tried to align a voice-over with a video of that person talking, you know that getting an exact match can be tricky, time-consuming and frustrating. 

The beauty of whiteboard animation is that you can easily edit the timings of your images and text to fit with your voice-over without affecting how the video plays. That means even if you’re translating your video's voice-over into a language with longer words or sentence structures, you can easily fit the visuals around it. 

Likewise, if you get feedback from your colleagues, clients or friends that your video isn’t quite right, it’s easy to switch sections out without starting from scratch again. 

 

3.They make communicating even the most difficult topics simple

Do you ever start trying to explain a concept or idea and think, this would be so much easier if I could draw it? When it comes to explaining more complicated topics, it’s often easier for your audience to understand in images. We can absorb information from images much faster than text, and when your subject is intangible, sometimes only visuals will work!

With whiteboard videos, you can use visual metaphors to pack a punch in the language your audience already understands. 

Just think of the story of the tortoise and the hare. Most of us will know that the moral of the story is to take a slow and steady approach to success. 

But how much faster would you get that message if we just showed an image of a tortoise and a hare… 

 

 

4.They’re accessible and easy to make in minutes!

Whiteboard videos overcome a lot of the barriers associated with traditional video. For one, you don’t need high-tech lights or backgrounds as you do with talking head videos.

There’s also no need to use lots of different complicated editing tools. With whiteboard animation, you only need one tool with all the images, music and text options you need. That means that even if you’re short on time, creating professional-looking videos is a breeze! 

 

Create whiteboard animations in minutes with VideoScribe

 

  

 

VideoScribe is your one-stop shop for a whiteboard animation. We pride ourselves on helping you create professional-looking videos in minutes. Here’s how you do it:

 

Step 1: Start with your script.

Every successful video starts with a strong script that gets to the heart of your audience’s problem or desire. Consider how long you want your video to be depending on where it will be shown, and then start piecing your messaging together. Keep in mind:

  • What do you want your audience to leave knowing or feeling?
  • What do they already know, relate to, or understand that you can use to get them nodding in agreement?
  • What action do you want your audience to take after watching your video?

 

Step 2: Build your storyboard.

Once you’re happy with your script, it’s time to think about the visuals. To make sure your video flows with your audio, it helps to plan it all out on a storyboard. By this, we mean chunk up your video into different scenes and indicate what images, diagrams or text you’ll need for each.

Going through this process will also help you spot any missing information or elements in your story before creating your video.

This doesn’t have to be super polished, and to save time, why not use our storyboard template that you can download for free here. 

 

Step 3: Record your voice-over.

Turn your stand out script into a captivating voice-over to start creating your whiteboard video. We recommend doing this before adding images and text, as it’s easier to add these elements in time with your voice-over rather than moving them to fit retrospectively.

We all know that audio quality affects the viewing experience, so make sure you have a good microphone and no background noise. Alternatively, if you’re looking for a specific accent or professional-quality voice-over, of course, agencies like Voquent can help! 

 

Find Voice Actors Now

 

Step 4: Create magic with animation.

This last step is our favorite – animation time! 

It’s at this point your whole video comes together before your eyes. Use animation to support your message and draw your audience’s eyes towards the information you want them to absorb. 

All the images and text in VideoScribe have automatic animations applied, which means you have to drag and drop them onto your canvas and hit play. However, if you want to mix things up, many other animation options depend on the effect you want to create. 

The most popular choice for whiteboard animation is, of course, a whiteboard pen drawing your video. But you can experiment with images moving in on their own or morphing from one image to another. You can find more help and guidance on this here. 

 

 

If you have any questions about animated videos, you can contact the VideoScribe team on Twitter! Or to get started making your whiteboard video. You can sign up for a seven-day free trial of VideoScribe today (no credit card required). 

 

Find Voice Talent for Explainers

 

Al Black

By Al Black

Al has over twenty years of experience in audiovisual translations. A Voquent co-founder, he has produced tens of thousands of voice-overs and translations for education, advertising and entertainment projects.

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