How long does it take to make animation videos?

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Welcome to this blog, where we’ll be tackling the question of ‘How long does it take to make animation videos?’

A question that sends a shiver down every animator’s spine.

It’s quite a broad question and there are a massive number of variables to consider. There is no set timeframe when you make animation videos.

These include the intensity of the topic, the music, the graphics and storyboarding the animation itself before we even get started.

A two minute animation

Let’s take the example of a 2-minute corporate animation.

As a general rule, we’d say it can take up to two days to design your project. This is about enough time to create the look and feel of the animation.

Then, we have to decide on the type of animation it’ll be. This might be typography, maybe it’s a motion graphic, maybe it’s a white board animation, the list could go on. 

Once we figure that out, it can take anywhere from one to three days to do the storyboard for it. When we’ve figured out the plan of action with the storyboard, that’s when we get around to the animation and the graphics side of things.

Depending on the intensity of the project, this can be anywhere from one to two weeks while we design the project and create those elements so we can actually get them into the animated phase.

The animation phase

This is the bit that can take a while when you make animation videos.

Of course, if the animated idea is a lot easier and a lot simpler, then there’s less we have to worry about in terms of graphics and planning.

This can reduce the timeframe to maybe just a couple of days or a week.

The time it takes to make animation videos is also dependent on what sort of animation you want. If you want to do a statistical animation or something to do with infographics, that’s where all the time factor is changed. This is where it takes the most time to make animation videos.

Every animator takes hours in just bringing art to life.

There’s no magical button to press and we get it all done immediately. Unfortunately, that’s just not the way it works.

However, as technology advances, there are a few things around that can make things a bit more time-efficient.

To put animation timings into perspective, a Disney-level animator can only make about three seconds of animation a day. Imagine what that’s like when you’ve got to make a two-hour movie.

If we used two minutes as a benchmark for pristine quality animation, it can take anywhere from five days to two weeks, or more.

The brief

If the brief is more subtle, and a bit simpler, the time taken to make animation videos, naturally, is also lower.

During our initial meetings and briefings with you, that is when we will try to narrow down just what it is we need to do. We will discuss things like timings, the intensity of the project, whether there’s any characters, the backgrounds, the story itself and any other bits of information that that we’d need to animate.

Of course, we won’t be 100% accurate, but such is life. Who is 100% accurate?

There are ways that we can reduce the timeline for the project itself, for example if you are able to provide us with the graphical elements, or branding, or maybe you’ve already got some text that you want to share.

The more elements such as those above that you provide to us, the quicker we can get into the animation phase.

Long story short, animation time can be affected by all of these elements.

Small ideas can take up to two weeks. Big, pristine ideas can take up to eight weeks.

Every project is different. We will work diligently to cater to your needs to get these animations done.


We hope that answers the question ‘how long does it take to make animation videos?’

Do you need an animated video? Perhaps you need other questions answering about animation? Visit our Knowledge Centre to see if we can help.

If not, contact us today and we’ll be happy to talk all things video and animation with you!

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