Motion graphics and video planned before a frame is animated
Video goes wrong in the planning, not the animation. Three approvals early, on script, storyboard and animatic, are what stop a costly rebuild at the end.
What is motion graphics & video?
Motion Graphics & Video is the production of animated and filmed content from script through to final delivery: storyboards, animation or filming, sound, captions and the full set of export formats each channel requires. It suits Australian organisations explaining something that is hard to describe in text, such as a product, a process or a service model.
Get a fixed written quote- Typical timeline
- 3 to 8 weeks
- What drives cost
- Duration, the complexity of the animation style, whether filming is involved and for how many days, the number of people and locations.
- Best for
- Explainers, product demos, onboarding and campaign video sets
- You own
- Project files, footage, exports and documented music and talent licences
- Built with
- Scripts, storyboards, animatics, multi format exports, caption files
Your handover
Script, storyboard, animatic: three approvals that protect the budget
The cost of a change rises steeply through a video project, and the whole discipline of production is about front loading decisions while they are still cheap. Changing a sentence in a script costs minutes. Changing the same idea once it is a storyboard frame costs an hour. Changing it after animation has begun costs a day or more, and changing it after the voiceover is recorded means booking the artist again. So we get written approval at three points and we do not proceed without them.
- 01Script written to a target duration and approved
- 02Storyboard covering the key frames
- 03Timed animatic for pacing approval
- 04Final animation, filming or screen capture
- 05Professional voiceover and licensed music
- 06Hand corrected captions burned in and as a separate file
- Full export set for web, social and advertising
- Archive master and project files
- Written record of music and talent licence terms
The animatic is the stage clients most often want to skip and the one that saves the most
The animatic is the stage clients most often want to skip and the one that saves the most. It is a rough timed version of the whole piece, storyboard frames cut to the scratch voiceover, with no polish at all. It looks unimpressive and it tells you the truth: whether the pacing works, whether the piece is too long, whether the explanation lands in the right order. Approving an animatic feels like approving something unfinished, which it is. That is exactly why it is useful.
Music and talent licensing is handled explicitly rather than assumed.
Captions and audio description are part of the job
Captions serve two separate purposes and each needs a different file. Burned in captions are pixels in the picture, which is what social feeds need because most viewing happens with the sound off and because the caption survives being downloaded and reposted. A separate caption file, supplied as SRT or WebVTT, is what accessibility requires: it can be turned on or off, it is read by assistive technology, and search engines can use it. Serious projects deliver both.
Automatic captions are a starting point, not a deliverable
Automatic captions are a starting point, not a deliverable. They routinely mangle Australian place names and product terms, and get punctuation wrong in ways that change meaning. We correct them by hand and time them to the speech. Where you have accessibility obligations, WCAG requires captions for prerecorded audio in video at level A, and audio description or a media alternative for prerecorded video content at level AA, so a video carrying meaning only in pictures may need more than captions. Public sector and education buyers often make this a condition, and planning description into the script is far cheaper than adding it later. A transcript on the page also gives search something to read, which pairs with the wider search work.
How the engagement runs
How a video project runs
We run production in defined stages with approval gates, and the schedule is built backwards from your release date with time reserved for the parts clients underestimate: legal review of claims, sourcing decent product photography, and getting a busy executive available for a filmed segment.
- 01BriefThe single thing the viewer should understand, the audience and where it will be published
- 02ScriptWritten to a target duration, with the claims checked by whoever needs to approve them
- 03StoryboardKey frames drawn so the visual approach is agreed before production
- 04AnimaticFrames timed to a scratch voiceover, reviewed for pacing and length
- 05ProductionAnimation built, or filming completed against a shot list
- 06Voice and soundFinal voiceover recorded, music licensed and mix balanced to platform loudness
- 07CaptionsTranscript corrected by hand, timed, and supplied burned in and as a separate file
- 08DeliveryFull format set exported, project files and licence documentation handed over
Two decisions on your side that keep the project moving
Music and talent licensing is handled explicitly rather than assumed. A music track licensed for web use may not be licensed for paid advertising or for broadcast, and a licence with a term will expire while your video is still on your website. We document what is licensed, for what use and for how long, so nobody discovers a restriction two years later.
Choose the right level
Delivery formats, because one master is never enough
A finished video is not a file, it is a family of files. The master is a high quality export kept for archive and future edits. From that we produce the versions each destination needs, and those differ in aspect ratio, duration, compression, loudness and whether captions are burned into the picture. Supplying only a single wide video means your team crops it badly for social and re uploads a compressed copy of a compressed copy.
Destination
01
Archive master
What we deliver
High quality intermediate at full resolution
Why it differs
Kept so future edits and new formats do not start from a compressed file
02
Website embed
What we deliver
Compressed MP4 with a poster frame and a separate caption file
Why it differs
File size affects page speed, so it is balanced against quality
03
Social feed
What we deliver
Square and portrait cutdowns with captions burned in
Why it differs
Watched with sound off, and the platform crops anything wide
04
Short form video
What we deliver
Vertical version with text kept clear of interface overlays
Why it differs
Interface elements cover the top and bottom of the frame
05
Paid advertising
What we deliver
Multiple durations cut to the platform's requirements
Why it differs
Placements enforce maximum lengths and specific ratios
06
Presentation and events
What we deliver
High bitrate file, and a version with no audio where required
Why it differs
Venue playback and speaker setups have their own constraints
How we work this out during scoping
Frame rate is worth deciding early. Australian broadcast and much local production works at twenty five frames per second, while a lot of online content is produced at thirty, and mixing them without conversion creates judder that people notice without knowing why. Loudness targets also differ between broadcast and web platforms, which is why a video that sounds fine in the edit can be noticeably quiet once uploaded. We set these at the start rather than fixing them in the export.
Filmed, animated, or a mix
The choice is a practical one rather than a matter of taste. Animation suits anything abstract, anything that does not exist yet, and anything you will need to change, because updating a figure in an animated sequence is straightforward while reshooting a scene is not. It also avoids the logistics of locations, talent and weather, and it keeps the piece looking consistent with your identity system because every element is drawn to it.
Filming suits people, places and trust
Filming suits people, places and trust. A service business is often better served by real staff and real premises than by illustrated characters, because credibility is the point. Product demonstrations of software usually want high quality screen capture with motion graphics layered over it, which is a third category and the most common one we produce. Many projects mix all three: filmed interviews, animated diagrams for the parts a camera cannot show, and screen capture for the product itself. Deciding the mix at script stage keeps the budget where it does the most work.
When a video is not the right answer
If there is no distribution plan, do not make the video. A well produced explainer sitting on a page nobody visits is the most expensive piece of unread content an organisation can own. Before commissioning, name where it will run, who will put it there and what it replaces. If the honest answer is that it will be embedded on the home page and hoped over, spend the money on something with a route to an audience.
Providers in education tend to reach that point quickly
Video is also a poor fit when the content changes frequently, because you cannot edit a sentence in a finished video the way you can edit a web page. Software that ships new interface every month will date a product demo within a quarter, so build it modularly or write documentation instead. And when someone needs to scan for a specific answer, text wins every time: nobody wants to watch four minutes to find a price or an opening hour. Training content is a genuine exception, and where there is a lot of it, it usually belongs inside a learning management system with tracking rather than loose on a website. Providers in education tend to reach that point quickly.
How we scope it
Four ways to scope your Motion Graphics & Video project
We do not publish package prices, because the same brief can be a short build or a long one. These are the shapes the work usually takes. Tell us which one sounds like you and you will get a fixed written quote that spells out exactly what it covers.
Motion Graphics Core
The essentials, done properly, not a template
Fixed written quote, agreed before work starts
- Script written to a target duration and approved
- Storyboard covering the key frames
- Timed animatic for pacing approval
Full identity
A complete identity your team can apply without us
Fixed written quote, agreed before work starts
- Everything in Motion Graphics Core
- Final animation, filming or screen capture
- Professional voiceover and licensed music
- Hand corrected captions burned in and as a separate file
Brand system
A system that holds up across products and campaigns
Fixed written quote, agreed before work starts
- Everything in Full identity
- Full export set for web, social and advertising
- Archive master and project files
- Written record of music and talent licence terms
Brand care
Applying and extending it as the business grows
Rolling monthly, quoted in writing
- New assets and applications as they come up
- The system extended rather than reinvented
- Files and source artwork kept in order and in your name
- Rolling, cancel with 30 days notice
These are shapes, not menus. Most quotes end up somewhere between two of them, and we will say so when the honest answer is the smallest one. Describe the problem and we will tell you which it is.
Questions buyers usually ask
Frequently asked questions
Ownership and handover
Do we own the video and the project files?
You own the final videos and the project files. Music and stock footage are licensed rather than owned, and talent appearances are governed by their agreements, so we document the term, territory and permitted uses of each so you know exactly what you may do with the finished piece. If you need broadcast or paid advertising rights, tell us at the brief stage because that changes what we license.
Do you provide captions, and are they good enough for accessibility?
Yes. We supply captions burned into the social versions and a separate SRT or WebVTT file for web use, corrected by hand rather than left as automatic output. If you have obligations under WCAG, tell us at the brief stage, because audio description at level AA has to be planned into the script and the pacing rather than added at the end.
Can you produce cutdowns for social from a video we already have?
Often, if we can get the original project files or at least a high quality master. Recutting from a compressed web export limits what is possible and the quality will show. If only a compressed file exists we will tell you honestly what the result will look like before you commit, rather than delivering something soft and hoping nobody notices.
Detail and edge cases
How long does a video project take?
Usually 3 to 8 weeks for a single explainer or product demo. Script and storyboard take the first two weeks and depend heavily on how quickly your side approves. Animation or filming takes the middle, and captions plus the format set close it out. A series produced together is faster per video than the same videos commissioned separately.
What drives the cost of a video?
Duration, the complexity of the animation style, whether filming is involved and for how many days, the number of people and locations, voiceover talent, music licensing, and how many format variants you need. Character animation costs considerably more than motion graphics built from your brand elements. We scope it against your brief and send a fixed written quote.
How many rounds of changes do we get?
One consolidated round at each approval gate: script, storyboard, animatic and first cut. That structure exists because late changes are the expensive ones. Changes at script stage are effectively free. The same change requested after animation means rebuilding sequences, so we make the gates explicit and ask for feedback gathered by one person each time.
Related services
Get a fixed written quote for your video
Tell us what the viewer needs to understand and where the video will run. One business day to reply, and the quote we send is fixed and spells out the scope.