Why Accessibility Matters

With training, content should be accessible, as you may need to tick compliance boxes such as the Equality Act 2010 or WCAG guidelines. Even if you’re part of a smaller organisation and these aren’t a legal requirement yet, it’s worth more than that. When training is inclusive, comprehensive and done well, it can:

• Reach your full intended audience.
• Improves learning outcomes by removing barriers.
• Reduces legal risk.
• Builds your reputation for inclusivity.
• Saves money by getting it right the first time, rather than retrofitting or costly amendments upon review.
• Helps retain staff by creating a sense of belonging.

Thinking that making inclusivity a part of your training video production is less important, as it’s just a small minority, would be an error. Inclusivity is a broad word and applies to so many instances; it’s not just about disabilities, it’s catering to different backgrounds, ages, ethnicities, etc. For example, 1 in 4 people have a disability in the UK, while 300 languages are spoken in Britain, with 30% of people speaking 2.

A Business Disability Forum study found 80% of UK businesses miss opportunities by not making digital content fully accessible, mostly in missed sales, but how you train staff to be aware of this level of inclusivity has a direct effect on the whole organisation. By offering inclusive training, and additional training such as diversity and inclusion training, you show your values and the commitment behind them. Here are a few businesses taking inclusivity training seriously.

Why Use Animation Instead of Filmed Video?

When it comes to creating training video content for your charity organisation or business, people can often imagine a dry PowerPoint or a filmed presenter speaking to camera. Don’t worry, there are a lot more options these days, and you can make it inclusive and engaging with animation.

Animated training avoids some of the limitations of filmed content. Another key point is that animation in training offers huge potential for inclusive design.

It’s easier to create scenes that would be unsafe, costly, or impractical to film, for example, working at height. Or scenes where there is not much to see visually (someone at a desk etc) can be illustrated in different ways – you can be creative as long as the message is clear. Additionally, with an animation training series, it’s easy to update or add episodes later. The designer and animator will ensure they blend in seamlessly with the rest.

There’s no need to worry about staff leaving and wanting footage from a video removed, which we’ve seen happen time and time again. There’s also much more flexibility in terms of people altogether; character design can also be deliberately inclusive, representing a range of people from the start, from different ethnicities, abilities and ages, for example. Whereas, due to locations, etc, it may be difficult to capture the full breadth and variety of your workforce on camera, and it may not be representative.

Training Animation Production Tips

To ensure inclusivity in design and so that everyone can see and understand the materials, here’s a quick checklist of inclusive features you should be aware of, covering design, text, audio, captions, animation and your own project team, as well as how to check it has met the training goals.

Colour & Contrast

Aim for at least a 4.5:1 contrast ratio for text and key visuals (check on WebAIM’s contrast checker). This basically means that there is a big enough difference between the value (light and dark) between the background and foreground. Light coloured text needs a dark background and vice versa, or they will not be read clearly. You can also do a squint test, as a very rough guide. If the text dissapears, it’s not contrasting enough.

Don’t rely on colour alone – use shapes, text, or patterns to reinforce meaning. Clear icons can be very helpful.

Avoid tricky colour combinations like red/green or blue/yellow for colour-blind viewers.

For example, combine ✓/✗ symbols with colour to show “correct” and “incorrect.”

Typography & Text

Use clear sans-serif fonts at least 16px in size.

Keep text left-aligned as it is much easier to scan. Right-aligned or centrally aligned text can slightly slow down the reading process.

Keep the background behind the text solid. Avoid patterns, gradients, or images as they reduce contrast and readability for users with dyslexia or visual processing difficulties.

Limit all-caps – it slows reading.

Allow enough time for on-screen reading before the text disappears. You often need a full 1 second to read and absorb before the screen animates off.

Here are a few examples of text in animated videos – it needn’t be boring to be seen.

Motion & Animation

Avoid rapid flashing, which can trigger health issues.

Let users pause or stop animations, so make sure there’s video player functionality.

Keep the pace slower than that of marketing videos to allow the information to sink in.

Audio & Captions

Voiceovers

Where possible, use a professional voiceover artist who will record in a studio space with high-quality equipment.

Use clear, moderate pacing (around 120 words per minute works well for training).

Keep sentences short and plain, and avoid culture-specific jargon. Simple language is really important.

Keep the video short, especially for those who may be neurodiverse, such as those with ADHD, who will have shorter attention spans. Keep it 3-5 mins maximum.

Consider multiple language, accent or dialect options for global audiences.

Captions & Transcripts

Caption everything, including relevant sounds.

Use a consistent style and identify speakers.

Keep to one or two lines per caption.

Offer full transcripts for reference and searchability.

Cultural Inclusivity

Representation matters. Show diversity across race, religion, age, gender, and ability – and avoid stereotypes.

Include a variety of voices in your production team to reduce unconscious bias. And work with a diverse working group if you can.

Use universal symbols or adapt visuals for specific audiences.

Ask people how they like to learn.

Offer multiple language options – ideally complete localisation for large non-English-speaking groups. Don’t presume English is easiest.

Test scripts and storyboards with diverse focus groups. And test different approaches, such as video mixed with chat, or all video, etc.

Technical & Interactive Considerations

Where possible, inform people about what they will learn and provide them with the opportunity to prepare by offering access to the necessary resources in advance of any sessions.

Ensure video players are keyboard-accessible and compatible across various devices. And that tab works.

Provide alternative formats; not everyone responds to the same format. Other materials should be alongside the training animations.

When using quizzes or interactive tasks, ensure they are accessible and provide clear instructions.

Test with real assistive technology users.

Measuring Effectiveness

Track how well your training works through:

Scenario-based assessments.

Incorporate feedback during and after the session, don’t make them shout out. Use an easy form or allow messages.

Diversity audits of representation.

Quizzes with saved results

Behaviour observation.

Building Accessibility Into the Process

When planning a project, it may not be your main priority, but with good foresight, right from the start, you can embed accessibility into every stage:

Planning – Set requirements early and involve diverse voices from your team and any wider stakeholders.

Script – Keep it clear and plain, possibly check with a working group to ensure the target audience understands it.

Design – Check colours, typography, and representation.

Production – Monitor pacing and motion.

Testing – Include people with different needs.

Delivery – Provide documentation and alternative formats as well as captions and any relevant language versions.

Common Accessibility Mistakes

Here are a few mistakes we often see when it comes to making training animation accessible.

A big one is colour – not enough contrast in the colour and value difference between the text and the background,

Using red/green only for success/error states

Voiceover that is too fast or poorly enunciated ( usually read by a nonprofessional)

Further to this, creating the video content solely in-house, and not with a video production studio, can lead to many more errors, wasting time, money and potential lawsuits. So it’s advised to use a professional video company.

To avoid people losing interest, you need to change the imagery every 10 seconds at least, keeping the visuals exciting, while also considering inclusivity, which will ensure that it’s actually watched to the end.

Lastly, something we see a lot is a script that is too long and repetitious. You need to ensure the learning is there, but the video should sit alongside other training materials and be as concise as possible.

Quick Checklist

□ Good colour contrast
□ Multiple ways to convey information
□ Clear sans-serif fonts
□ Consider co-producing with a working group
□ Enough reading time for text
□ Captions for all speech
□ No flashing content
□ Playback controls
□ Clear audio
□ Keyboard-accessible interactivity
□ Diverse representation
□ Tested with assistive technology
□ Alternative formats and languages

In Summary

Accessible animated training is about giving every employee the same opportunity to learn and grow within your organisation; it’s much more than just simple compliance. By planning for accessibility from the outset, you create stronger, more effective training that works for everyone.

This guide is provided for educational purposes and based on up to date practices as well as a wealth of studio experience, Victoria Finch has been directing and designing training video content for businesses and organisations for over 15 years.
At Digital Finch, we design animations that are engaging, inclusive, and accessible. If you’d like to make your training work for your whole workforce, get in touch.

The post Creating Accessible Animated Training Content: Best Practices for Inclusivity appeared first on Digital Finch.

While filmed testimonials remain the gold standard for emotional connection, they represent only half the storytelling toolkit available to nonprofits. This guide explores when animation becomes not just useful, but essential for charity communications.

There are several reasons why you may want additional videos, and filming is not always the most suitable approach; this is where charity animation or explainer video comes in. We’ve just launched a new page, Charity Animation Services. Generally, for video production companies, animation tends to fall under their general Charity video page. We’ve produced hundreds of charity videos, and we can see a clear difference between the two, knowing when it will work well, as opposed to a filmed video. 

Explaining complex issues simply

Animation created specifically to your charity’s needs is a great way to visualise abstract concepts and statistics, for example, simplifying reports or turning numbers into tangible visuals. 

Charity animation can also be used to make complicated social issues more digestible through simple drawings and explanations. Studios with a specialist animation department, who are used to solving these kinds of challenges, can use many visual devices and styles of illustration and animation to explain complex issues in an accessible way. 

Charities often want to demonstrate their impact, and hearing from people does this to an extent, which also brings the emotional impact. But using a charity animation alongside this really transforms data into engaging visual stories, for example, turning your annual report into an animation. 

Protecting vulnerable identities

Many charity communications involve sensitive topics that can’t be filmed directly – from protecting vulnerable clients to explaining abstract concepts like poverty cycles. Yet most nonprofits default to live-action video for every project.

Animation is a brilliant tool for sharing information about your charity and your activities while safeguarding clients or service users. Since the script is written by experts and every frame is drawn, it provides anonymity for sensitive populations.

If you can’t film your service users, animation allows you to share personal stories without privacy concerns, anonymising the person while sharing their experience. Or even creating a a similar story, that is only loosely based on their experience. 

Sometimes, sharing a story in person to camera, with a director and camera operator present, and the pressure (even from the friendliest of crew members) can be just too much for people. It can be triggering or too harrowing for them to share. 

Having a discreet discussion, or taped interview, not in front of a camera, and then sharing part of it anonymously through animation can help to prevent re-traumatisation of vulnerable individuals. We’ve found that often people do want to share their story, especially if they’re through the worst, but the camera can still be too nerve-wracking. 

Charity animation for young people’s charity – promoting their work working with vulnerable youths. 

This animation demonstrates how we shared compelling stories from vulnerable youth while maintaining complete anonymity. 

Depicting inaccessible scenarios

The third sector is vast and encompasses many other industries, including care, medical and mental health, environment, and more. Filming for a charity that operates over multiple sites or has multiple sectors it reaches may be far too costly and a difficult to film all for a holistic picture of the work.

Additionally, we often find that non-profit organisations often provide services, which can make it challenging to fully convey what the service entails or its impact. This is especially when using filming alone. Apart from people, there is sometimes not much to see. 

Using visual metaphors and well-thought-out design and illustration, you can convey just about anything with animation, from historical events, items and locations around the globe, a variety of people to future projections of impact. 

You can use animation to visualise the global reach of programs or demonstrate before/after transformations. You can also use illustrated scenes to portray dangerous situations safely, without actually creating further risk by filming. 

Charity Animation for Collaboration Circle to explain a new way of funding. Using a mixture of animation and photos to create excitement and explain a complex topic. 

Public information charity animation for SEL Mind to encourage people to take up physical checks. We used animated characters and accessible design to show why it’s important and how to book. 

Creating an emotional connection

Some may be unsure whether animation can still create that emotional connection that is so palpable when with a filmed video, and it’s partly true – a lower-end animation won’t have this. For a example, low budget, not much character movement, fewer scenes, stock assets – this all brings very little emotion to the final product. 

High-level video will bring it, though. In our studio, we measure animation in 3-4 quality levels.  the levels broadly indicate how much time is spent on the design and animation stages, so more time equals more scenes, more detailed drawings, more movement, more dynamism, better transitions, and more realism. This immersive flow from scene to scene draws the audience in far better than a low-quality animation.

Animation creates approachable entry points for sensitive topics. With a professional emotive script to tell the story, you can set the tone exactly and explain in an audience-appropriate manner, whether for children, adults, or any other demographic.  A skilled illustrator will design characters and scenes that are specifically designed to evoke emotions and help viewers connect with challenging subjects. 

Brand consistency

When you procure a charity animation from a video production studio, normally it will be created with bespoke illustrations for your animation. Considerations such as colours, fonts, shapes, layouts, and any characters will be in place to ensure the branding is fully aligned and establishes a recognisable visual style. A studio would also typically give the charity the opportunity to review the illustrated storyboard before animation to ensure quality control. 

Having a well-thought-out brand that is of high quality and instantly recognisable in images and videos means consistent branding across campaigns and platforms, and the ability to stop people in their scroll. 

Explainer animation for Homeless Link – explaining their new findings around nutrition for people experiencing homelessness and actionable steps that staff and front-line services can take. We utilised their existing branding and built upon their characters to ensure consistency with their brand. 

Explainer video for Urgent Action fund – using animation as an About Us style video.

Accessibility across languages and cultures

Animation is easily adaptable for international audiences, and there are several approaches to localisation, depending on how many of your audience members speak the language and your budget constraints. 

First of all, the lowest cost option is foreign language subtitles. We recommend human translation for correctness; this makes it easy for the user to select their language and read along. Creating SRTs is relatively quick and cheap way to make content more accessible. 

If your work is more global, or you’re reaching audiences in the UK or the USA regularly, who don’t have English as their first language, which is common, then it’s better to localise the video entirely. Full localisation would include translating and re-recording any voiceover in the native language, and all on-screen captions changed over to the new language. 

This complete localisation makes the video much more immersive and less of an afterthought. We created a video with a mixture of 5 subtitle languages and six variations of localisation, including Pashto, Bengali, Hindi, etc, to ensure the audience thoroughly understands the message.

A studio can dub a filmed video or add subtitles, but it can be more costly and time-consuming, and dubbing isn’t usually considered as immersive as the original. 

Longevity of content

Animation can age better than live action, as it features less specific people or trends that can be quick to change. For example, if you’ve spent days planning, filming, and editing a member of your team to feature in a series of videos, and then they leave the organisation. They may have gone on great terms, but it still ages the content quickly. 

Therefore, animated content often has a longer shelf life due to this staff and volunteer turnover. We also see that signage and premises changes can age a video. When working with an animated video, there is no visual specificity. Additionally, returning to the studio to add short scenes or swap small bits of voiceover is also usually inexpensive, for example, when a number or location changes. 

When to use Animation

As a quick summary, use animation when protecting identities, explaining complex data, reaching international audiences, or requiring long-term content. 

Use live-action when: building donor trust, sharing personal testimonials, demonstrating real impact, and working with limited budgets.

Summary

Throughout our years of charity video production, we’ve encountered numerous situations where filming isn’t possible or appropriate, ranging from safeguarding vulnerable clients to explaining complex social issues that lack a visual component.

This content is produced by Digital Finch, a charity video production company. While we aim to provide objective guidance, readers should consider multiple providers. 

If you’re a charity organisation considering whether to choose filmed video or animation for your next project, get in touch with Digital Finch for a quick, no-obligation consultation to discuss your specific needs.

Victoria Finch is Creative Director at Digital Finch, with over 15 years of experience in charity video production. She has produced hundreds of videos for nonprofits across the UK, specialising in animation for sensitive topics and complex social issues. She also runs a non-profit promoting gardening for wildlife and hosting nature-based / art workshops. 

The post When Charities Should Use Animation Instead of Filmed Video Production appeared first on Digital Finch.

We believe audio deserves just as much attention as visuals – Harry, our Animation Director, is also a bit of an audio nerd and loves to bring animation to life with sound. This post explains why professional audio is important for effective video content and includes three important components: sound design, professional voiceovers, and music licensing.

The Impact of Good (and Bad) Audio

How does sound affect the viewer’s experience?

Setting the Mood & Emotional Connection

Music, tone of voice, and even quietly added background sounds can shape how a viewer feels. The right audio can build excitement, convey empathy, create urgency, or build trust. The wrong audio can break that connection.  In fact, a TechSmith study found that poor audio quality was one of the leading reasons people stopped watching a video.

Sometimes, we find that clients will choose a music style because it’s their favourite genre, but it’s important to put your personal music tastes aside (sadly, not everyone likes The Doors) and let the professionals choose something that will strike the right tone with the audience.

Building Trust & Credibility

Clean, well-balanced audio signals professionalism and attention to detail. Negative issues like background noise, echo, inconsistent volume, or distortion make the content feel amateurish and can damage your brand’s credibility.

Ensuring Message Clarity

What good are amazing visuals or a brilliant script if the audience can’t clearly understand what’s being said? Muffled dialogue, that’s full of odd reverb, audio that peaks, or overpowering music, can obscure your core message entirely.

Keeping Viewers Engaged

Poor audio is a primary reason viewers click away. High-quality, immersive sound keeps your audience focused and watching for longer, increasing the chances your message will stick.

Element 1: Sound Design – the Audio World

Sound design is the process of adding and manipulating audio elements, going past dialogue and music, to enhance the story and visuals. Think of it as all the background things we hear around us, or could hear.

Sound design is particularly important in animation, such as explainer video productions, where there would be no sound ordinarily. Typical video design for these kinds of videos includes:

Sound Effects (SFX). Think of UI clicks, swishes, or subtle impact sounds, or the specific click of a button in an animated UI.

Foley. Re-creating everyday sounds (footsteps, doors closing, something breaking, body movements), and the sound close-up actions for added realism, especially in animation.

Ambience. Background sounds that create a sense of place (office chatter, city traffic, gentle nature sounds).

Why does it matter?

Good sound design makes the video world more immersive, especially with animated videos, such as 2D animation that can be otherwise flat. 

It adds texture, emphasises actions, guides the viewer’s attention, and works hand-in-hand with music and visuals to create a richer emotional impact. It transforms what can be a flat viewing experience into something far more engaging. 

A corporate video created with stock footage will often have music and voiceover, but professional sound design can lift these everyday clips and make what can be otherwise cheesy stock footage feel more believable. 

Element 2: Professional Voiceovers – The Voice

A voiceover (VO) delivers your narration or key dialogue. While it might seem simple to record 

this yourself, we often get asked about this. We find that the cost of VO in an animated video production is not a huge proportion of the overall budget, and it’s well worth the money. Using a professional voiceover artist offers significant advantages:

Clarity & Professionalism

Trained artists possess excellent diction and pacing. They know how to deliver lines clearly and naturally, eliminating distracting habits.

Tone Matching

Need a voice that’s authoritative yet warm? Friendly and engaging? Empathetic and reassuring? A professional VO artist can precisely match the tone required for your brand and message; they can even try a sentence in a few different styles to see what works for you.

Emotional Resonance

It’s not just about reading words; it’s about performance. Skilled artists bring scripts to life, injecting personality and emotion that connect with your audience on a deeper level and telling a story. In the studio, we often do what’s called a ‘dummy read’ where we voice it here quickly to start the project going; even when we try our best, it can sound flat and uninspiring. Swapping the audio for the professional read always gives the video such a powerful boost and warmth, even when reading tricky line or long lists – they are the professionals!  

Technical Quality

Voiceover artists record in professional recording spaces using high-quality microphones. This high-end equipment eliminates echo, background noise, harsh ‘p’ and ‘b’ sounds, and other technical issues common in DIY recordings (like using your laptop mic or phone). They can usually match the original recording well if you need a pick-up later or an amendment, which is a huge plus. 

The only time we would accept UGC audio is for a very particular feel in the video, for example, children recording something heartfelt, perhaps for a charity animation. Even then, the recorders must aim for best recording practices and avoid large rooms, etc. It needs to be as ‘dead’ as possible, for example in a small room with lots of fabrics / furnishings. If it sounds poor, it can still bring it down. 

A thought on AI voices. We recognise that being a great voiceover artist is a skill, so we use real people for all our video productions. From what we’ve heard, AI still sounds robotic and not up to the mark, and we are unsure how ethical it is. People are used to it for voice commands, but a video production is a different and immersive experience.

Element 3: Music Licensing

Music is powerful for setting the tone and energy of a video. But you can’t just use any track you find online. This is where music licensing comes in – and it’s a potential legal minefield if ignored, especially for promotional purposes.

Most music is protected by copyright. Using a song (whether it’s famous or a more obscure indie track) without the correct permission is illegal. For a well-known song, you can get a master license or a sync license, depending on your needs. However, it can be expensive and time-consuming.

What is Music Licensing? It’s obtaining the legal right (a license) to use a specific piece of music for a defined purpose (e.g., web video, social media ad, internal training) and duration. Licenses often come with fees and specific terms of use. For royalty-free music, it’s not prohibitively expensive for a well-known tune, it can be thousands. 

Common Music Sources

• Royalty-Free Libraries. Services like Music Bed or Artlist offer vast catalogues. “Royalty-free” typically means paying a subscription or one-time fee for a broad license. There are usage rules, but it’s much easier to navigate than other licences. In the studio at Digital Finch, we use premium, royalty-free music for all of our projects.
• Stock Music Sites. Platforms where you pay per track for specific licenses.
• Custom Composition. Hiring a composer to create unique, exclusive music perfectly tailored to your brand is often the best choice for strong sonic branding. However, it typically involves a higher investment.

Why Using Licensed Music Matters. Using unlicensed music can lead to copyright issues, your video being muted or removed from platforms like YouTube and Facebook, and even potential legal action and fines. It reflects poorly on your brand and isn’t worth the risk.

You can find websites with free, royalty-free music, such as the music you use on Instagram and TikTok, but it’s usually limited (only 1 minute) and overused. You also can’t use music from those platforms on your website video, for example. It’s always worth paying for royalty-free music for more choice and uniqueness.

How Digital Finch Ensures High-quality Audio 

We understand that creating truly impactful video requires mastering the visual and the audio. That’s why we integrate professional audio practices into every project:

• We use high-quality recording equipment and techniques when we film on location.
• Our editing process includes careful sound mixing and balancing of any recorded audio and music.
• We partner with a variety of talented voiceover artists to find the perfect voice for your message.
• We include a sound design session for our high-level animated video productions to bring it all together for great impact.
• We carefully source and legally license all music and sound effects, protecting you from copyright issues.

Ready to Make Your Video Sound as Good as It Looks?

The power of sound is integral for high-quality video content. Professional voiceover, thoughtful sound design, and correctly licensed music aren’t just nice-to-haves; they are essential for creating engaging, credible, clear, and effective videos.

Ready to create videos that sound as great as they look? Contact Digital Finch today to discuss how professional audio can elevate your next project.

Quick Guide: Audio Checklist for Clients

• ✅ Write a clear script with pauses for natural delivery
  
• ✅ Choose your tone (e.g., warm, formal, fun)
  
• ✅ Approve voiceover samples before final recording
  
• ✅ Avoid recording in echoey rooms (no kitchens or bathrooms!)
  
• ✅ Don’t forget to license any music used—YouTube will find it if you don’t

The post Why Professional Audio Matters in Video Production appeared first on Digital Finch.

What does 3D look like in a company video? When would you opt for 3D in your explainer video? And what are the benefits? In this post, we’ll also examine what 2.5D is and its features
and benefits.

First, the kind of 3D animation you often see in explainers and animated videos is stylistic 3D (as opposed to hyperrealistic environments, though that is used for high-impact promotional videos). This is used in animated video production to create wonder and an immersive environment with more depth and full range movement, which can be done with 3D models and 3D cameras.

3D animation can vary in look and feel, but generally, it creates a sense of wonder and gives the brand or organisation a high-level feeling with a bigger impact. We’ve included some 3D explainer video examples throughout the post to show the scope of what can be achieved and the variety in style and feel.

Benefits of 3D Animation in Explainer Videos

Engaging and Immersive Visuals

3D animation can create immersive and engaging visuals, making the content more memorable – it stands out because you don’t see it every day. With so many explainer videos on the market, including 3D in your explainer is often more eye-catching and spectacular.  The dimensional quality creates a higher quality visual experience that’s difficult to achieve with 2D animation, which can result in higher engagement rates and better retention of your message.

Visual Clarity for Complex Concepts

3D animation can show complex concepts, processes, or products that would be more difficult to explain with live-action filming or 2D animation alone. In the studio, we often find for ‘invisible’ industries like finance and tech video where there isn’t much to physically see, addding a 3D element can make it more tangible and exciting to watch.

3D Models can move apart, spin around, and change to ensure the audience can see exactly what is important—for example, the inner workings of a machine. Including voiceover and text labels creates a very clear holistic message, whether for marketing or training purposes.  

Versatility Across Industries

3D animation can be used in video production for various topics, from scientific explanations for healthcare products or complex machinery,  to high-end retail product demonstrations. 

3D Models and the look and design can vary so much; no set style exists. 3D can be used in a fun way to bend reality, create alternate universes, or in a very technical way to enhance communication. 

Full Customisation

A video production company with specialised 3D skills can tailor and create 3D models and environments to match the specific brand or style of the explainer video. The whole scene is designed, modelled and styled bespoke to their exact vision.  

Existing royalty-free 3D Models can be licensed and/or altered to suit, or created bespoke to match your needs exactly.

If your organisation also has CAD models of products (or similar), then a video production company can often use these to make the animation exactly and fit the product offering for a precise and accurate product demo.

Applications of 3D Animation in Explainer Videos

Product Demonstrations

3D allows products to be showcased from every angle.  To showcase product features, functionality, and benefits in a visually appealing and informative way. It can be used creatively, imagining that the product can spin, animate apart, etc., to show all the intricacies and provide a comprehensive visualisation for the audience.

Educational Content

3D is excellent for helping to explain complex scientific concepts or educational topics. Abstract concepts can be visualised in three dimensions, making learning more intuitive and exciting, and more learners are likely to pay attention. 

Marketing and Branding

3D can be designed and modelled from scratch with your brand and campaign in mind; any scenes, models, textures etc, will look inherently you. It can make your brand look dynamic and powerful and create memorable and impactful messages. So the video has that wow factor but is still instantly recognisable on a scroll. 

3D in marketing videos doesn’t just have to be a physical product. For example, software screens inset into a 3D monitor or laptop moving in 3D space can suddenly become much more dynamic than static screens, adding another level of dynamism. 

Technical Explanations

3D animation excels at visualising technical processes, systems, or equipment, whether explaining a complex machine’s inner workings or demonstrating molecular structures, 3D animation makes the invisible visible and the complex understandable.

CGI

CGI 3D animation can used in an entertaining way to create larger-than-life videos, for example, hyperrealistic elements combined with real footage. This is very high-end, as making the 3D elements belong to the real life filmed scene with accurate movement, lighting, texture, and shadows is labour-intensive. It costs more, but it can be very effective at catching attention.

Ai in 3D

There are advances with AI in 3D animation; however, I still notice a lot of poor continuity. So, a character or environment might look quite different from scene to scene and getting it close is tricky. The ability to tailor it to exactly what you need is also quite limited, and the morphing animation you see so much on social media has limited use and varies in quality.

We often find many companies are looking to AI for cost-saving purposes. However, we still see that most AI outputs need fairly substantial human editing to refine anyway. 

You also need to be an excellent, prompt engineer to create valuable outputs on a business level, so hiring this person or building up your skills can also add to costs where you may have thought that AI is a cheap alternative way of doing things. 

Where Ai in 3D can be helpful is Concept Visualisation, using a program to quickly generate rough concepts for client approval or help to brainstorm ideas. 

There are also programs emerging where AI can be used in the asset generation stage to create basic models and textures, which may be helpful, though we haven’t tried it yet, so I can’t confirm. 

The 3D Animation Production Process

To give you a bit of insight into the cost and work that goes into 3D video, we’ve included the production process. Video studios may vary this methodology, but the creation of a 3D animated explainer video usually follows a structured process similar to this, with the opportunity for client review and feedback at each stage to ensure the video stays aligned to goals.

1. Concept Development and Scripting (1-2 weeks)
   • Defining script content, objectives, target audience, and key messages
   • Creating an exciting story that aligns with your brand and audience
   • Developing a script that balances information with engagement
2. Storyboarding (1 week)
   • Visual planning of each scene – a written description
   • Establishing camera angles, transitions, and timing
   • Client review and approval before production begins
3. 3D Modeling (2-3 weeks)
   • Creating digital 3D assets (characters, environments, products)
   • Rigging to prepare models for animation
4. Animation (2-4 weeks)
   • Bringing models to life through movement
   • Creating camera movements for dynamic scenes
   • Adding secondary animations for realism
   • Usually, they would send a wireframe animation or Pre vis for review – showing the movement but without any texture and lighting. 
5. Lighting and Rendering (1-2 weeks)
   • Once the models and movement are confirmed, add texturing to add surface details and materials.
   • Setting up 3D lights to enhance visual appeal in the scene
   • Rendering final frames (computer intensive)
6. Post-Production (1-2 weeks)
   • Adding sound effects and music
   • Incorporating and professional voiceover narration
   • Colour correction and visual effects
   • Final editing and client revisions

Total timeline: Approximately 8-14 weeks, depending on complexity and revisions

3D Explainer Video Cost Considerations

One potential challenge of utilising 3D is that companies cannot generally do it in-house. 3D animation is a specialised skill that requires specialised equipment, so it needs to be considered. 

It’s also labour intensive, involving more than just the movement, and often includes modelling, rigging, animation, texturing, and lighting – this may be 1 person or each role is done by a specialist in their field. 

3D Character animation, in particular, is quite labour-intensive, as you expect a 3D character to look and move in a much more realistic way than a cartoon-style character. So, this work takes more refinement. 

If the scene is quite complex, the texturing and lighting can also add up to ensure it gives a real feel and is fully immersive. Low-budget 3D, where they have cut corners, often stands out in a bad way – the point of it is to blend in and feel reel, as soon as it goes jenky, in terms of look, movement or vfx, the illusion is lost. 

To save cost on a 3D explainer video production, you may include just some 3D in your animated video. So that the rest is a 2D video, but one section utilises 3D to explain something or create a few small moments of super high impact – for example, a 3D spinning globe, a 3D animated logo or just a short section of a 3D product in a longer 2D video or filmed video production.

A small section of 3D in your explainer video can be a great way to add some extra oomph while lowering costs compared to a full 3D production—a video production company should be able to advise on how to mix this together seamlessly. 

Exploring 2.5D Animation in Explainer Videos

2.5D is also used in explainer videos, but you may have noticed it a bit less. 2.5D has some of the look of 3D, but it won’t move in the same way. 

An example of 2.5 D could be an object or scene drawn with a more 3D perspective or some cool extruded text. It will enhance your visuals and give the appearance of 3D, but maintain a more simplified production process compared to full 3D animation. You won’t be able to spin around it or make it move fully in 3D space.

This is great for the budget while giving extra dimension and visual excitement, helping draw the audience in. 2.d D is ideal for brands with a more illustrative or graphic visual identity. This kind of animation is also quicker to create so timelines can be shortened slightly. 

Parallax scrolling is another quick example of this, where the background moves at a different pace from the foreground. This simple technique gives a cool effect. 

Importantly, 2.5D is less resource-intensive than pure 3D, which requires more specialised programs like Cinema 4D and equipment to create. This is why it’s generally lower cost; it’s less labour-intensive and resource-intensive to create. 

Here’s an example of 2.5D – most of this is drawn in a very 3D style, bringing depth, but only parts are full 3D.

Understanding 3D Animation Costs

While pricing varies based on project specifics, here’s a very general guide:

Key factors affecting cost:

– Video duration

– Model complexity

– Number of unique assets required

– Number of scenes required

– Character animation requirements

– Rendering complexity (lighting, textures, environments)

– Revision rounds included

We’ve written a post that goes into more detail about what elements make up the cost of an explainer video

Summary: when to use 3d in explainer videos

3D animation in explainer videos creates immersive, high-impact visuals that help brands stand out. Unlike the hyperrealistic CGI seen in movies, explainer videos typically use stylistic 3D to create depth and movement.

Key benefits include engaging visuals that capture attention, greater clarity for complex concepts, versatility across industries, and brand-aligned customisation. 3D animation excels in product demonstrations, educational content, marketing, and technical explanations.

The production process typically takes several weeks, from concept development to post-production. Cost considerations include the required specialised skills and labour intensity, especially for character animation, equipment, and software. For budget-conscious projects, incorporating limited 3D elements or using 2.5D animation (which creates the appearance of depth without full 3D movement) can provide visual impact at lower cost.

And,  while AI tools for 3D animation are advancing, they still face challenges with continuity and quality, often requiring substantial human editing to achieve professional results.

Ready to Explore 3D Animation for Your Brand?

If you’re considering how 3D animation could elevate your explainer videos, we’d love to help bring your vision to life at Digital Finch. 

Get in touch if you’d like a free consultation – just a 30-minute discovery call to discuss your project needs or just ask for a custom quote if you have a project brief for a detailed proposal.

The post When to Use 3D Animation in Explainer Videos: Benefits & Examples appeared first on Digital Finch.

In this guide, we’ll address the six most common queries that charities face when starting a video production journey, whether the video is for fundraising, awareness, a project evaluation or recruiting staff and volunteers.

1. What Will A Charity Video Cost, and How Can We Budget for It?

One of the first considerations for any non-profit is understanding the financial investment needed for a professional charity video. Video costs can vary quite a bit and are usually based on several factors:

• Length of the final video
• Filming: Filming locations and travel requirements
• Filming: Number of filming days
• Animation: The design style
• Animation: The quality of the animation 
• Post-production complexity 
• Inclusion of animated characters or 3D elements
• The location of the production company 

Many production companies offer special rates for non-profits, such as a discount. They can also usually provide different quality levels or options based on various budgets. As it’s a bespoke product and fully customisable, it can generally be tailored to suit (such as lowering or increasing the quality / combining filming days / looking at reducing the runtime / exploring other options). There are a few ways to be thrifty.

So it’s good to be honest about your expectations of the video and the budget so that everyone can see how that aligns from the start. 

As a very rough guide, a professional video production company would start at about £1.5k, but this can still vary, and some may be able to offer a lower cost option that is less bespoke to you, using stock assets or UGC. High-quality animation and longer durations will also increase this cost; you can learn more about the various video cost levels here.

When budgeting, consider the immediate cost and the potential return on investment ROI through increased donations and awareness. A much lower-budget video that is less engaging overall may have less impact and bring in fewer donations, or be more lacklustre for fund applications, and so not be worth the money in the long term. 

Video production companies in different countries and cities will have various levels of overhead costs, which will factor into the overall video cost. You may not want to go with the closest company if in-person meetings are less of a priority. Still, it’s essential to consider quality, language, and time zones when choosing a company, as well as their relevant experience in your industry, for example, a charity explainer video specialist or a studio that’s created a lot of content for young people’s services or mental health.

2. How Much Time and Resources Will We Need to Commit?

Understanding the time investment required from your team is essential for proper planning. We’ve provided a few typical schedules here and written a page about the methodology behind film video production on this blog post. A typical filmed video production timeline includes:

Pre-production planning (1-2 weeks)

 – Scripting, location planning, storyboard, shot list, and confirmation of any staff, clients, or other interviewees, or actors appearing on screen. 

Filming (1-4 days)

– Many shoots only need 1 day of filming, and this can capture up to 5 minutes of content, whether it’s B-roll only, interviews or scripted sections to camera. But for a video series, you may need more days. We recently filmed for 4 days to create a comprehensive series of 9 videos. 

Post-production editing (2-4 weeks)

 – All the shots are edited together seamlessly as per the storyboard or as per the questionnaire, with post production including audio enhancement, colour correction, voiceover is required, music and any graphics needed. 

Review and revision cycles (1-2 weeks)

Make sure all the appropriate parties, including those who have appeared on camera, see the video before it’s released and are happy with the content. This may also be when your video company creates 1-2 short highlight reels for social media. And create English language SRT files for subtitling.

And an animated video production:

Pre-production planning (1-2 weeks)

 – This includes concept, script development and written treatment – like a written story of the video, and art direction, which is where we confirmed the style of the animation.

Design (2-4 weeks)

 – Creating a few style frames, these are a few bespoke drawn still images representative of the final look and feel, then after approval, the studio design the fully illustrated storyboard. Here’s a quick example of a final charity animation storyboard. The longer the video is, the more frames there are to design. Often, they will share voiceover samples for you to choose from during this stage too. 

Animation (2-4 weeks)

 – The animation stage is where the studio brings the designs to life, complete with movement, music, voiceover and sfx to create your charity animation. 

Review and revision cycles (1-2 weeks)

Again with animation, make sure all the appropriate parties see the video before it’s released and are happy with the content. However, with animation such as a charity explainer video, it’s often easier to snag any amendments earlier in the process, for example, at the design stage or written treatment. Catching big changes and amends earlier on makes for a smoother process that is much more likely to stay on budget – and will be overall more headache-free. At the very end, after confirmation of the video, this is also when we’d create English language SRT files for subtitling.

Your staff will primarily focus on pre-production planning and review stages of each of these steps. It should take up minimal time after the script is in place, but you do need to ensure proper review. Most professional production companies can handle the technical aspects independently, minimising disruption to your operations and showing you just the key stages for approval. 

3. How Can We Ensure Our Message Connects?

Creating a great video requires more than just technical expertise and equipment. Look for production teams with rich experience, cool ideas and a good portfolio. 

The video production company would ideally have experience working with non-profits in your sector, and you can see it on their website pretty quickly if they understand your world, or a short email can tell you a lot – don’t be afraid to just enquire and ask questions. There’s never a commitment.

Browsing a portfolio online or asking to review some more samples will demonstrate if they’re good at storytelling – clearly demonstrating the cause and giving the audience a reason to keep watching through scripting, editing, powerful visuals, and a strong arc. 

A video production company should also understand how to balance emotional impact with dignity, carry out any filming in a sensitive manner, and demonstrate good safeguarding when working with young people. 

The best results come from production companies that take time to understand your mission, values, and specific goals before filming or animation begins – so their attention to detail and communication in the preproduction stage is vital.

4. What Technical Expertise Should We Look For?

Professional video production requires specialised skills and equipment. Your production partner should provide:

• High-quality cameras and lighting equipment
• Professional audio recording gear
• Experienced operators and directors
• Smooth edits that flow seamlessly and absorb you
• Graphic design that’s high quality and reflects the brand well
• Talented illustrators, who have a range of styles or perhaps one strong style done very well.
• Video that is inclusive and accessible
• Animation that is dynamic and engaging.

They should also be able to handle most any type of video project while maintaining professional quality standards.

5. What About Rights and Usage?

Understanding the legal aspects of video production is important. Key factors to consider before starting a project include:

• Video ownership rights
• Music or stock asset licensing
• Model releases for any participants
• Rights to edit or modify the content

For some productions, these won’t come up and are not major. However, for larger organisations where a lot of content is created by different staff and other parties, it’s important to outline these points in your production agreement to avoid future complications. 

6. How Will We Share and Distribute the Video?

A great video needs an effective distribution strategy to make sure it’s seen. Your production partner should be able to guide you on:

• Optimise content for different platforms (social media, website, presentations)
• Create multiple versions of varying lengths (sometimes, this may have an additional cost)
• Provide guidance on video SEO and video players
• Advise on distribution strategies
• Provide SRT files for accessibility

Consider requesting additional deliverables, such as short social media clips or event-specific edits. This is usually a simple question for a filmed video.  But for animation, it may be less straightforward as it could include a redesign to fit the new aspect ratio – and would incur extra cost – which may well be worth it. Make sure you have conversations about the aspect ratio and who  / where your target audience is right at the start. We find many clients are choosing to go vertical first, or square ratio, as a middle ground. 

Moving Forward with Your Video Project

Now you have some of the answers to these key questions, you’re better prepared to move forward with your video production project. When procuring a video production, remember to:

• Get multiple quotes and compare services
• Have a quick meeting or phone call, you want to like who you’ll be working with
• See references or testimonials from other non-profit organisations
• Review previous work samples
• Discuss all concerns up front
• Get agreements in writing

When you have multiple quotes and have spoken with a few companies, red flags may also appear, for example, if one is a lot cheaper than the rest – question why? Or one promising to deliver by a much faster deadline. Are they cutting corners? Is the video made from automated software or templates? Is it just a big team? Are you involved in the process? If you are interested in more questions to ask a potential company, we have an extensive list here

Video content remains one of the most powerful tools for sharing your mission and inspiring support for your cause with 93% of marketers considering video a crucial part of their overall strategy. By understanding these key aspects of video production, you’ll be better equipped to make informed decisions about your next steps.

At Digital Finch, we specialise in helping non-profits create impactful videos that respect your mission and budget. Our team understands charitable organisations’ challenges and would be happy to discuss how we might support your video production needs.

Whether you’re ready to start a project or simply have more questions, we’re here to help. Reach out for a no-obligation conversation about your video ideas, and let’s explore how we can help bring your story to audiences who need to hear it.

The post 6 Questions Answered About Non-Profit Video Production appeared first on Digital Finch.

Here are the key stages where you can help prepare for a video shoot and what to expect. A professional studio will manage much of this process and should keep you informed as the production goes along, but you can help keep the project moving at a good pace. Being aware of these points will help you avoid costly reshoots and capture all the content you need with less stress. 

We’ve written about the complete Video production workflow for corporate video productions before, which you can read about; today, we’re just concentrating on the corporate video shoot day logistics. This preparation is helpful for most any kind of corporate or live action video production

Before the Shoot (1-2 Weeks Prior)

You and the video production studio should confirm the filming schedule, shoot list, and timeline. This document should include any location/rooms you’ll be filming in, what shots are needed, who needs to be there and the timings of the day(s). If it takes a long time to get between areas of the site, then allow for this time in the schedule. 

We’ve been to sites filming corporate video where we needed to do a full PPE change between and needed to allow a full 15 mins between areas. 

The crew will need about 1 hour to set up for a typical interview-based video, get familiar with the location, find the right space, set up lights and get the first person mic’d up. So, this will be added to the start of the day. 

Designate a single point of contact from your team for the day. This will help the film crew on the day so they know who to ask questions to or make suggestions to. This usually helps if this person has been involved with the project planning, but it’s okay if not. 

If there are any unusual situations, such as parking information or building access codes, please share this with the crew well in advance and let them know exactly where to meet. 

If any training information, such as a video or a safety quiz, is required to get onto the site, then allow this time before the shoot too. 

The video production company should also provide a quick document with a summary of the day, everyone’s contact details, and the location details so that you can refer to it beforehand and on the day if required.

Location Preparation

Clear the filming area of unnecessary items; you’d be surprised how many dangly cables, bits of old paper, etc, there are. You need to ensure all areas are clean and presentable.

In our experience, if you’re filming in a factory, you’ll need to walk around and have managers check each area carefully. The professional camera crew will also pick your location’s best angles and are very used to being resourceful when it comes to showcasing your best light, but it helps to make sure. 

For filming interviews or people, a large bright room is often a good choice and will add depth. The crew may also use lighting. If no large rooms are available, the camera operator may use lighting gels, black-out stands, and other equipment to create a different feel so that it looks professional and does not look like a cramped tiny office. Or even film outside if it’s relevant. 

Sound quality is important. If possible, turn off noisy HVAC systems during filming or anything else, like noisy water systems. 

Reserve a separate room for crew equipment storage so the crew can lock items away when not in use. 

Team Preparation

Select and brief team members who will appear on camera – if they have questions to answer on film, let them review them, but don’t try to rehearse any answers too much, as it can become too much pressure and stifled. Usually, the crew and director are experienced in making anyone feel comfortable and at ease in front of the camera and will do retakes or find different ways to make it work.

For anyone appearing prominently on camera, share wardrobe guidelines provided by the production company; for example, avoid small patterns, and bright red. Though this isn’t always necessary

For staff that may appear in the final video production but not necessarily central – such as in the B-roll, check over any uniform and ensure it’s clean, proper, matching, not ripped, etc. This is the same for any PPE, for example, if filming on a construction site – especially if it’s for training purposes. If the crew spend time filming a shot that then has to be thrown out, it is disappointing for all. 

Clean, matching uniforms make a big difference to the professionalism of the final video, so make sure spares are available just in case anyone has forgotten or it looks subpar.

If many staff are talking to the camera, schedule team members in blocks to avoid waiting time. It can waste a lot of time if people need to be found before going on camera each time. This leaves less time for creativity and visual variety in shots.  

Brief non-participating staff about noise levels and any access restrictions.  If there are noisy corridors and many interviews to film, you may need an extra person outside to stop slamming doors and keep people quieter.

Setting up 2 camera set up in an office with lighting

Content Preparation

Take the time to review and approve the final script/talking points. You don’t want to pay for a reshoot, so make sure the script and video story really align with your vision before it’s recorded. Hopefully you and the production studio have been very thorough in this, as the script or questionnaire will drive the whole story.

If you’re doing interviews, you can do a small practice of responses, but avoid repeating very complex or corporate-sounding responses; they will feel unnatural. If you’re talking on teleprompt, practice is less important, but it will help you feel less nervous if you’re more prepared.

If you’re doing a product promo shoot, gather any props or products needed in the shoot so they’re readily available. 

Prepare any computer screens/presentations that will be filmed. Even if screens are in the background, a company or organisation website will look better than a black screen, so check you can log onto the computers to do this. 

On the Day Logistics

If you regularly have a full car park, reserve parking spaces for production vehicles – close to the entrance if at all possible, as the gear can be quite heavy. You’ve often got multiple cameras, gimbals, batteries, tripods, lighting and mics in large hardcases. 

Have refreshments available or a plan for where everyone can have lunch and access to water. 

Have your point person available at all times

Keep contact numbers handy for everyone, including building maintenance.

Common Mistakes to Avoid

Avoid choosing a filming day when there are construction or cleaning services.

Make sure every person who is due to be on camera can attend the day.

Don’t try to do anything else during the day; stay focused and present if you can.

Don’t change the shoot plan drastically unless something goes wrong; always keep the crew informed of changes. 

Don’t assume the crew can “workaround” normal office activities – unless that’s what you need to capture.

Now that the filming day has ended, the professional crew will let you know how they think it went, and the footage will be transformed into a great video for your organisation. If you’re thinking about filming for your brand or organisation, please let us know. We’d be happy to help. 

The post A Client’s Guide: How to Prepare for a Professional Video Shoot appeared first on Digital Finch.

1.

Client: Collaboration Circle
Agency: Digital Finch 
Industry: Charity / Finance

This charity explainer video promotes a new way of pooling funding for organisations that is equitable and inclusive. Digital Finch created this using a blended design approach, using imagery and boldly illustrated elements to help show the human side and explain any complex parts more easily.

2.

Client: Webflow
Agency: Ordinary Folk
Industry: Tech / Web Development

This explainer video has a real wow factor and never stops moving; the subtle sound effect design really adds to the immersiveness. The contrast with colour and light is beautiful. This is a fantastic example of explaining a website or software without showing it at all.

3.

Client: Edge Net Zero
Agency: PlusOne
Industry: Construction

This is a very fun and varied design style; you’re not really sure what to expect next. It touches on a historical vibe, with realistic images and illustration and mixes with a modern look very elegantly. The topic of Net Zero is also great and the CSR really stands out. 

4.

Client: Windows 11
Agency: Not Real
Industry: Tech / Retail

This beautiful 3D animation series showcases software and devices in a whole new way. The sound and music design is spot on, making it playful and intriguing. The colour, texture and rippling movement really elevate a simple video – showcasing a range of features in an easy and stunning way.

5.

Client: BCAA
Agency: Rethink Canada & Wonderlust
Industry: Community / Non Profit

This charity animation is a fun and friendly style with a wide variety of well-animated characters that show the benefits of joining the community membership in the BC area.  A really nice feel-good animated video.

6.

Client: Calm Health
Agency: Coat of Arms
Industry: Mental Health & Wellbeing / Tech

A beautifully calming, conceptual-style explainer video exactly matches the app’s purpose of providing mental healthcare in an accessible format. The gentle colour scheme, just the right pace and seamless transitions keep your eyes watching and wonderfully calm.

7.

Client: Digital Mailroom
Agency: Digital Finch & Groundbreak Productions
Industry: B2B Service

This explainer video has a quirky illustration and animation style inspired by Catch Me If You Can and the famous 60s movie title screens. Along with a broad UK accent style voiceover, this digitisation service stands out in the crowd and brings some lightheartedness.

8.

Client: Eybna
Agency: Illo
Industry: Science / Healthcare / Tech

This animated video promotes their scientific research around the compounds in CBD for medical purposes. It comes across as easy to access and credible, with a modern design style and good use of a limited colour palette.

9.

Client: ABC
Agency: Animwood
Industry: Education

This is a slightly childlike-style explainer video with an educational aim and a fun script and voiceover – going all the way from the dinosaurs to the modern day. The circle device in the centre keeps your eye focused. It’s a clear style with a slightly cut-out style paper look with broad appeal – even though it’s a serious topic at hand.

10.

Client: Malarkey Roofing
Agency: Coat of Arms
Industry: Consumer / Retail

This product explainer video has a beautiful use of texture and light to give a realistic and filmic effect to the street and house scenes. Then it goes onto the science with a new more 3D-looking style – but that still fits with the overall look. Great skills mixing between the science of how it works and real-life application to show how they connect and the benefits. 

11.

Client: Zcash Media
Agency: Very True Story
Industry: Crypto / Finance / Tech

This is a quick compilation of a number of animations and really shows how a cohesive design style and limited colour palette can work to bring a variety of different concepts all together. I particularly like the use of light, shadow and texture. 

12.

Client: Utility Aid
Agency: Digital Finch
Industry: Utilities

This company specialises in saving money for charities and non-profits and wanted to explain their services in a new way. Digital Finch brought to life the client’s initial idea of a planetary theme to explain the various departments of their organisation and how they work together, along with a gentle Scottish accent voiceover. They created this conceptualised piece with four distinct chapters – relating to the four key departments within their business.

As you can see, Explainer videos are a great tool to inspire and inform audiences no matter the industry. From charities to technology, these videos showcase storytelling through various visual devices, each with a unique style. From bold design to seamless animations or innovative approaches to complex topics, these examples highlight the value and variedness of explainer videos in engaging viewers. We hope these examples spark ideas for your next video project!

The post 12 Outstanding Explainer Videos To Inspire you appeared first on Digital Finch.

We still all remember those emotional TV adverts in the 90s! A well-made video can have a transformative impact, from increasing donations to raising awareness and more.

With limited resources, many may worry that producing a high-quality video feels out of reach. But it doesn’t have to be, we’ve rounded up some tips and ideas to make video work for you, no matter the budget.

At Digital Finch, we understand the challenges charities face. Our creative director runs a community group & CIC, hosting workshops, running regular volunteer sessions (mostly as a volunteer herself), applying for funding and working with many other local groups, charities, and CICs, so we have personal and professional experience in this sector.

Here are a few ways charities and non-profits can create videos that connect with their audience while maximising their budget.

First Contact: Usually, when enquiring, it helps to be honest pretty quickly when talking to any video company about the expected budget, expectations, and deadlines. The video company will be honest and able to tell you quickly what’s possible and realistic, and what they can do to make sure your money goes further. They should be resourceful and usually be able to adapt their services to suit your needs. This honesty saves a lot of time on both sides.

Finding and Telling Your Story

Charity video production thrives on authenticity. A meaningful, genuine story will connect more than a polished, impersonal-sounding script delivered directly to the camera with perfection, which is more often seen in corporate videos.

To create this kind of video, define your video’s purpose. Are you raising funds? Recruiting volunteers? Thanking donors? Knowing your objective can help guide the story’s direction. Simply raising awareness can lead to a mixed result. You also need to know your audience. What kind of people donate, help, or share your news and campaigns? How can you appeal directly to them? What are their ages, and other interests? What is their typical family like?

We find that a focus on real people is the most emotive for charities, along with a great story arc. Beneficiaries, volunteers, and colleagues bring humanity and relatability to the story. Sharing their personal experiences and creating an emotional connection motivates viewers to act.

When we create charity testimonials and case studies in the studio here, we go through thorough pre-production planning and sensitive interviewing techniques to ensure your video captures the heart of your mission without overcomplicating the message or putting off speakers.

Planning Video with Your Budget in Mind

A common concern for video production is budget constraints. Many charities are unsure of what goes into the cost of a video and what the work actually entails – and what they can actually get for their money. The key factors when it comes to video cost to consider are:

Video Runtime

The length of your video significantly influences the budget. A shorter video requires less editing or animation time, while longer content needs more production work.

For our charity animations, for example, a one-minute video is almost exactly half as much work as a two-minute video in terms of the drawing and animation required for it. We also generally find a shorter video to be more impactful – up to 90 seconds for an explainer-style video is fine, but you can say a lot in 30 seconds if the budget is tight or you want maximum dynamism.

Production Complexity

Animation tends to be more labour-intensive than filming because of the complex illustrations and bespoke animations.

Generally, if the budget is tight, choosing a more simple design style will cost less than a very dynamic, highly detailed animation style. A company can typically show you the various explainer video quality levels and their associated costs, allowing you to make an informed choice and determine which one is best for you.

Animated characters also tend to cost more, as drawing, rigging and making them move realistically takes time. Therefore, a way to save money is to reduce the need for characters or omit them altogether—there are many ways to create empathy in animation without characters.

Factors such as location, actors or presenters, and the number of shoot days for live-action videos will also impact the price.

Efficiency in Filming

The number of shoot days is the main factor affecting the budget for live-action video productions, especially charity films like an About Us or testimonials. Organising interviewees (such as stakeholders, staff, volunteers or clients) at a single location on the same day can significantly reduce filming days, saving both time and money.

With good planning, you can also ask quite a few interview questions on a few topics, creating content for several videos. For example, a lead can speak about the organisation in general, then specific campaigns and perhaps plans for the future, and you have a few videos here out of a one-day shoot. An experienced crew will also adapt the the visuals on the shoot (selecting a new room or new camera angle) so that the clips don’t obviously look like they came from the same single day either.

For example, we recently filmed the opening of a new recovery centre in the morning and interviewed various staff in the afternoon. The organisation got three videos for a fraction of the cost as if we had filmed each person and the event separately.

A video studio will work with you to create a cost-effective plan for your videos. For example, a one-day shoot might be enough to capture everything needed for a memorable video. Alternatively, they can produce a short, catchy animation highlighting key statistics or stories, helping you balance ambition with affordability.

Working with User-Generated Content (UGC) for Video

Charities often have access to user-generated content (UGC), whether a quick clip from a supporter’s phone, snapshots from an event, or a video the staff and volunteers film content themselves on a phone.

If your budget is very low or zero, this phone-shot UGC alone will help boost your online presence and is worth pursuing. Consistent posting has been shown to increase engagement, and most social platforms favour video – so all it takes is your time and creativity to promote yourself. As we see online so often, some of the most popular videos have been shot on a phone, but they still need some good planning, and it takes time to edit on Capcut or Edits as well as shooting itself.

UGC is a more accessible way of using video for promotion that can usually be done in-house. You can think of ideas for a fun series based on popular questions, speaking to members of staff and volunteers, or doing promos for any events and event highlights. It’s worth investing in a tripod and a mic if you want a higher level of in-house professionalism. For creating very short basic animations, platforms like Canva can offer some animation elements to add a bit of oomph to photos or phone videos, for example adding captions.

You can also follow trending memes and create your own version pretty quickly if they’re relevant and you have a dedicated social person in the organisation. This is a good way to increase awareness and reach new audiences, but you need to be pretty quick. All kinds of organisations, including the National Trust, create memes alongside their more informative and less casual content.

And while these assets might not always look as professional on their own, they can become part of a polished video with the right editing and structure.

If you want to elevate this kind of content and have a small budget, you can work with a video production company. They specialise in transforming your existing content into cohesive narratives. By editing UGC with branded visuals, music, and subtitles, they can help create videos that maintain an authentic feel while elevating their overall quality.

For funding purposes, for example, showing impact, here’s where UGC mixed with a professional company who are experienced with creating a story arc, using music to build emotion, etc, can be more beneficial.

When is it worth spending more on a Charity video production?

We’ve discussed reducing costs by looking at runtime, design style, and filing days. But when is it a good idea to gather funds and spend more?

With animation, the cost primarily depends on the number of days spent on production. The more time dedicated to the illustration and animation, the better. With higher quality, meaning many scenes, a more unique design style and smooth transitions between scenes – keeping the viewer immersed.

High-level animation, for example, is a great way to convey emotion while safeguarding and including personal stories, as you are not showing real people who may be vulnerable. You can do this with or without animated characters, and by spending more (ie higher quality usually), the animation will be more dynamic and moving to watch.

Often, lower-budget animation means fewer scenes and less on-screen movement, but this will hinder you if you need animation to be emotive and highly engaging.

Sometimes, a one-day video shot with a two-person crew can be sufficient and create a great video for your organisation, plus a bank of shorter videos for socials. But if you don’t have any videos and want a bigger impact, a large video series (filmed over four or five days) can boost your channel and website and give viewers tons of info and emotion on a broad range of topics and ideas. A number of videos like this will keep the users browsing videos and really immerse themselves in your world.

For a conference event where you show videos to potential funders during meetings, a professional video will always put you in the best light and give that wow factor.

With any big-budget project, it’s good practice to get several quotes and look through a variety of video portfolios so you can select a company that aligns with your vibe. It’s also worth having a quick chat to see if you actually like the company too.

Including Video in Your Funding Applications

Are you planning a video as part of an evaluation of a larger project? Including video production in your funding application can be a good idea. Funders often value the ability to demonstrate a project’s outcomes visually. A professional video, hearing directly from participants, can play a great role in project evaluations and provide evidence of impact.

You can show the impact of a long-term project by interviewing participants before, during, and after to get the full range. Or you can just speak to people at the end of the project to capture their feelings and the before and after. If you talk to a video production company to get a speedy quote, this will help you allocate an appropriate budget within your funding proposal.

This video is not only good for funders to see but also shows proof of your impact on the wider world, as you can usually share these videos on the website and social media.

Making Your Videos Accessible and Inclusive

Accessibility and inclusivity must be a priority for a charity‘s message to reach a wide audience. Videos should be available to everyone, regardless. This includes providing subtitles and clear visuals and ensuring the tone and structure suit diverse audiences.

For example, we provide professional subtitles as standard and ensure the design is accessible in terms of colours and tones. We also offer localisation if your audience doesn’t have English as their first language, we regularly recreate the whole video faithfully into the chosen languages, or provide human-translated SRT files as subtitles. This attention to inclusivity broadens your audience and reinforces your commitment to equality and accessibility.

On many platforms, automatic captioning now exists – so you can opt for a DIY approach, but you need to go through it thoroughly to make sure it’s all spelt correctly and that it has detected the correct words – as this automatic function is still very hit-and-miss.

Final Thoughts

Creating a high-quality video isn’t just for large charities with expansive budgets. With careful planning, clever resource use, or a trusted video production partner, your charity can produce videos that make a lasting impression. And you can do a lot in-house with a very small or no budget if you have the time.

At Digital Finch, we’re passionate about helping charities tell their stories. We’d love to hear from you if you’re ready to create a video that moves your audience to action.

The post How Charities Can Create Videos on any Budget appeared first on Digital Finch.

This year has been full of creative storytelling, from bespoke animated explainer videos to charity fundraising films. This post was originally shared on social media; and we’re proud to expand this for our site visitors interested in discovering more about who we are, our video production services and exactly what we’ve been up to over the past 12 months.

What We Accomplished

92 Videos Created. That’s 92 unique stories brought to life. Each one was created to help our clients communicate their messages effectively – this year it was a fairly even split between animated and live action videos.

This means for our explainer videos, we custom created over 370 individually designed storyboard scenes, as each animation we create is made bespoke to the client.

Incredible Clients

We were privileged to work with a diverse range of clients, and we’re especially proud that a third of them returned to collaborate with us again—often on more than one project. And most clients also ordered more than 1 video.

Our clients come from a broad spectrum of industries, from video for Charities and Non-profit Organisations to Tech, Healthcare, Education and more.

34 Days of Filming

Filming with our crew across the country, we captured a mix of beautiful B-roll and heartfelt interviews for our clients. From cities like Belfast and Manchester to serene rural settings in County Durham and our home base of Wigan, our on-location filming services ensured every video had the perfect visuals and high-quality audio. As a director, personally I love filming, it’s so fascinating speaking to people and learning about their passions and goals, or working with the camera op helping to create the perfect shot.

Recognition on a Bigger Stage

This year, we were honoured for Digital Finch, which was recognised as a finalist for The Wigan Business Awards in the Creative & Digital Category —a testament to our team’s hard work and creativity and an accolade that shows our dedication to providing award-winning video production services. And I must say, the awards ceremony was such a fun night.

Topics That Mattered

Our video projects explored and supported a wide array of important subjects for our clients, including but not limited to:

Mental Health – Public information videos and explainer videos to support people’s and young people’s mental health in a number of ways. For example, supporting people experiencing mental health issues to get into the workplace with job support that works for them.
Green Energy & Supply Chains – supporting businesses to learn about green energy opportunities in their area, how to get involved and invest in it to innovate their offerings
Phone Use – creating educational video production about the effects of mobile phones on teenagers in particular and the alternatives.
Finance – from global banking explainers to a new approach to charity funding – done differently.
Addiction – Creating a huge video suite that covers the effects of addiction and how one organisation is supporting people to recovery in a number of ways
Education – Filmed videos to promote a college’s centres of excellence

Top Services

The top kinds of videos we created for our clients this year were a big mix of film and animation.

Explainer Videos
Making complex ideas clear and engaging with custom animated videos, from software to supply chains and more.

Charity Videos
Telling stories that inspire change and action, either to help with fundraising, evaluating important projects or simply to raise awareness.

Testimonial Films
Highlighting real stories from a diverse range of people with genuine impact.

Social Media Videos
Creating content that grabs attention and drives engagement, videos for Linkedin, Instagram & Facebook.

A Commitment to Community Life

In addition to our creative work in the video studio, we dedicated 128 hours to volunteer work (but possibly a bit more), supporting causes that align with our values. Mostly, this time was spent was with Victoria’s (our Creative Director) nature-based community group, Give it a Grow Wigan, but we also frequently offered free design and marketing services to a range of small start-ups and groups who need a helping hand. Contributing to society and community life has always been a core part of who we are, and lack of access to design skills shouldn’t be a barrier to a great idea.

A Huge Thank You

To our clients, collaborators, and crew: thank you. Every project was a team effort, every challenge an opportunity to grow, and every finished video was something to celebrate.

2024 was a year of growth, innovation, and connection. As we look ahead to this year, we’re excited to keep building, creating, and making a difference together. Whether it’s charity films, corporate animations, or social media videos, our goal remains the same: to make an impact through bold and exciting video content.

Here’s to 2025!

If anyone would like to join us this year in making cool video content that connects to your audience, just get in touch

The post 2024 Digital Finch Studio Highlights appeared first on Digital Finch.

A great tool for many of these purposes is charity testimonial films – hearing from staff, volunteers and service users directly. 

Building Trust Through Authenticity

We know video is an effective marketing tool for organisations, and explainer videos are great, but seeing and hearing real faces and sharing their real stories is almost unbeatable—especially when building trust. Featuring real people, especially beneficiaries or volunteers, builds credibility with your audience – providing social proof – and your audience are more likely to remember faces.

One of the beauties of a testimonial film is that it’s usually in a questionnaire format, with the interviewees answering honestly with just a little preparation. This gives us delightful unscripted moments that are more candid, with laughter or perhaps sadness; the authenticity draws the audience in and boosts your video marketing. 

Scripted content mostly comes across as more stifled and less genuine in feeling. It doesn’t create the same passionate response that you need, as the language is often not as natural as spoken word as it’s been carefully calculated. The delivery is more stilted (unless the interviewees have done media training, but that’s often not the case). This can often make the speaker more nervous as they desperately try to remember lines or read alongand get it perfect. And, of course, you lose the unexpected moments. 

Storytelling Techniques for Impact

With a testimonial film, you can still create a story, which is done through the experienced editing you get with a professional video production company. They work to weave together all the various clips of interview footage into one powerful story, complete with a narrative arc. Often, it can be over an hour of responses alone – to transform into a few concise minutes – this edit takes real skills and experience. 

Filming can be done with one speaker or a group of people sharing different but similar stories, including staff, managers, service users, clients, and volunteers. This mix can show the impact and generate a feeling of agreement. There are many ways to film a testimonial film, they don’t need to look the same.

An emotional arc like this will guide the audience through a range of emotions—struggle, hope, and triumph.

Using a professional video production company for your testimonial film

Many organisations and non-profits make charity films and edit themselves. Still, we can see time and time again that they are stretched for resources, and video content is only sometimes consistent or professional. 

Often, as a charity professional, you’ve already got so many roles and any additional volunteer time that you’re inevitably doing. Creating an impactful video is a big job and can be daunting, and many organisations don’t have the regular funding to hire an in-house videographer regularly. 

However, with specific funding, professional video production becomes more accessible, as it can be added to the fund application. Or, if fundraising is done, it can be included along with all the other promotional activities in the fundraising amount. 

There are many benefits to using a video production company for the video, especially one with experience working with the 3rd sector like Digital Finch. They will understand the challenges and the right tone to reach and work with you collaboratively to create your story while doing the heavy lifting. 

It starts at preproduction, with researching and understanding your organisation and the interviewee’s story deeply before filming. The goal of the video, who the audience is, and where it will be seen should also be considered. 

On the day (s) the filming crew arrives, they are usually friendly and hardworking. During the interview itself, an experienced director will establish Comfort with you. They work to build rapport with the interviewee to help them feel at ease during filming and bring out honest and thoughtful answers.

An experienced director will work with you to develop a questionnaire that gets the information you need, using open-ended questions, such as “How and why?” which encourage detailed, heartfelt responses. They will broadly follow the planned questionnaire, listen actively, and ask follow-ups to draw out richer stories. 

The camera operator and director will also consider the composition of the shots for the best look, lighting, and sound quality to ensure clear audio and high visual quality and maintain the video’s professional look and feel.

A professional charity videographer will also have the post-production skills, equipment, and knowledge to draw the best from the filmed footage. For example, they will edit for impact and use pacing, music, and visuals to evoke emotion and keep viewers engaged. A professional will use charity branding for maximum impact and recognition, for example, subtly incorporating your charity’s logo, font, and colours to reinforce brand identity with any captions and the vital CTA. 

Accessibility is essential; a video production studio should add subtitles to reach a broader audience, including those with hearing impairments or non-native speakers. They will also have made sure that the colour ratio is clear for any graphics like names or additional captions and that the visual hierarchy of text is correct—meaning that people take in the information in the correct order and it’s easily visible. 

Repurposing Content

Creating social media snippets from a longer charity film or case study video is usually quick for a professional. The video company can curate the best-highlighted sentences and extract powerful quotes or moments for shorter, faster-paced social media video posts, such as Instagram Reels or TikTok. Depending on the amount of footage, it could be one video or a social mini-series. 

Short versions can also be added as links in email campaigns. For example, a short form video can be included in newsletters to update donors.

Then, you can use the full-length video in meetings, events, on the website and on any landing pages to provide context on your charity’s impact.

Legal and Ethical Considerations

One major issue when interviewing people for the camera is consent. We all need to ensure interviewees understand what is being asked of them and where the video will be played, and then provide consent to be filmed and for their stories to be shared.

A video production company will also work with you when dealing with sensitive content. They’ll be mindful of how vulnerable subjects are portrayed, ensuring dignity and respect. This can be done through interviews, editing, adding anonymisation if needed, or avoiding specific topics. The video production company can guide you through the process of obtaining consent, ensuring that interviewees fully understand the implications of sharing their stories. They will also advise on how to handle sensitive content with respect and empathy, ensuring that the final video is both powerful and ethical.

Safeguarding vulnerable people can be alternatively done using animated video production, like a charity explainer video. In this kind of video, real voices can be used instead of a professional voiceover, which gives an authentic feel. However, animation is shown with animated characters or a more conceptual design instead of anyone’s real faces. This is great for working with young people, for example.  

Summary

Testimonial films offer charities a unique and powerful way to connect with their audiences. They showcase original stories that build trust, inspire emotion, and drive action.

By featuring real voices—whether staff, volunteers, or service users – and supported by staff where needed —these videos create a relatable and emotional narrative that connects.

While charities may face challenges with limited resources or expertise, partnering with a professional video production company ensures a polished, impactful result that aligns with their mission and reaches a wider audience. From pre-production planning to editing and accessibility enhancements, testimonial films can become a versatile tool for storytelling, fundraising, and awareness-building.

If you’re looking for a testimonial film for your charity, please get in touch; we’d love to help!

The post Elevating Your Charity’s Impact with Testimonial Films appeared first on Digital Finch.