Our Explainer Video Production Process, Step by Step

Most explainer videos that go wrong don’t go wrong in animation. They go wrong earlier: a script nobody fully signed off, a storyboard skimmed on a phone, a voice picked in a hurry. By the time it shows up on screen, fixing it is slow and expensive.

That’s why we run every project through the same six stages, with a sign-off at each one. This guide walks through the whole explainer video production process as we run it at Animation Explainers: what happens at each stage, what you review, what you get, how long it takes and how to keep it on schedule.

The explainer video production process at a glance

Our explainer video production process has six stages: discovery, script, storyboard and style frames, voiceover and music, animation, and delivery. You sign off each stage before the next one starts, three revision rounds are included, and a typical 60 to 90 second explainer takes about 4 to 6 weeks.

Stage	What happens	What you sign off	What you get
1. Discovery	A 60-minute kick-off meeting on goals, audience and message	The creative brief	A short written brief
2. Script	We write the voiceover and on-screen text	Every word of the script (revision round 1)	A locked script
3. Storyboard and style frames	A frame-by-frame plan plus finished-look frames	The board and the visual style (revision round 2)	An approved storyboard and style frames
4. Voiceover and music	We cast and record the voice, then choose music	The voice and the read	A recorded voiceover and a music track
5. Animation	We animate to the board and the voice, then share a full draft cut	The draft cut (revision round 3)	An approved final cut
6. Delivery	We export every agreed version	Nothing more: the film is yours	The final master, cutdowns and a captions file

Here’s a short look at how a project runs with us.

Stage 1: Discovery and the creative brief

Every project starts with a 60-minute kick-off meeting. We want the person who can make decisions in the room, because this is where the video’s job gets defined.

We’ll ask about:

• The goal. What should a viewer do after watching: book a demo, start a trial, understand a new process?
• The audience. Who’s watching, what they already know and what’s stopping them from buying.
• The message. The one idea the film has to land, plus the proof points and any claims you must (or mustn’t) make.
• Where it plays. Homepage, sales emails, paid social, a trade-show screen. This decides length, formats and whether it needs to work with the sound off.
• The deadline. Any launch date or event the film has to be ready for.

We send back a short creative brief. It’s the yardstick for every decision that follows, so it’s worth reading closely before you approve it.

Stage 2: Script

The script is the foundation of the whole film. We write the voiceover and the on-screen text around a simple structure: the problem, your solution, the proof and the next step. One idea, plain language, nothing the viewer has to decode.

You approve every word. This is the first of your three revision rounds, and it’s the cheapest place to change your mind: rewriting a sentence now takes minutes, while changing it after animation can mean re-recording and re-animating a scene.

Length is set here too. The number of voiceover words decides how long the film runs, so we write to the runtime agreed in discovery. For the detail, see our guides on how to write a video script and how long an explainer video should be.

Stage 3: Storyboard and style frames

Once the script is locked, we turn it into a storyboard: a frame-by-frame plan showing what’s on screen for each line of voiceover. Alongside it we design two or three style frames, finished-look stills that show exactly how the film will look before any animation starts.

This is your second revision round, and the last point where structural changes are cheap. Check that each frame supports its line, that the order makes sense, and that the style feels like your brand. What our storyboards look like, and how to review one, is in our explainer video storyboard guide.

Stage 4: Voiceover, music and sound

With the board approved, we cast the voice. You choose from professional voice artists in the accent or language your audience expects, and we record against the locked script. We record before final animation so the animators can time every movement to the words.

We then choose licensed music and plan the sound effects, so the mix supports the voice instead of fighting it. How we cast, and how to brief a voice artist yourself, is in our guide to explainer video voiceover.

Stage 5: Animation

Now the approved board, style frames and voice come together. Our team animates the film in the agreed style, adds the sound design and shares a full draft cut with you.

This is your third revision round. Because the words, the visuals and the voice were all signed off earlier, feedback here is usually about timing, emphasis and polish rather than the story itself. That’s the point of the earlier stages: animation is the most time-consuming part of production, so we don’t want to start it until everything it depends on is settled.

Here’s a finished 2D film from a long-running series we make for an insurance brand.

Stage 6: Delivery

We export the final master film and every version agreed at kickoff: cutdowns, aspect ratios for different channels, language versions and a captions file. Files are named and ready to upload.

You fully own the rights to the finished film, so you can use it on your website, in ads, at events and anywhere else you need it.

How long does the explainer video process take?

A typical 60 to 90 second explainer takes about 4 to 6 weeks from the kick-off meeting to final files. We confirm the dates at kickoff.

What usually makes a project take longer:

Factor	Why it adds time
Slow or scattered feedback	Each stage waits on your sign-off, so the review turnaround is the biggest variable
Extra review layers	Legal, clinical or engineering sign-off adds time at every stage
Longer runtime	More script, more frames and more animation
3D	Models, materials, lighting and rendering come before and during animation
More languages	Each language needs its own voiceover and translated on-screen text
A series	More films, although a shared design system makes each one after the first quicker

Need it sooner? Tell us your deadline on the first call. Faster turnarounds are often possible, especially when the brief is clear and one person can sign off quickly.

Who does what: your team and ours

Stage	What we do	What we need from you
Discovery	Run the kick-off meeting and write the brief	A 60-minute meeting with the decision-maker
Script	Write and revise	Consolidated feedback from one reviewer
Storyboard	Draw the board and design style frames	Your brand guide, product screens or CAD files, and sign-off
Voiceover	Cast, direct and record	A voice choice and the pronunciation of names and terms
Animation	Animate, add sound design and share the draft cut	One round of consolidated notes
Delivery	Export and hand over every version	Every channel and format you need, told to us up front

Revisions and sign-offs: how feedback works

Three revision rounds are included, one at each creative stage: script, storyboard and animation. Each round goes further when the feedback is clear. A few rules make a big difference:

1. Name one reviewer. One person gathers everyone’s comments and sends a single, consolidated set of notes.
2. Bring the stakeholders in early. If legal, product or a senior leader needs to approve the film, they should see the script, not just the final cut.
3. Say what's wrong, not only what to change. “This line sounds too salesy for doctors” helps more than “rewrite this”.
4. Review at full size. Watch storyboards and drafts on a proper screen, with sound, the way your audience will.
5. Sign off for real. Approving a stage means it’s locked. Reopening an approved script or storyboard later costs time.

2D and 3D pipelines: what changes

The six stages stay the same whatever the style. What happens inside the animation stage is different.

• 2D animation, including character animation, motion graphics and whiteboard, builds the film from flat illustrated assets designed from the style frames. It’s usually the quicker pipeline.
• 3D animation adds steps before and during animation: building or adapting 3D models (often from your CAD files), creating materials and lighting, animating cameras and objects, and rendering every frame. It takes longer and suits products that need to be shown inside and out.

Many projects mix the two, such as a 2D story with a few 3D product shots. If you’re weighing that up, see our 3D animation production page.

How to keep your explainer video on schedule

• Send everything before discovery. Brand guide, decks, product screens and any existing sales scripts all speed up the brief.
• Decide the formats up front. Cutdowns, aspect ratios and languages are easier to plan in than to add at the end.
• Book review time in your calendar. Each stage waits on your sign-off, so plan for it like a meeting.
• Keep the same reviewer throughout. A new voice at the animation stage often reopens decisions made earlier.
• Flag hard deadlines on day one. We can plan the schedule around a launch or an event if we know about it.

What does the process cost?

Every stage above is included in a studio project, from the kick-off meeting to the final files. Studio projects at Animation Explainers typically sit in the $6,000 to $35,000 and beyond band. Length, style, complexity, the number of versions and review layers move the quote more than anything else. For the full breakdown, read how much an explainer video costs.

Start your explainer video

If you’d like to see the full menu of what we make, our explainer video production page covers styles, deliverables and examples, and the explainer video guide covers types, length and cost. Prefer to do it yourself? Our guide on how to make an animated explainer video walks through the DIY route.

When you’re ready, browse our portfolio or contact us and book a meeting from that page.

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