In today’s changing world, information is more accessible than ever before. As teaching methods shift more towards concepts like the flipped classroom, it’s critical for learners of all ages to have access to professional, engaging educational material.
YouTube has long been a resource for educators and students at every level. The platform provides a professional, curated space with structured guidelines. These guidelines work to protect viewers and content creators by establishing community standards and content restrictions. Animated educational videos on YouTube are highly accessible, searchable, and linkable.
Even better, when published on free or affordable platforms like YouTube, animated educational videos benefit educators and students alike in a range of ways:
- Fully customizable content
- Open-ended access to educational materials
- Playback options and shareability
- Space to comment and engage
- Live streaming and group watching to mimic face-to-face instruction
At Bee Video, our team of content-driven professionals has years of experience in video production. Helping people share their ideas, knowledge, and stories is our passion. Today, we’ll be taking a look at how to get started making educational videos for YouTube.
Creating Animated Educational Videos for YouTube in 4 Easy Steps
Animated educational videos can be a joy to design and create. At Bee Video, we follow a simple, predictable process that reliably produces engaging, high-quality content. While we’re happy to create videos for you if you’d rather skip our tutorial, here are four simple steps to create successful animated educational videos for YouTube:
#1: Design and Outline the Video
It’s best to begin any animated educational video project with extensive planning. Outlining video content and writing a full script will streamline the animation process and reduce any unexpected costs.
Outlining involves highlighting the goals and milestones you want to reach in your animated educational video. It should provide a detailed plan for how your content will be structured and progress in the video.
You need a full, carefully planned script before the animation process can begin. Scripts are created by working within time and production limits to relay information concisely and effectively. Drafted content must be rehearsed, edited, and fine-tuned to be engaging, informative, and to the point.
Bonus Tip: Keep Your Animated Educational Videos Short
Remember, it’s not easy to grab a modern audience’s attention—but losing it is! Be careful not to make your video too long. If you plan to cover an extensive topic, it may be best to make a series of animated educational videos.
Nearly all students are willing to watch videos that are six minutes in length or less, but beyond that, engagement drops fast! By 9 to 12 minutes, 50% of viewers drop off, and less than 20% of students make it to the 12-to-40-minute mark on average.
An in-depth deep dive may seem like a wise choice, but in reality, it may end up being a waste of time. Worse, if a viewer closes your video before it ends, there’s a fair chance they won’t be opening another if they can help it. Aiming to keep your video under ten minutes is an excellent rule of thumb to keep your viewers engaged and coming back for more. ‘
The other upside of keeping things brief? By making multiple videos, you can focus more fully on a single topic. That makes optimizing your animated video for search engines easier—as a side note, did you know that Google owns YouTube?Many of the same tactics used for SEO apply to reaching the top of YouTube’s search results.
#2: Plan and Storyboard the Animation
After your video has been scripted, the next step is to plan and storyboard the animation. Have a clear understanding of how your animated video should look. Some aspects to consider while storyboarding include, among other factors:
- Desired colour schemes or palettes
- Implied tone
- Animation style
- Scene layouts
It isn’t necessary to picture every frame of your animated video, but having some preferences outlined can help streamline the animation process and reduce production costs. Storyboarding builds on the outline that you created earlier to provide more detail and direction for the animation process. At best, plan out any scenes that should have a specific, tailored look.
#3: Record Your Voice Over
With your script and storyboard in hand, it’s time to start making your video. While you can technically start with the animation first if you like, starting with the audio can inspire the animation stage more than you’d expect. It’s okay if your plan ends up changing a bit during the production process.
When recording your audio, make sure to use high-quality equipment. You don’t want crackling or poor volume to ruin your video. You might even consider hiring a few voice actors depending on the content and context of your educational video. Hiring a professional team can also help cut down on the level of editing or retakes required to get that perfect final take.
#4: Animate Your Video
When it comes to creating animated educational video content for YouTube, the most significant step is, of course, animating the video. It’s an involved process with a lot of moving parts, but it can also be a fun process.
The exact steps involved in animating an educational video will depend on the software and equipment you opt to use. We recommend following the instructions provided for those tools—or you can leave it all to us!
At Bee Video,we specialize in animated and live-action video production for a wide range of platforms, including YouTube. Our experienced team can take your ideas and turn them into eye-catching, engaging videos that take complex information and make it relatable, easy to understand, and fun to watch.
You can trust our talented experts to visualize and create your animated educational videos and more. To get started, call us at (647) 625-9629 or contact us online. If you’re in the Toronto area, you’re also welcome to visit our production studio in person at 15 John St, Unit 2.