A well-made motion design video explains in one minute what a slide deck takes twenty slides to leave unsaid. Badly scoped, it arrives late, costs twice as much and ends up in a shared folder nobody opens.
This guide gathers what a marketing department, a training team or a communications team needs to know before starting: what motion design is for, which format to choose, what it costs, how a video is made, how to get it approved in a large group, and how to know whether it worked. Each part links to a more detailed article.
What is a motion design video?
Motion design is graphic design in motion: shapes, text, icons, interfaces and illustrations brought to life, carried by a voice-over, music and sound. No shoot, no actors, no set. Everything is drawn, animated, then edited.
It is not quite a cartoon: rather than telling a story with characters, it explains an idea, a product or a process. Most corporate videos are 2D, in the brand's visual identity. 3D or live-action footage remain possible, for other needs and other budgets.
Why companies use it
- To explain what cannot be filmed. Software, a financial mechanism, a reorganisation, a quality process: there is nothing to film, but everything to show.
- To get to the point. One well-written minute of video carries a message few people would read to the end.
- To stay on brand. Colours, typefaces, pictograms: the video looks like the brand, not like a stock library.
- To update without starting over. A figure changes, a new logo, one more language: you edit one element, you do not call a film crew back.
- To reach everyone. Subtitles, language versions and formats for every screen all come from the same files.
Our work shows three very different examples: a cinematic teaser for InFiNe, and two SaaS presentation videos for Abrège and NotionScheduler.
Which format for which goal
A video that tries to do everything does nothing well. The right starting point is not the style, it is the goal: what should people know, think or do after watching it?
| Goal | Format | Length | For whom |
|---|---|---|---|
| Convince: present an offer, a product, a team | Presentation video | 60 to 90 s | Prospects, partners, committees |
| Train: a product, a process, a regulation | E-learning module | 3 to 5 min | Sales teams, business teams, new joiners |
| Inform: a change, a tool, the employer brand | Internal video | 1 to 2 min | Every employee |
For a SaaS product, the presentation video also carries the launch, on Product Hunt and LinkedIn: our article on the SaaS launch video details its constraints.
Three questions help decide. Who watches, and where: in a LinkedIn feed, on your site, in an LMS, on a lobby screen? What should change after watching? And who must approve it before release? The answers set the format, the length and the schedule.
What a motion design video costs
Market prices range from a few hundred euros to more than €15,000, because very different things are being compared and most quotes are based on time spent. What really drives the price: length, style, script writing, voice-over and languages, the number of rounds, versions and the approval chain.
We chose the opposite of ranges: a fixed price per format, written down before we start.
What is included, the add-ons and the questions to ask when comparing two quotes are in our article on motion design video pricing.
How a video is made, step by step
A motion design video is built like a building: you do not pour the foundations after the roof. Each step is approved in writing before the next, because a change costs more the later it comes.
- Scoping. A call and a written brief: the goal, the audience, the message, the approvers, the release date. The schedule is set there.
- Script. The voice-over and on-screen text, sequence by sequence. It is approved in writing before any visual: this is where a change costs almost nothing.
- Storyboard. Every shot drawn, in order. The committee sees the whole video before it is animated. It is the last moment to change your mind at no cost.
- Animation and sound. Motion, voice-over, music and sound design. A first complete version is delivered.
- Revisions and delivery. Consolidated rounds of feedback, then exports for each channel, subtitles and, on request, source files.
For a presentation video, it all fits in 28 days. The detail is on our process page. Everything starts with a good brief: our one-page brief template comes down to five questions.
How long it should run
The right length depends less on the subject than on where the video will be watched and how much attention you have.
| Where it is watched | Recommended length | What matters |
|---|---|---|
| LinkedIn feed or social media | 30 to 60 s | A hook in the first seconds, subtitles for silent viewing |
| Home page or product page | 60 to 90 s | A clear promise, then the proof |
| Sales meeting or email | 60 to 120 s | Answering the questions a buyer asks |
| Training in an LMS | 3 to 5 min per module | One objective per sequence, one module per topic |
| Internal communication | 1 to 2 min | One message, the same for everyone |
Beyond two minutes for a marketing video, the message thins out. If you have more to say, several short videos beat one long one. The channel-by-channel detail, and the method for staying within the time, are in our article on corporate video length.
Getting a video approved in a large group
In a mid-sized company, a video goes through marketing and leadership. In a large group, it also goes through legal, compliance, sometimes medical, HR, subsidiaries and employee representatives. It is rarely strict reviewers that delay a video: it is a comment landing on finished animation that would have taken ten minutes on a script.
Three rules prevent most delays:
- list the approvers at scoping, with what each one approves and at which step;
- approve the substance on the script and the form on the storyboard, in writing;
- isolate figures, mentions and any text likely to change in the files, so they can be updated without remaking the film.
Our article on getting a video through legal review details the method, and the one on announcing a reorganisation on video applies it to the most sensitive case.
Measuring what the video delivers
Views prove little. A successful video is measured by what it changes: sales meetings that get going faster, a training module finished by a large majority of participants, fewer questions to support or managers after an announcement.
Pick the indicator before producing the video, not after: it guides the script. We gathered the useful indicators, and how to track them with your own data, in our article on what an internal video delivers.
Motion design, live action or something else?
Motion design is not always the right answer.
- Choose motion design to explain an idea, a product, a figure or a process, to update easily, and to adapt into several languages.
- Prefer live action when the emotion comes from real faces: a customer testimonial, a leader's portrait, a place or a craft to show.
- Combine both when you need to embody and explain: filmed images for the people, motion for the figures and diagrams.
The most common mistakes
- Trying to say everything. Three messages is already a lot. Twelve is none.
- Starting with the style. Style serves the message. It is chosen after the script, not before.
- Discovering approvers along the way. Each one adds a version if they arrive after the script.
- Writing for the screen on your desk. A video watched in a feed without sound needs subtitles and an immediate hook.
- Planning nothing for afterwards. Release formats, subtitles, source files, rights: better written in the quote than negotiated later.
Where to start
Start with one sentence: what people should know, think or do after watching the video. With that sentence, you can choose the format, estimate the price with our configurator and prepare the brief. If you would rather talk it through, a thirty-minute call is enough to leave with a format, a price and a date.
