How do you find the best animation studio for your project?
Use Motion Giraffx’s insider knowledge to help you make the best decision and find the perfect animation production studio partner for your animation project.
Understand Your Objectives
There are many options when searching for the best animation studio to work with. Each studio has its own specialties and targets specific audiences.
To understand which is the best animation studio for your goals, you should first outline your own needs in detail.
Know Your Budget
One of the most important aspects here is understanding your budget.
As with most industries, you get what you pay for. If you’re looking through an animation production studio’s portfolio and seeing huge brand names and incredible work, then the price will reflect this. This doesn’t mean there’s not great value to be found elsewhere. For example, at Motion Giraffx, an independent animation studio, we’re able to offer exceptional quality at competitive pricing by keeping overheads low and focusing on quality. Sometimes the best animation studios in the world wouldn’t produce anything better than the independent animation studio, because what you’re looking for fits perfectly within their wheelhouse.
There’s nothing wrong with paying top dollar, but it has to be commensurate with your objectives. Having a realistic picture of your objectives will help you maximize your budget because you’ll end up paying for the bits you need, but not all the extras you probably don’t need.
It’s like when you walk into a car dealership and buy a car. The salesman is going to ask you some qualifying questions such as “what’s your budget” to lead you to the right fit for you. Animation works on a similar principle, there are so many options, so it’s going to make the process much easier if you come into it understanding the potential value the animation or video will bring to your company.
Know Your Audience
One of the first things they say in marketing is “know your audience.”
It’s the same thing with animation – you have to have a clear picture of what your audience wants and how you can give it to them. This is going to look slightly different for every business, and different animation production studios will cater to different needs.
Take Disney for example: some might say it’s the best animation production studio in the world, but would you hire them to create content for your informational heat exchanger video?
Once you have a good picture of the kind of information your audience is looking for, then you can look through animation production studios’ portfolios to see if they have experience with that kind of content.
Remember that every project is specific to the client, so you may not find a perfect match, but you can get a good idea of where the best animation studio’s expertise lies.
Analyze the Portfolio
Remember that an animation production studio’s job isn’t just animation – it’s marketing itself. Great care and thought are put into their websites and portfolios, so whatever work they’re presenting, know that it’s the studio’s absolute best!
This means you should put careful consideration into the portfolios you’re looking at and ask the right questions to find the best animation studio.
Finding a precise comparison is rare amongst a list of animation studios, so look for high-level categories of work that your project is similar to. This will help you understand the quality of work a studio might produce for you. To do this, you should choose a few projects from the portfolio and ask the following questions:
- Was this a direct-to-client project, through another agency, or was it spec work?
- What was the process for an animation like this? Walk me through your involvement, what you did vs. what did your client provide to you?
- How long did this project take from concept to completion, and is that a typical turnaround time for a project of this scope?
- How many people worked on this project? Are those people full-time or contract?
- What were some challenges in this project and how did you overcome them?
The best animation studios will be able to take an active role in all aspects of the production. By asking these questions, you will get a better idea of exactly how much input the studio had on the content, helping you to understand what you can expect from the process.
Look for Social Proof
The best animation studios will have overwhelmingly good feedback.
As we mentioned, one of the key functions of animation production studios is to market themselves, and as they know social proof is important, they’re going to make a point of showing you reviews and testimonials.
Pay attention to the experiences other people have had, and make sure to do some digging beyond just what you see on their website.
Check out things like Google and Glassdoor reviews to get a feel for what the customer and employee experience is like. Is this really the best animation studio? Is this independent animation studio what you need? Is this a 3D animation studio (if you need 3D animation). These are all things you need to investigate to find the right animation production studio.
Do They Have Award-Winning Work?
Everyone loves recognition and this is definitely true for animation production studios.
Like many other studios, we at Motion Giraffx are regularly entering our work in contests. We do this because we’re proud of the work we do (and winning the Lantern Award for animation two years in a row is great for business).
When the best animation studios regularly enter their work in contests it’s a sign they stand behind the quality of their creations. We believe that every piece of work we create should be worthy of an award, and this is the mentality the best animation studios will have.
How Long Have They Been in Business?
Successfully running big projects and ensuring the highest quality work comes with experience. When you have an important or large project, it’s vital that you work with a team who has the experience to meet your needs.
Like social proof, it’s not the be-all and end-all, but animation production studios that have been in business for at least several years and have proven portfolio experience is a strong indicator that you’re going to get the successful results you’re looking for.
Does Leadership Understand Animation?
The best animation studios aren’t just good at animating – they’re also great marketers.
A studio that has proven ability to support and collaborate well with a corporate marketing team is a treasure. This is a service that should transcend the company’s experience or lack of experience working on animation projects.
Many large studios and agencies are led by non-creative business professionals who may or may not fully understand the scope of work that they’re agreeing to on behalf of their artists. This leads to large promises that can’t be met by the people on the creative side of the business.
In top studios like Motion Giraffx, every employee animates. When we discuss your project and make a promise, it’s based on first-hand experience of the process.
Conclusion
There is no “best animation studio”, but there is a best animation studio for your project.
To find the right studio, you should first focus on your own business, target audience, what you want to achieve, and what value the animation will bring to your company. Once you have clear parameters for your project, then you can start to explore the strengths and weaknesses of different animation production studios.
Good studios should give you ample information from which to make an informed decision – but don’t just be sold on the marketing materials. Reach out to the studios and ask the important questions. The answers they give you will show whether they’re a good fit, and what results you can expect from your project.
Find out if Motion Giraffx is the right fit for you – view our full portfolio!
