How can traditional animation be used in explainer videos?

Traditional animation can enrich explainer videos by infusing them with charm, character, and authenticity. Through hand-drawn illustrations and frame-by-frame animation, complex concepts can be simplified and made more engaging. This approach evokes nostalgia and captivates the audience's attention while effectively conveying information.

Originally traditional animation was done on paper using special desks on which pages were kept, poses were drawn and tweens were drawn. Then a camera mounted setup was used to capture each frame, which were then put together to make the animation. More like a flipbook. Nowadays, traditional or cell animation is done using tools like animate cc where the same process is followed sans the pencil drawing. There are no keyframes, but it's a frame by frame drawing without any rigging or cgi animation.

Using the 12 principles of animation, originally created for Disney animations has always worked marvelously to capture viewers and to tell a more in-depth story. That is one of the pivotal strengths of traditional animation. It's less of a quick, general overview and more of an in-depth and detailed storytelling medium. It has a strong nostalgia value and let's you communicate more personally with your audience. Having used traditional animation to promote new product launches or to explain the impacts of a process, I can tell you that this style broadens the target audience, increases your ability to penetrative deeper into the market and has a much stronger recall than just using cgi.

The major challenges in my experience have been the time taken. Traditional animations need a lot more work, each frame needs to be painstakingly created. It thus encounters more cost and can't be used as a quick method to explain your latest update to a product. Thus this tool needs to be used carefully, like for new launches or major upgrades or to penetrative newer markets. Additionally, traditional animation artists are not as easily available and going with this style can cost a premium when it comes to budgeting.

If you want to go this route, then planning, storyboarding and careful art direction can overcome a lot of the challenges prevalent. These can help you iron out key things like 1. The medium used to create it - pen and paper, animate cc, procreate etc 2. The story to be told - You need to have the story iron clad and set out at the onset, as any tweak or change can lead to weeks if not months of delay. 3. The medium of publishing. - This will define everything. It is much harder and often requires re animation if you plan to change the resolution or shape of the final product when it comes to traditional animation. So plan ahead and be prepared.

Cell animation is another tool like many other styles and forms of animation used in storytelling. So remember, it's the story, the brand language and the demographics of the viewers that will dictate what style you finally choose. Before starting any project, make sure you have a clear vision of these three aspects.