Among many forms of advertisement media, animation has a superpower. It engages viewers with unorthodox imagery and snappy movements. It draws us into the creative world of stories in the blink of an eye. Commercial animation is a powerful marketing tool for businesses of all sizes. It comes in different forms and styles. It can be a state-of-the-art 3D animation with full-blown characters and detailed scenes, or it can feature hand-drawn 2D characters with a beautiful art style, or even a motion graphic that contains simple shapes that are brought to life by creative and complex movements. In this article we will dive deep into the world of commercial animation. We will explore different styles and techniques for creating animated ads, as well as the software used to create them, Stay tuned!
What is Considered a Commercial Animation?
Based on the medium on which an animated commercial video will be published, advertisers usually choose a style that fits the platform’s visual look and trends its users are accustomed to. 2D explainer videos and motion graphics are a better fit for ad campaigns targeting a YouTube audience compared to 3D animated videos. Television advertisements on the other hand, are the realm of established prestigious brands that deploy a hefty marketing budget to achieve high engagement through visually exciting 3D animated commercials.
Different Types of Commercial Animation
Let’s get into the details of various commercial animation types:
3D Commercial Animation
3D animation is probably the most popular way of producing animation for advertising. We conceive the world around us in three dimensions, that is why 3D animated characters and objects stimulate a pleasant reaction in our mind.3D characters with interesting physiques and movements are visually appealing. Since the advent of the technology, businesses all over the world have benefited from ad campaigns powered by commercial 3D animation. It suits almost every type of media outlet. Whether a 3D animated commercial is going to appear on mainstream TV or before a YouTube video, it will be equally engaging.
Software Used to Produce 3D Commercial Animation
The industry-standard software for creating 3D animation has always been Autodesk Maya. Maya’s powerful character animation and rigging tools have made it very popular among studios and artists. 3D commercial animation can also be made with Blender, Cinema 4D and 3ds Max, which, like Maya, are 3D modeling and animation software. A 3D animation pipeline might include other specialty software for sculpting, texturing and cloth design as well. Maxon Zbrush, Mari, Substance Painter and Marvelous Designer are examples of such software.
Explainer Videos
Explainer videos are the simplest form of 2D commercial animation. They are short-form videos with simple visuals used for sales, marketing and even educational purposes. They contain pre-made animations of some simple 2D characters with limited animation and movement. This type of animation is not meant to create stunning visuals, but rather to explain a topic, a service, or anything that requires a lot of details in the form of text, charts and infographics. Explainer videos are an accessible, inexpensive and easy form of commercial animation. However, they are less engaging and might sometimes look visually boring compared to other animation styles.
Software Used to Create Explainer Videos
Explainer videos can be produced using a variety of software. Adobe After Effects paired with Adobe Illustrator is one of the main workflows for creating them. Other software such as Wondershare Filmora is used to create them as well. Due to their relative simplicity, explainer videos are usually created with ready-made templates via various online services.
Motion Graphics
Although explainer videos are considered a type of motion graphics, the term motion graphics has a more specific meaning in the commercial animation spectrum. In the CGI industry, motion graphics typically refer to animated videos featuring vibrant, harmonic and fast-paced moving elements. Character animation is often minimal in motion graphics. Engaging the audience through a dynamic range of motions and graphic effects masterfully applied to shapes and text to convey information is the main idea behind motion graphics. Satisfying motions and transitions as a means of keeping the viewer engaged is motion graphics’ primary goal. Overall, motion graphics are powerful tools for creating advertising animation.
Software Used to Create Motion Graphics
The industry-standard for creating 2D motion graphics is Adobe After Effects. The software allows achieving complex motion with precise controls through a powerful suite of keyframing animation features. Another reason why After Effects is popular among motion graphics artists is the ability to use the JavaScript programming language within the program for automating tasks. 2D motion graphics are the primary way small and midsize enterprises (SME) create commercial animation for the web and social media.
When it comes to 3D motion graphics, however, Cinema 4D is the industry-standard. Although 3D motion graphics can be produced using other 3D packages like Maya and Blender, Cinema 4D has specialized tools for Motion Graphics. Cinema 4D’s MoGraph are set of various tools including generators, effectors and shaders that enable artists to created 3D motion graphics faster. The software seamless integration with Adobe After Effects is also another reason why Cinema 4D is used to create 3D motion graphic commercial animation. 3D motion graphics are very popular for producing animated commercials for actual physical products.
2D Commercial Animation
Brought to life by drawings, 2D animation incorporates either hand-drawn images or vector-based graphics to tell stories. 2D animators draw and animate characters on a flat canvas using specialized software. 2D animation itself has different styles and comes in various forms. The classic Disney style of 2D animation that is also known as traditional frame-by-frame animation is a labor-intensive and costly type of 2D animation. Since producing high-quality traditional 2D animation with a unique and memorable art style is a lengthy process, a compelling story is also required to make the effort worthwhile. Thus, this type of commercial animation is usually chosen by global brands with long-term advertisement campaigns and substantial budgets.
Software Used to Create 2D Commercial Animation
Traditional 2D animation can be made using various software. Toon Boom Harmony, Adobe Animate and Moho are used widely. 2D animation is made using two major techniques, hand-drawn frame-by-frame animation and digital cut-out animation. Frame-by-frame animation is more time-consuming and expensive and is a good medium for creating visually exciting 2D animated commercials. Digital cut-out animation, on the other hand, can be produced faster but it is not as good looking as hand-drawn frame-by-frame animation.
Live-Action, Animation and Visual Effects
Another popular technique to produce commercial videos is to combine live-action footage (real video captured with cameras) with animated elements and visual effects. The movie Ted is an example of this genre. This genre is particularly popular because it allows the integration of highly creative 3D imagery and visual effects with real-world scenarios/products. Live-Action, visual effects and animation are combined and made into one final image using a technique called compositing.
Software Used to Produce Visual Effects Commercials
This style of commercial videos can be created using compositing software such as Foundry Nuke and Adobe After Effects. Rendered images of 3D models, animations, or visual effects, along with live-action footage recorded with cameras, are imported into compositing software to create a unified look. With the help of software like Nuke, visual effects artists can tweak some details such as lighting to make the final render look as if visual elements were in the real footage.
Final Thoughts
Commercial animation comes in different styles and forms to capture viewers’ attention and establish a pleasant image of a brand in their mind. There are many factors that contribute to the effectiveness of commercial animation such as compelling storytelling, art style, characters, environments and last but not least memorable voice acting.
Deciding on the type of animation for advertising can be somewhat tricky. Choosing which animation style to opt for requires careful examination of the target audience and the brand’s visual preference. Whether opting for a 2D or a 3D commercial video is a subjective choice in the end. One good thing about animation though, is that with enough passion and effort, it usually yields stunning results.
