At the core of Gravitation’s services is 3D animation. So is asking us “do I need an animation?” like asking a barber if you need a haircut?
NO!
3D Animation is comparatively expensive, time consuming to produce and update, and a challenge to get right. I’d happily talk you out of it if it’s not what you need. It’s also amazing, creative, compelling, and can communicate in a way no other form of media can. So YES, I’d be happy to talk you into it if animation is just the hammer for your nail. So when is a hammer what you need, and not a carpentry chisel or a phillips screwdriver? Here’s a checklist you can use to help answer that question. Note that “needs to be awesome” and “should educate” or “should elevate awareness” are not on the list. Animation is awesome and will elevate awareness, but so will a well written data sheet or web article. No, this is a list of reasons why animation might be your best or only option. If you don’t find at least one of these to be true, there are plenty of other communication tools we can offer.
It doesn’t exist. Is what you are trying to demonstrate something so new that the video guys can’t get their hands on one yet? Animators can build a model version that is perfect, is the right color, floats effortlessly in space, and performs flawlessly on every take.
You can’t video that. If you need to see how a drug molecule compound opens a specific receptor site on a specialized cell membrane, good luck hiring a video guy to shoot that. The GoPro guys have not invented a camera that small yet, and even if they did, the properties of light and form at the molecular level are unrecognizable in the human world. In the animator’s mind’s eye, they are colorful, dynamic, and very real.
You don’t want to video that! Imagine wanting to know what to expect in your approaching knee replacement surgery. If you show a patient a video of that, they will go to their grave with their original, old, broken knees. The Saw movie franchise is nothing compared to your orthopedic surgeons average day on the job. An animator can beautifully demonstrate the precision fit of a new prosthetic without spilling a single drop of blood.
It’s literally literal. If the most impressive factor of your product is that 4 out of 5 doctors recommend it for their patients who chew gum, you don’t need 3D animation. Animation is a visual (literal) medium. Show me — don’t tell me. If your key points are facts and ideas (conceptual), a scripted motion graphic will do nicely.
A moving picture is worth more than a thousand words. When “convince” or “educate” mean “demonstrate,” you are in the market for animation. Describing it sometimes just won’t do. More so, demonstrating multi-dimensional elements using 3D animation vs. 2D images can be like experiencing New York City by standing in Time Square vs. looking at a postcard.
It has to look friggin’ awesome! Okay, I said “awesome” wasn’t on the list, but some times just regular awesome is not enough to stand out. Animation can look like a million bucks without costing a million bucks. You need to spend money to look like money (or is it make money? Same diff). We don’t want you to spend more than you should, but we also don’t want you to spend less than you should. Animation can make your buck go BANG!
Regardless of your need, the best move is to pick the right tool for the job. First define the value, necessity, and nature of each communication objective. Only then pick the form of media that will best tell that story, and we will create it.
