On Quora, I recently saw this a question about how to make your own animated promotional video and I thought it would be good information to share here on the blog too. I would be nice if Quora connected directly to WordPress but that functionality doesn’t appear to work on a custom theme. Anyway, here’s the “gist” on my answer.
You generally have three options:
1. After Effects.
Yes, as stated by one user, this would be the way to go if you’re willing to put in the hours to properly learn to use the software. The 2 hours hours mentioned by Vishalaksh is freakishly impressive (even using a template) but I notice that he is also a developer. A less technically-savvy person should by no means expect to do such a task in a couple of hours.
2. DYI platforms.
Perhaps two hours would be somewhat feasible with one of these tools, although you may find them more limiting. I will say that the free (or inexpensive) DYI tools are getting better and better.
Check out these services:
PowToon – Brings Awesomeness to your presentations
Moovly: Create Animated Content like a Pro
Wideo – Make animated online videos free
Adobe Spark- https://spark.adobe.com/make/video-editor/
3. Use a professional firm.
Sure, you pay more for sure than the DYI route but it will be faster and the quality likely much better- not just in terms of the animation but also the scriptwriting.
Here’s a good list of producers:
Explainer Video Producers Directory
And, of course, Gisteo is on that list but it’s good to explore and do your own homework!