Animation and explainer video production in Ireland

When the thing you need to show can’t easily be filmed. Software, a process inside a machine, a policy, a set of numbers or 25 years of history all work better drawn than filmed. Animation lets you strip the message back to what matters and control every frame.

It also suits subjects people can’t or won’t appear on camera for, and films that will need updating later, because a scene can be changed without a reshoot. The Law Reform Commission used animation to walk the public through eight recommendations; Enet used it to tell 25 years in 80 seconds.

If your story is about people, places or a team’s culture, filming usually wins. Many projects mix both: an animated product walkthrough inside a filmed case study. If you’re not sure which you need, that’s what the first call is for.

• Animation and motion graphics in storytelling

Most of the work happens before anything moves. It runs in this order:

• the script, written to length and approved by you
• style frames: a few finished stills that set the colours, type and look
• the storyboard: every scene drawn and matched to the script
• the voiceover, recorded once the script is locked
• the animation, built scene by scene and timed to the voice
• sound design, music and the final mix

Each step is signed off before the next starts, so changes stay cheap. Changing a storyboard means redrawing a sketch; changing a finished scene can mean animating it again. For Enet, the storyboard was approved first, and the client’s only notes on the first version were about the sound, fixed the next day.

Four styles cover most explainers. Kinetic type and icon-based motion graphics move text, shapes and icons in time with a voiceover; they’re quick to make and the most affordable. 2D illustration adds drawn scenes and characters designed for your brand, like the inclusive cast in Special Olympics Ireland’s safeguarding film. Whiteboard animation draws the story on screen as it’s told, which suits step-by-step explanations.

Mixed media combines animation with photos or footage: Enet’s anniversary film moves archive photos through a timeline, and Blynksolve’s explainer animates the software’s own screens over cleanroom footage. Every style is built in your brand’s colours and fonts, and we work with specialist animators where a style needs it.

Usually 60 to 90 seconds. That’s long enough to explain one idea clearly and short enough that most people watch to the end. A voiceover runs at roughly 140 to 150 words a minute, so a 60-second script is only about 140 words. Trying to fit more in makes the animation rush.

Longer works when people choose to watch, such as training, onboarding or public information: Special Olympics Ireland’s safeguarding film runs nearly four minutes, built in clear sections. For social, plan short cut-downs from the start so scenes can be lifted out as clips. Every minute of animation adds to the price, so a tighter script saves money too.

Yes. Captions come on every film as standard, so it works with the sound off and for people who are deaf or hard of hearing. For public bodies and charities we can go further. The Law Reform Commission’s safeguarding film has subtitles and an Irish Sign Language interpreter on screen throughout, and Special Olympics Ireland’s uses an inclusive cast, including a wheelchair user.

Plain language matters as much as the visuals: one idea per scene, short sentences in the voiceover and clear contrast in the colours. If your organisation has accessibility guidelines, send them with the brief and we’ll design to them from the storyboard stage, not as a fix at the end.