Video Infographics: What It Is, Why It's Needed, and How It Looks
Video Infographics are a tool for visually representing quantitative data dynamically. With it, you can show the viewer how data changes over time, track specific indicators, compare them, and analyze trends.
Video Infographics are used to quickly and visually convey the main message, especially when the topic is complex. This is popular in science, medicine, engineering, business, and other primarily technical fields.
For the viewer, the main difference between video infographics and static ones is the ability to track how data changes over time or in relation to a specific parameter. In static illustrations, we see “frozen” data, extracting one key message that the author wanted to convey. Video infographics, on the other hand, allow viewers to observe data dynamically, enabling them to interpret multiple sequential messages at once.
At “OnFocus Studio” we have been specializing in creating video infographics and animated videos for over 8 years, having produced more than seven hundred projects during this time. In this article, we share our expertise on the subject and illustrate what can be considered as video infographics, and what cannot. After reading the article, you will find it easier to determine whether video infographics are beneficial for your business.
Contents
Differences between Video Infographics and Regular Animated Videos
Let’s take a look at an example of an animated video with elements of video infographics. We developed this for the company GoodFoodRussia. By the way, this video helped our client attract investors, captivate their audience, and secure million-dollar contracts.”
Here are scenes with infographics from this video:
Thanks to infographics and skillful presentation, the message becomes clear even to someone who doesn’t speak English. And this is despite the fact that the topic is not the simplest.
Further Business Tasks Resolved with Video Infographics
Video Infographics save the viewer’s time—such as an investor or business partner—by simplifying the understanding of concepts or issues. When done correctly, it can influence their decision, becoming a practical tool for the author (the one who commissioned the video infographic), helping articulate their position and be heard. As a result, it becomes easier to present ideas effectively and attract funding for their implementation.
In which cases does it make sense to order video infographics? This visualization tool is not required as often as it may seem. This format involves filling the video sequence with quantitative data, which needs to be collected from somewhere initially.
To create an infographic, a substantial amount of data is required, allowing one to glean insights about the company or the challenging issue addressed by its product. Only if you have extracted an interesting correlation or obtained intriguing data (or insights from the data) and wish to share it with others, investing in video infographics makes sense. In such cases, it becomes a ‘diagnostic’ tool for viewers to understand a particular situation.
Video infographics are relevant in large-scale projects where significant profits are at stake, such as fundraising efforts where hundreds of millions of rubles or more can be secured. This is particularly relevant for Investment Relations (IR specialists).
Let’s consider how the probability of a positive investment allocation decision might change with or without video infographics. Let’s assume it adds just 10% to that probability. However, if the financial stake is a billion rubles, these ‘minor’ increments no longer seem insignificant. Paying a few hundred thousand or even a million for video infographics doesn’t appear to be an absurd idea.
How much does it cost? The minimum budget for creating video infographics is $5,000, with an average ranging from $10,000 to $30,000. The funds go towards the efforts of an entire team of specialists: data miners, account managers, producers, editors, designers, art directors, sound directors, and, in some cases, 2D and 3D artists, among other specialized professionals.
Applications and Visual Styles of Video Infographics in Various Fields
Video infographics can be employed in any field where it’s crucial to swiftly and clearly convey a message derived from quantitative information. Let’s delve into specific examples.
Corporate Communications.
For instance, we crafted a presentation video with elements of video infographics for the company Good Food. Thanks to this video, our client successfully attracted a significant amount of investments
Construction.
Video infographics can be utilized to showcase the components of a building or construction project.
Online Courses.
Our studio created an online video course about wine for the company SimpleWine. Using infographics, we explain the wine production process, wine pairings with different foods, and the geography of wine.
Another example of video infographics for online courses is a painting course created for the company Synchronization.
Principles of Creating Video Infographics
- What (messages) do we want to convey?
- Why, for what purpose, do we want to show them?
- How will we do it?
- How does it relate to each other — does our approach make it easy to comprehend this data?
- What will the viewer take away from this, and will his conclusions coincide with the ones we planned to lead to?
- The answers to these questions will help make a decision, whether to create video infographics or not. And if yes, how to convey your ideas in the most understandable way and not overload with meanings.
Children, when unsure how to explain something, draw or gesture. The same principle applies to video infographics, where it’s essential not just to draw but to convey the message correctly.
Carl Hovland, a representative of the Yale School of Persuasive Communication, identified three stages of persuasion in the 1940s: attention, understanding, acceptance. A visual image undoubtedly captures attention, is straightforward to understand, meaning there’s just a little left to complete the triad. Strong argumentation ensures acceptance. If the creation of video infographics is done with quality, aesthetics, and careful consideration of presentation, sparing no expense on design and technical aspects, the persuasion task will be accomplished.
The Infographic Creation Process
The person overseeing the creation of infographics is someone capable of formulating the message, establishing a chain of command, and defining the hierarchy of messages — identifying the main message and secondary ones. This aids in structuring the workflow and evaluating the results.
Once all the meanings are gathered and organized, data miners come into play. They find and analyze data and relevant information, extracting patterns using various methods of mathematical analysis. They present these findings in a convenient form for visualization, highlighting the most interesting aspects.
Subsequently, the data miner or editor briefs the designer. The technical specifications describe how to present the information in a way that the viewer accurately interprets it — capturing the exact meanings intended. The editor, data miner, and manager supervise the process and results, providing feedback and collaborating with the designer to finalize the task. The art director ensures the overall presentation of our message looks polished and beautiful.
Common Mistakes to Avoid
- have time to read the headline;
- read all the numbers;
- correlate the headline, numbers, and indicators;
- understand the message.
- The classic length of scenes from 3 to 6 seconds doesn't apply here — you need more. You need just enough time for the viewer to process the information without getting bored.
- It's amusing that animation (the appearance of graphics, text, and numbers) in some scenes lasts as long as the static scene itself. However, this may not be enough for the viewer to fully understand what was being discussed. In short, don't get carried away with animation and motion if you want to get infographic video as the result.
Conclusion
An animated video does not become an infographic just because it includes vivid numbers, bars, and diagrams. Infographics are tools for solving serious practical problems. They help establish effective communication quickly and convincingly, and are created using a specific technology.
Conveying the value of your project and influencing the decisions of others becomes much easier when you have a compelling video with all the essential information. To learn more about this topic and to order an infographic video, feel free to contact us – we’ll deliver the best results even within tight deadlines.
