Animated video vs live video. Advantages and disadvantages

What to choose: animation or shooting from nature? There are situations when such a question is not raised. However, there are no less cases when it is relevant. If you are thinking about which video format to choose for advertising your product / service: animation or shooting from nature, then this article is for you.

Let's say right away: the question "which is better" in this case is incorrect: both animation and video filming each perform their own tasks. There are situations when the choice is obvious: an apple orchard and beautiful views are best shown from nature. But the house, which is still under construction, can only be advertised with the help of graphics.

However, there are times when animation or video seems to be equally interesting solutions. We invite you to independently evaluate the pros and cons of each of these formats.

Pros of live video:

Realism. At the subconscious level, the viewer believes more in what is happening on the screen if it is filmed live. Animation, on the other hand, is initially perceived as a fantasy. Video filming makes the video documentary, providing the "effect of truth." Even if everything, from beginning to end, is staged, the viewer will subconsciously believe the "live" video more than the drawn pictures.
Genre versatility. Videos can be funny, touching, dramatic, childish - in one word, any. There are many ways to convey the desired idea using video techniques.
A clear production principle. It is much faster and easier to shoot one scene from several points and different shots than to draw the same thing. Changing frames in video editing is much easier than making minor edits to graphics. (Moreover, the more complex the graphics, the more difficult it is to make edits.) Rendering graphics takes much more time than rendering video.
Cons of live video:

Unpredictability. There is always an element of unpredictability in video filming. The weather can deteriorate, the actors who have been arguing for a long time - get sick, the car break down, the film crew - get into an accident (ugh, ugh, ugh, but there were such cases). And the more people and equipment are involved in the process, the higher the likelihood of unforeseen situations. Of course, they are all resolved. But this always requires emotional, time, and often also financial costs.
Conservativeness. There are times when the footage for some reason does not meet the requirements. The reasons can be both technical (this happens very rarely, but no one is immune from an unexpected "glitch" of electronics), and artistic. During the editing, you can correct something: somewhere to enlarge the frame, somewhere to "gloss over", somewhere to change the color, but if something gets into the frame that should not have gotten in the opinion of the customer (disorder on the desk of employees, “Wrong” documents and people, etc.), it will be more problematic and expensive to re-shoot everything anew.
Fragility. Video production is developing very rapidly. The technique is improving, new video formats, new programs and even distribution channels appear. Certain effects and directorial techniques come into fashion (and come out). Videos taken 5 years ago look outdated and unfashionable today. That's why you need to reshoot videos about every two years!
However, this point is no less relevant for animated videos. Advantages of the animation video.

Emotionality. Subconsciously, the animated video is associated with children's cartoons, and therefore is perceived favorably by the audience. High-quality animation is always impressive and evokes positive emotions. This is extremely important for advertising.
Ample opportunities. With the help of animation, you can make it snow or shine the sun and shine a rainbow, draw summer in winter, travel to the past or the future, create a fictional world and fictional characters. And also: show viewers not yet built houses, bridges, roads and cities ...
Ergonomic The animation video is ergonomic in terms of production. To create it, you do not need a producer, cameraman, editor, sound engineer, actors, drivers, make-up artists, etc. You do not need to look for a suitable location for filming, conduct casting of actors, go to the shooting, etc., etc., etc. You can draw an ideal location, ideal characters, show different cities, countries and continents - something that would be expensive in a “live” video.
Cons of the animation video:

Complexity. Animation creation is a time consuming and technically complex process. Making edits requires resources and time - rendering an animation clip takes much more time than rendering a video clip.
Price. The price of an animated video directly depends on the complexity. Obviously, Motion design will cost less than 3D story graphics. High-level animation, various special effects, animation often make such a video more expensive than traditional video shooting. You can check the prices for creating animated videos on this https://darvideo.tv/blog/7-key-characteristics-you-should-focus-on-when-choosing-an-animated-video-company/ site.