With the rising popularity of whiteboard animated videos, our department has received a few requests to create some and now we have the ability to provide that service. Thanks to a new software acquisition of VideoScribe, we are now able to illustrate and integrate custom whiteboard animations into our video production workflow. I tinkered around with the software and saw some interesting potential as I created a sample video giving a general overview of what Information Technology (IT) is.
Whiteboard animations tend to be the most effective when created with pre-recorded narration. While narration can be added after the fact, timing in VideoScribe is a lot more efficient when done prior to creating the animation. Videoscribe has a timeline feature that places each whiteboard element to be drawn in sequential order. One can then alter the duration of that animation with the audio playing in the background.
![screen-shot-2016-12-01-at-11-59-20-am-2](https://sites.duke.edu/ddmc/files/2016/12/Screen-Shot-2016-12-01-at-11.59.20-AM-2-300x169.png)
Whiteboard elements can come from a couple sources. You can import pre-fabricated elements from the vast VideoScribe library. The images are scalable and can be rotated and flipped but that’s about it. As I said, the library is pretty large so for most basic concepts, you should be able to find what you’re looking for. For more customized presentations, hand drawn (or digital images) can be converted into SVG format via a graphics editor like Adobe Illustrator and imported into VideoScribe.
Once placed, images are drawn with a preselected “hand” animation that draws the image over the selected duration. After the animation is done, the image can be erased, morphed, or transitioned into the next animation until the presentation is complete.
While the workflow is pretty straightforward for narrated video. Recorded video with an image is a little more cumbersome but not excessively so. Preproduction would definitely require the process of storyboarding where a script would have to be written beforehand with specific segment gaps left open for the animations by the presenter. Properly framing the videos to identify where individuals would be placed during the presentation would also be necessary. The production of the initial version of the video took about 8 production hours – which includes time to learn the software (the audio was pre-produced and borrowed from an existing video)
Overall I am pretty pleased with the VideoScribe animation software and look forward to implementing it in our workflow. It’s accessibility, ease of use, and versatility make it a powerful instructional illustration tool. Take a peek at my IT promo video and check out a taste of what it can do!