The brief is the cheapest way to improve an animation project's outcome. A good one saves a full round of revisions at every stage. A missing one adds weeks and thousands. Here's what to include — whether your studio provides a template or not.
Why the brief matters more than you think
Animation studios quote based on what they understand about your project. A vague brief produces a vague quote, a vague script, and a video that requires three rounds of "that's not what we meant." A clear brief aligns everyone on the first draft — which is where the real money is saved.
The template: 8 fields every studio needs
1. The one-sentence goal
"After watching this video, the viewer should ___."
Not "understand our platform." Something testable: "request a demo," "pass the compliance quiz," "stop calling IT about password resets." One video, one job. If you have three goals, you need three videos.
2. Target audience
Who watches this? Job title, decision-making stage, and what they already know. "Marketing directors evaluating analytics tools who've already seen a competitor demo" produces a different video than "anyone in business."
3. Key message (not a feature list)
The single idea the viewer takes away. Features support the message — they aren't the message. If you can't state it in one sentence, the script can't either.
4. Where the video lives
Homepage hero? Sales email? YouTube ad? Trade show booth? This determines length, aspect ratio, sound-on vs. captioned, and whether the opening needs a hook or can assume an engaged viewer. A video built for a homepage won't perform as a YouTube pre-roll and vice versa.
5. Tone and style references
Link two or three videos you like — and say what you like about each. "Like this one's pacing but not the illustration style" is worth more than "professional and modern." If you're not sure about styles, our breakdown of the 20 best types of animation styles is a good starting point.
6. Must-include and must-avoid
Brand guidelines, compliance requirements, competitors you can't reference, claims you can't make, regulatory language that must appear verbatim. Legal constraints discovered during animation cost ten times what they cost during scripting.
7. Timeline and deadlines
When you need the finished video and why (launch date, campaign start, trade show). If it's flexible, say so — it affects pricing. If it's immovable, say that too — the studio needs to know on day one, not week three. For realistic expectations, see how long an explainer video takes to make.
8. Who approves
Name every person who will review the script, storyboard, and final video. This is the single biggest schedule risk on every project — if legal, the CMO, or the CEO needs to approve and the studio doesn't know until animation is done, the timeline resets. Get sign-off authority agreed before kickoff.
What you don't need in the brief
- A finished script. That's the studio's job. Bullet points, a rough outline, or even "here's our landing page — translate this" is plenty.
- Technical animation direction. "Use motion graphics with a teal and white palette" is helpful; "use 24fps with ease-in-out bezier curves" is doing the animator's job.
- A perfect document. A bullet-point email covering the 8 fields above beats a polished deck that skips half of them.
Or skip the brief entirely
A brief is a tool — not a gate. If you'd rather just talk it through, that works too. Tell us what you're making in a few sentences and we'll ask the right questions on a kickoff call. The result is the same: a shared understanding before the script starts.