What types of animated videos are there?

• 2D explainer animation: the workhorse for explaining products and services simply. Flexible style, mid-range cost, fast to produce.
• Motion graphics: animated text, icons, data and interface elements. Ideal for abstract topics, software, finance, processes, and for making statistics compelling.
• 3D animation: photorealistic product visualisation, technical cutaways, things a camera cannot film. The premium tier in cost and production time.
• Whiteboard animation: hand-drawn explanation style, strong for training and step-by-step logic, though visually dated for brand campaigns.
• Character animation: story-driven films with recurring figures, powerful for emotional topics and repeated series.
• Mixed media: live action plus animated overlays, the best of both when you have real people and abstract data, as in our work visualising weather intelligence for Meteomatics.

Start from the content, not the style. Physical products with visual appeal usually want live action or 3D; invisible offerings, software, insurance, data services, are natural motion graphics territory; processes and training suit 2D explainers; emotion and brand storytelling favour character work or mixed media. Then check brand fit: animation locks you into a visual style, so the illustration language should extend your identity, not fight it.

Per finished minute in the Swiss market, expect roughly CHF 4,000 to 10,000 for solid 2D and motion graphics, and significantly more for high-end 3D. Timelines run four to eight weeks because script, style frames, storyboard and voiceover each need approval before animation starts, changes after animation begins are expensive. The upside: animated assets are cheap to update and translate, which makes them unusually durable investments.

• Is the style custom or template-based? Template explainers look like everyone else's video.
• Who owns the source files? You want the project files so future updates do not depend on one vendor.
• What are the approval gates? Script, style frames and storyboard should each be signed off before animation starts.
• Is the voiceover included, and in which languages? Localisation is animation's superpower, plan it from the start.