Producing an explainer video involves more than making images move. Someone needs to understand the offer, choose a story, design the scenes, review the product facts, and bring the edit together. Those decisions still matter when AI tools enter the workflow.
The opportunity is to use AI where it helps a project move forward: exploring visual directions, preparing assets, testing a sequence, or generating a suitable shot. With a focused brief and clear review points, that can reduce some repetitive production work and help keep the scope manageable.
Faster production and lower costs are possibilities, rather than automatic results. The useful question is which parts of your particular video benefit from AI and which need direct creative control.
What is an AI explainer video?
An AI explainer video uses AI tools for some part of its production. That might include developing visual concepts, creating an illustration, animating an approved image, preparing a draft voice track, or helping organise an edit.
The finished video can combine generated material with custom animation, real interface footage, typography, narration, and sound design. The amount of AI involved varies between projects, so an accurate brief should describe the actual work and deliverables.
A useful explainer still gives the audience a clear situation, a reason to care, and a practical next step. The production method should serve that explanation.
Watch a brand video from Anigem Studio
The following Zepto motion graphics video is included as a creative reference. As you watch, look at how the visual style, character animation, and sequence of scenes support a short brand story. These are useful creative questions to bring into an AI-assisted project too.
Use a finished reference to discuss the result you want: the clarity of the message, the pace, the visual consistency, and the next step. A reference alone does not define how your project should be produced or priced.
Where AI can help production move faster
Exploring a visual direction
A team can use generated images to explore a setting, composition, or illustration style before committing to a full set of assets. The useful output is an approved direction that everyone understands.
Keep the exploration tied to the brief. Ten unrelated styles do not necessarily help you make a decision. Choose the criteria first, such as readable product information, an appropriate tone, and a palette that fits the brand.
Turning approved images into shots
Image-to-video workflows can start from an existing visual. Adobe's Firefly documentation, for example, describes using images as a first frame, a last frame, or both when generating a video. This gives a team a way to guide the shot with approved material.
See Adobe's image and video generation workflow
Review the result against the purpose of the scene. A smooth camera move is useful only if the important objects, character details, and meaning remain suitable for the explanation.
Testing an early edit
Draft visuals and temporary audio can help a team judge the sequence before polishing every scene. They can expose an unclear transition, a repeated idea, or a line of narration that needs too much explanation.
Set a clear approval point for the script and rough edit. Otherwise, the ability to generate alternatives can lead to repeated changes without a better story.
Why AI does not automatically mean a cheaper video
Generating a clip is one part of the work. A project may also need planning, art direction, product review, editing, sound, captions, additional formats, and revisions.
Generation itself can carry a cost. Adobe describes generative credits as the units used for supported image, video, and audio features, with consumption depending on the feature and plan. A subscription should be considered alongside the production work, rather than treated as the complete project budget.
Understand Adobe's generative credit system
The number of attempts also matters. Runway explains that models interpret prompts and references, so reaching a preferred result can take several rounds. Its guidance also distinguishes a completed result you dislike from a generation that fails with an error; those situations do not have the same credit treatment.
Read Runway's guidance on iterations and generation costs
Assess the cost of the usable, approved scene and the work needed to finish it. A low-cost first attempt may still need substantial revision. A custom animation may be the more practical choice when the scene requires exact control.
A practical workflow for a controlled budget
1. Choose one audience and one message
Write down who will watch and what they need to understand. A focused introduction to one service is easier to scope than a film covering every feature, audience, and use case.
Agree on where the video will appear and what the viewer should do next. These decisions affect the script, framing, and delivery versions.
2. Approve the script and storyboard
Plan the scenes before generating finished footage. Give each scene a distinct job and identify the product facts or visual details it must preserve.
For a hypothetical booking platform, the sequence might show a scheduling problem, introduce the service, demonstrate one booking, and invite the viewer to explore it. The interface action may need real footage, while an introductory illustration may suit a generated shot.
Use our explainer video script guide
3. Choose the method for each scene
Decide which scenes use generated imagery, which need custom motion design, and which should show the real product. Evaluate the method around the scene's requirements.
- Generated imagery can be considered for visual concepts, atmospheric settings, or suitable illustration-led shots.
- Custom animation can provide deliberate control over timing, layouts, labels, and repeated brand elements.
- Real interface footage can show the product controls and behaviour a viewer needs to learn.
Combining methods gives the team more options. It also requires a consistent art direction so the finished edit feels like one piece.
4. Review before generating more variations
Agree on what makes a shot usable. Check the message, continuity, product facts, movement, and composition. Identify the problem with a rejected result before creating another version.
Keep an eye on the generation budget and review time together. A planned change is easier to evaluate than repeated attempts with an unclear target.
5. Finish the video for its actual use
Bring the selected shots into a deliberate edit. Review typography, narration, music levels, captions, and the final invitation. Check the video at the size people will watch, including on a phone.
Agree on the required aspect ratios, versions, source-file arrangements, and future updates. A website introduction and a vertical social clip may share assets but need different compositions.
What to include when comparing production quotes
Compare the scope of the finished work. Two offers labelled "AI video" can include very different levels of planning, custom design, editing, and review.
- The length and number of scenes in the agreed video.
- The balance of generated material, custom animation, and real footage.
- The level of product accuracy and brand consistency required.
- Narration, music, captions, and other audio or accessibility needs.
- Review stages and the revisions included.
- Final formats, usage arrangements, and update options.
A clearer scope helps you judge whether the proposal meets your needs. It also gives the production team a realistic basis for estimating the work.
Common questions about AI explainer videos
Can AI maintain our brand style?
References and a clear visual direction can guide the work, but each result still needs review. Keep critical typography, logos, product details, and repeated elements under appropriate design control. Check consistency across the edit, rather than approving each shot in isolation.
Can we promise a fixed turnaround before writing the brief?
The script, scene requirements, review process, and delivery versions all affect the schedule. Agree on those details before committing to a production timeline. A fast generated preview and an approved finished video are different milestones.
Is a fully generated video always the best option?
The right approach depends on what you need to show. A project with precise interface interactions or tightly repeated character actions may need a substantial amount of direct animation or editing. Choose the method around the message and accuracy requirements.
Plan a faster workflow around a clearer brief
Bring a short description of your business, the audience you want to reach, the message to explain, and an example of the visual style you like. Include your intended placement and the delivery date you are working towards.
At Anigem Studio, we can help discuss an approach that combines suitable AI tools with animation and motion design. The aim is a clear, useful video with a scope your team understands.
Explore our explainer video services
Discuss your video with Anigem Studio
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