3D animation is more popular than ever. In pursuit of a juicy picture in the media and social networks, some brands give all production to the side, while others set the trend for the creation of in-house agencies. But one way or another, everyone at some point is faced with a fundamental strategic question.
Develop your own 3D animation production department within the company or outsource video creation to a specialized agency? Buy equipment and train your own employees or hire experienced professionals who will have to dive into your specifics?
How many copies were broken in the eternal dispute in-house vs outsourcing! explains the pros and cons of in-house and outsource 3D animation company understands the situation with an open mind.
Ask the right questions to get the right answer.
For leading companies, the potential of video production became obvious not yesterday or even a year ago, but the debate on the topic of “in-house or outsourcing” still does not subside. Why?
Because there is no universal solution and defenders of both strategies rely on their subjective experience.
Arnold and iPhone
Therefore, when choosing between creating your own structural unit for 3D animation production and inviting a third-party agency, do not rush to blindly repeat after other colleagues. Better yet, first of all, answer a few security questions:
What industry do we work in and what are its features? Marketing of grocery retail is one thing, where the tasks of producing photo and video content are of a daily nature. And a completely different matter – b2b services or products with a transaction cycle of six months.
How often will we need videos? Every day? Once a week? Semiannually? Or just occasionally?
What should be the quality of the videos? Short simple videos for social networks or a serious presentation with staged filming and realistic 3D graphics?
What type of videos are needed and for what purpose? Explainer videos? Advertising? Live streams or step-by-step video instructions? Video for internal communications or for solving commercial problems?
How critical are deadlines? Will it be done when it is done or the video must be ready at the end of the year when an important investor arrives?
Honest answers to these questions will most often be enough to outline a strategy and understand: move towards the development of video production within the company or attract specialists from outside.
Now is the time to explore the pros and cons of each approach.
Pros of In-house
- 3D animation company employees understand your business, product, audience and need better than any outsider. This means that they accumulate experience and expertise within the company.
- Employees are aware in advance of all the difficulties and pitfalls that may arise in the process of creating a video. This means that the speed of work with growing volumes of content is higher for them.
- Fewer approvals and time lags. Hence, the cost per unit of content is lower and the quality is higher. Perhaps this is the most important point, because of which the internal video production is created.
- Buying a camera and hiring a former TV journalist to make short videos and live broadcasts on a regular basis will be cheaper than bringing in a film crew from the outside every time.
- For example, it is easy enough to assemble a small staff of designers who will make regular instructional videos and other uncomplicated content for airport visitors
Cons of In-house
The boss is always right. For a full-time employee of a company, the director or founder is not a partner, but an owner. The head of the video production within the company will not do what is needed or how it is right but as the management orders. It is unlikely that he will dare to argue or offer his non-standard vision. Needless to say, in 80% of cases, the boss is mistaken about how to make the content as effective as possible?
- All the cons of full-time employees. A staff member can quit. And then you will have to teach a new one from scratch. May get sick, may go on maternity leave, and finally asks to eat every month.
- A full-time team can produce photo and video content in approximately one direction: posts for social networks, useful videos for the blog and internal purposes, reporting and reporting materials.
- If you need to shoot a cool commercial for a brand and launch it into federal rotation or draw a 3D video presentation, your state simply won’t be enough or it will be very expensive to maintain it. Or the third option: you will inevitably get low-quality ads with your current staff, which usually works on simpler and “faster” content.
- It makes no sense to inflate the staff and keep narrow, expensive specialists who are needed once a year.
Pros of an outsourcing agency
- They strive to do not as the director wants, but as it will be right to solve the problem. At least they are trying to convey their point of view to the customer and find a compromise. In addition, the agency often specializes in specific niches.
- Highly qualified people with experience in the subject work. Provided, of course, that you are ordering a decent product and not consumer goods. Then a director, art director, screenwriter, motion designer with years of expertise will join the work. The result is a cool piece product that a wagon would never make.
- “Unsoiledness” and a fresh look at your business, product, service from the outside. This is especially important in creative advertising campaigns and branding.
- Finally, a third-party contractor often closes the postpay and workflow issue.
For example, it is much easier to outsource a product photorealistic video to an agency that has been engaged in 3D graphics and simulations for 10 years than to hire narrow-profile specialists on the staff:
Cons of the agency
- Initially, there is a lack of understanding of your brand, its value, corporate culture and subtle points.
- Hourly pay for specialists. Do you need to redo something? We’ll have to pay extra.
- You do not fully control the production process. Still, outsourcing implies trust in partners and their vision.
Approvals and revisions take longer. This means that the project is more expensive.
