The marketing tools you choose to promote your business or its products can make or break the success of the campaign. Besides, marketing activities require significant investment, and no business would want to blow its budget on ineffective marketing methods. Evaluating your options carefully and choosing the right ones will ensure a cost-effective and successful marketing campaign. With that said, you might be struggling to choose between 2D and 3D character animation for your marketing videos. While both are good options, you will need a thorough understanding of their advantages and drawbacks if you had to choose any one.

Pros of 2D animation              

Let’s start off with the perks offered by 2D animation for marketing videos.

1. Affordable

Making videos using 2D animation is relatively much cheaper than 3D animation videos. Using 2D animation in your marketing videos can help you keep the costs low. Especially for cash-strapped businesses trying to carry out marketing campaigns with minimal investment, 2D animation is a good choice.

1. Easy to edit and maintain

In case you need to update any information in the video later on or require an edit for whatever reason, it will be far easier with a 2D animation video. This is because 2D animation basically comprises flat pictures and the frames are much easier to modify than 3D animation. The ease of updating gives 2D animation an advantage in long-term ad campaigns.

1. Adaptation of marketing assets

As the elements of a 2D animation video function in a two-dimensional space, each frame can act as a regular static image. This means you can adapt various marketing assets, website assets, and infographics from the video and repurpose them in your marketing campaign. Being able to reuse the content of a video helps curtail costs in the future.

Cons of 2D animation

While 2D animation certainly has its advantages, you should also consider the drawbacks before opting for it:

1. Less captivating

While 2D animation carries beauty in simplicity, it’s nowhere as engaging or captivating as 3D animation. Don’t get it wrong – a 2D animation video can look quite great too. However, it would usually look rather drab in comparison to modern 3D animation videos made with CGI and other special effects.

1. Less dynamic

Using 2D animation isn’t exactly the most effective way to make promotional videos as it is nowhere nearly as dynamic as 3D animation. A 2D animation video is created by drawing all the frames and playing them in the right sequence. This means a moving object like a car will require many drawings from different angles. On the other hand, one can easily animate a 3D model of a car or rotate it around to get the desired angles.

1. Lack of detail

It’s relatively harder to cover all the details in a 2D animation video. 3D animation involves making 3D models of objects, covering every bit of detail. This becomes especially relevant when making product animation videos. One of the biggest reasons to use 3D product animation videos is that you can cover every detail of a product with ease. However, we can’t say the same about 2D product animation.

Pros of 3D animation

Moving on to 3D animation, let’s see what it brings to the table:

1. Immersive experience

The use of 3D character animation in promotional videos ensures an immersive experience for the audience. Adding depth to the video can do wonders, and all the 3D VFX is the cherry on top. As long as it’s a beautifully crafted video made by experienced professionals, you may rest assured that the viewers will enjoy it.

1. Better returns on investment

Let’s face it – 3D animation may be costlier, but it also offers much better returns on investment as compared to two-dimensional videos. As these videos are more engaging and immersive, they do much better at retaining the attention of the audience. This, together with the fact that a 3D animation video is more likely to leave a lasting impression, ensures a higher conversion rate.

1. Generating 3D models of products

This is a perk that you can enjoy exclusively with 3D animation videos. When advertising an upcoming product, you can use realistic 3D models even before the physical product is ready. For instance, a real estate company marketing project that’s still under construction can use a 3D model of how the project would look when completed.  Besides, 3D models allow you to highlight every feature properly.

Cons of 3D animation

Unfortunately, 3D animation isn’t free of drawbacks either:

1. High costs

As mentioned earlier, it’s more expensive to make a 3D animation video as it’s much more complex. Making one requires a team of several professionals who specialize in different areas of 3D animation – modeling, sound effects, visual effects, texturing, lighting, etc. This together with the fact that 3D animation requires high-end computers and sophisticated software pushes up the costs.

1. Lack of creativity

While 3D animation is more immersive and enjoyable, it would work only when the video is creative enough. A major challenge for 3D character animation is that the characters might be too difficult to stylize, and as a result, look similar to each other. Moreover, the artist modeling these characters needs to have great imaginative skills too. Unless you’re getting the video made by a reputed company, this could be a challenge.

1. Time-consuming

Creating great 3D character animation videos can take due to the numerous steps involved in the former. The project has to undergo several steps before the characters are even ready for use in the video. To avoid long delays, it’s highly advisable to work with animation video agencies that have a strong track record for timeliness and professionalism.

Conclusion

Upon evaluating both options, 3D animation appears to be the clear winner. Sure, a 3D animation video can be much more expensive to make than a 2D animation video. However, the high ROI, immersive visuals, and ability to cover details make 3D animation absolutely worth it. Just make sure to hire a 3D character animation company well known for its quality of work.