Making Money from Animated Shorts: Money is a topic that is rarely covered on this blog and that artists tend to avoid talking about for fear of ideas like “selling out” or “compromising your art.” Nevertheless, I think it’s important to talk about, especially for artists, since there isn’t enough information about it taught in art schools. My short answer to the question “is it possible to make money by creating animated shorts?” is yes. Here’s the long version.
Not the most effective company plan
I should start by saying that creating animated shorts isn’t the ideal business model. It may sound absurd coming from me, but it’s the truth. Making shorts is time-consuming, and the returns are frequently negligible.
Nevertheless, there are ways to make money from your filmmaking; here are a few to think about.
Views on YouTube:
Though it is the simplest, this approach is most likely the least successful. You create a short film, post it to YouTube, enable advertisements to monetize your channel, and watch the money roll in.
However, here’s why it’s not the best approach: Assume you create two animated shorts annually, which is incredibly difficult. Let’s then assume that each short receives 5 million views thanks to a lucky break from the virality gods. At that point, your annual revenue will have been close to $10,000. And that is, once more, assuming the improbable that two highly successful animated shorts are produced in a single year.
YouTube is a poor medium for animators because of its reliance on upload frequency and watch time. Because it takes so long to create a short 2D animation services—which is typically pretty short—these two factors pose a great challenge to animators. That’s one of the reasons gaming channels are so popular; they post content nearly daily and for extended periods of time.
Nevertheless, producing content centred around your shorts is one way to 2D animation services channel can succeed on YouTube. I have always operated in this manner. uploading production in California vlogs, memorial service video, tutorials, and making-of 2D explainer videos. You will struggle to gain traction if all you upload are your short 2D explainer animated videos; however, if you build some momentum around your videos with other content, it will be easier for you to expand on YouTube.
The more well-known YouTube animators frequently use a constrained animation technique that is almost always in two dimensions and more akin to an animatic. It will enable them to create a lot more videos. A selection of our preferred YouTube animation channels is provided below.
Getting rid of your short
It may be considerably more profitable to sell your animated short directly to your audience. If you decide to sell it for $5, you will only need 2000 views in order to reach the $10,000 threshold we previously discussed. However, that also implies that you’ll need to sell 2000 copies of your movie, which is a difficult undertaking, particularly if you haven’t invested much time in cultivating an audience.
The fact that we have been talking about Tasteful for the past three years and developing a following makes it much easier for us to sell when we release our next short than if someone releases it out of thin air. Unlock Your Earning Potential: Strategies to Make More Money.
Here are a few strategies for pitching your short to your audience directly:
Vimeo Continually
Probably the simplest and least expensive option for those who are not very tech-savvy or don’t have a big audience. You can sell your animated short straight on Vimeo for $199/year plus 10% of your sales. Similar to selling on Amazon, Amazon is the best selling or purchasing store works on including including multiple factors or niches related to mobiles and accessories, fashion and apparel, leather star jackets, etc. the main benefit here is the exposure to a sizable audience of highly qualified viewers who are prepared to pay to see high-caliber films. If you don’t already have a following, listing yourself in a sizable database of films and memorial service video that can be searched may help you locate clients.
iTunes and Amazon
Although I’ve never tried selling on these sites, I am aware that a lot of people do. While Amazon can be used for free iTunes can get pricey (sometimes paying thousands to aggregators for posting your film). If you decide to pursue that course of action, you’ll need to conduct some additional research on it.
Market on your own website
This is an area in which I am more experienced. You can sell your shorts to people directly if you run your own website and have developed a following. Here are just a handful of the many tools available for digital production in California sales that I am either personally familiar with or have heard good things about:
Simple Digital Downloads (a WordPress shopping cart plugin)
Gumroad (A very user-friendly platform for digital product sales)
The most widely used shopping cart plugin is Woocommerce.
Wistia (A top-notch provider of video hosting, for your animated short)
Amazon S3, the cloud storage solution from Amazon that allows your clients to download your movie to their PCs
Products
Having merchandise could be an indirect way for you to profit from your movie, particularly if it’s a cute one in which case selling plush dolls or pillowcases would be a good idea. You can upload designs to websites like Society6 and then sell a wide range of products featuring those designs. anything from sweatshirts to posters to mugs.
For instance, we’ll be selling an art-of book featuring character designs, concept art, and more when Tasteful is released. This would make a fantastic companion item for the movie, offering the audience excellent value while also assisting us in running a profitable business.
In relation to that, have you seen our elegant mug?
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