Guides / What you need to supply
What you need to supply for an explainer video
Three things, collected once at the start. Missing any of them is the most common reason a project stalls before it begins.
The short answer
Three things: product access good enough to capture real screens, brand assets (logo in vector, fonts, colour values), and one named person with authority to approve the script and the storyboard.
Total client time across the whole project is about two hours: an onboarding form and two written sign-offs.
The three inputs
| What | Specifically | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|
| Product access | A staging login, a recorded walkthrough, or high-resolution screen captures | The film uses your real interface. Without access, it falls back to generic shapes |
| Brand assets | Logo in vector (SVG or AI), font files or names, hex colour values | A logo lifted from your website at screen resolution will look soft at 1080p |
| A named approver | One person, named in the agreement | Approval by committee is the largest single source of delay in short-form video |
Why real product UI is the point
An explainer built from generic illustration can be made for any company in your category. One built from your actual interface cannot, and viewers can tell the difference immediately, because they are about to see that screen themselves if they sign up.
It does not need to be finished. Films are regularly built against a staging environment, a design file, or a feature still behind a flag. What matters is that it is the real thing rather than an approximation.
Helpful, but not required
- Existing brand guidelines, if they exist. If not, the logo and three hex values are enough.
- A recording of a sales demo. The most useful single input there is, because it shows how you already explain the product to someone who has not seen it.
- Objections you hear repeatedly. The best 60-second films answer one of them.
- Films you like and films you do not, with a sentence on why. "Not this" is as useful as "this".
One thing you must confirm in writing
Any factual claim, statistic or customer quote that appears in the film has to be supplied and confirmed by you before it is animated. A studio cannot verify your churn figure or your customer's permission to be quoted, and a claim that turns out to be wrong is expensive to remove after delivery.
Questions people ask
What if our product is not finished?
That is normal. Films are built against staging environments and design files regularly. It needs to be the real interface, not a finished one.
Do we need a brand guideline document?
No. A vector logo, your fonts and your hex values cover it.
What if we cannot give external product access?
A recorded walkthrough and a set of high-resolution screen captures work. Many clients prefer this and it is entirely workable.
Who should the named approver be?
Whoever can say yes without going to someone else. Seniority matters less than authority.