High-quality video content isn’t just for your marketing department. Increasingly, Human Resources teams are finding that video is their go-to medium. It helps onboard a new employee, deliver mandatory training, or cover in-depth educational topics.
Video works well in an instructional context for the same reasons it works well in marketing. It engages our senses, activates our emotional responses, and sticks in our heads much longer than text read off a page. Study after study has shown that video is the best content format for information retention, and 88% of businesses use video in their training materials.
There’s one big advantage plain text still has over video. Starting from nothing, you can pour some coffee, pull an all-nighter, and crank out acceptable written content. In most cases, you can’t do that with video. Usually, you need equipment, a production crew, a reasonable budget, and other resources, including a lot of time. Or you’ll need powerful tools capable of producing a professional-quality video from scratch.
Producing training videos requires preparation and investment, but it’s worth it. In this post, we’ll give you the rundown on seven companies that use various methods—from traditional studio shoots to state-of-the-art technological wizardry—to create engaging, pro-quality videos for training and education videos.
Why use Training Videos?
No matter its size or industry sector, every company has training needs. New employees need to be onboarded with basic information. Existing employees need training to acquire new skills, learn how to use equipment or software required for their job, and receive mandatory information about safe and appropriate workplace conduct. Customers, suppliers, and contractors may need to learn how to operate your products. Even when training is unnecessary, many employers enrich their workforce by offering optional courses on soft skills, career planning, and other topics.
Video isn’t the only way to teach a course, but when all options are weighed, many online educators find it the most effective way. It’s more affordable than live, instructor-led training, especially if you need to scale it to serve many students. It’s easy to access on various devices, offers many possibilities in format and presentation style, and most importantly, learners prefer it. More than nine of ten educational institutions agree that video learning increases student satisfaction. Students who enjoy what they’re
What makes a great Training Video?
Try to picture a training video in your head right now. Chances are, the things you think of first are the things that make training videos, well, not so great: generic office sets, cheesy dialogue, awkward acting, outdated graphics.
For a long time, all the innovation and excitement a company could afford to put toward video production went to marketing videos, where the ROI is more easily provable. For educational videos, “good enough” was usually sufficient—but not anymore.
If it’s worth making a video in the first place, it’s worth making it interesting, engaging, and memorable. For a training video, the keys to greatness are its relevance to the viewer and its production quality. Unlike videos produced for marketing or entertainment purposes, you’re not expecting your audience to watch your training video because they want to. They’re watching because it’s required and/or because they hope to learn something valuable from it.
With that in mind, one of the best ways to approach training video production is to create an audience persona and design the video to appeal to that persona. Video content should be relevant and tied to the learning objectives you’re trying to deliver. The length, style, and other key video elements should be chosen, based on what resonates with the target persona.
How much do Training Videos cost?
The average instructional video costs more than $30,000 to produce. For any given project, the final price tag will vary greatly depending on various factors. Generally speaking, the more polished and professional you want your video to be, the more it’ll cost you.
Cost is often tied to the video format you wish to use. Live-action videos with actors, sets, props and graphical effects are the most expensive. “Talking head” or presenter-led videos shot in a single location are more affordable. Animated videos are even cheaper, especially when automated digital video generation technology can be leveraged. AI video generators are among the most affordable options, as they can produce an entire video with titles, music, voiceover, and animation from minimal starting resources.
How to Choose a Training Video Production Company
Selecting a partner to produce your training videos isn’t always easy. A lot will depend on your budget and the type of video you want to produce.
Here are some important questions to ask when choosing a training video production company:
- Does the previous work in their portfolio fit with what you’re looking for?
- Does the company have experience with your specific industry?
- Are they local to you, or will distance and time zones factor when you need to communicate?
- Can they commit to finishing the project within the timeline you provide?
- Is their price range within your budget?
Remember, you might need to think outside the box to find the right production company for you. Suppose you need to produce a large amount of video content on a limited budget. In that case, your best bet might be an AI video generator, not a studio that provides traditional filming and editing services.
Top 7 Training Video Production Companies
Hour One is an AI video generator offering a new training video production approach. It’s a self-service solution that requires no video production skills. You can feed it your source material (like a blog post or a slide deck), and it will automatically generate a complete production script. Then it utilizes artificial intelligence to provide the voice and animations for a photorealistic character to present it. The resulting output is a complete, professional-grade, presenter-led video with music and graphics, delivered within minutes and limitlessly scalable.
Hour One has headquarters in New York City and Tel Aviv, but their AI video generator solution is available 24/7 online.
Pros: Hour One is one of the most cost-effective solutions available, especially if you need to produce many videos at scale. By using AI to automate the process, Hour One lets you bypass all of the most time-consuming and expensive parts of video production. Hour one also offers a done-for-you service where they make the training videos to your specifications.
Cons: There’s only so much physical activity Hour One can engage in, which might be an issue if your video requires the presenter to engage in lots of dynamic movement.
Pricing: $49 per month for the Basic plan, $149 for Advanced, and $499 for Pro. There is also a free trial version and custom enterprise pricing.
Reviewer Says: “We were looking for a more efficient and flexible way to produce content at scale, without losing the life-like qualities of a real human subject, which is critical to customer experience standards. After exploring various options, we found Hour One to be the ideal solution for our needs, being the only technology that could replicate the natural human
Demo Duck is a Chicago-based production company specializing in animated and live-action explainer videos. They boast a talented team of creatives and a client list that includes Canon, GEICO, and Netflix.
Pros: Demo Duck has the skills and experience to turn a client’s vision into a fun, imaginative video.
Cons: You can expect to pay a lot for bespoke creativity.
Pricing: By inquiry.
Reviewer Says: “Very creative team. They seem pretty professional and reliable. Not cheap though!”
LAI Video has produced documentaries, commercials, and training videos for Amazon, Nestlé, and many other high-profile clients. They are an Emmy award-winning video agency located in Washington DC.
Pros: Their team has excellent communication and collaboration skills.
Cons: This is one of the more expensive options for video production.
Pricing: By inquiry.
Reviewer Says: “I believe the cost is a little bit prohibitive. I would love to do more with them, but, being a small to mid-sized organization, we don’t have the bank to do the full gamut of things.”
NextThought Studios is an all-in-one production studio based in Oklahoma. They have experience producing animated and live-action corporate videos for training, marketing, advertising, and more.
Pros: This studio’s storytelling skills help bring videos to life in an engaging way.
Cons: Like most all-in-one studios, this one will cost you. Some clients have also spoken of slow communication response times.
Pricing: By inquiry.
Reviewer Says: “They do an excellent job of making sure they hit our deadlines. Additionally, they’re very flexible when it comes to turnaround times.”
Hailing from Nottingham in the UK, Skeleton Productions uses a methodical, tailored approach to deliver unique and compelling training videos for its clients. This company has experience working with major global brands and boasts multiple Hermes Creative Awards wins.
Pros: Skeleton’s team is passionate about the work they do and full of great ideas.
Cons: In addition to the expected high costs of hiring a studio like this, their turnaround time can be somewhat slow.
Pricing: By inquiry.
Reviewer Says: “The overall solution exceeded expectations. Only drawback was it took much longer than expected.”
This company’s specialty is animated training videos. Their portfolio shows off the wide range of styles they can work in, with a client roster that includes Ikea, McDonald’s, Microsoft, and other recognizable brands. Pigeon Studio is located in Poland.
Pros: Pigeon Studio really listens to their clients and is experienced at delivering high-quality, artistic animation.
Cons: For companies based in the United States, the time zone difference may cause communication lag.
Pricing: By inquiry.
Reviewer Says: “They were flexible and patient in understanding our comments and implemented all of our feedback into the video.”
This company’s specialty is animated training videos. Their portfolio shows off the wide range of styles they can work in, with a client roster that includes Ikea, McDonald’s, Microsoft, and other recognizable brands. Pigeon Studio is located in Poland.
Pros: Pigeon Studio really listens to their clients and is experienced at delivering high-quality, artistic animation.
Cons: For companies based in the United States, the time zone difference may cause communication lag.
Pricing: By inquiry.
Reviewer Says: “They were flexible and patient in understanding our comments and implemented all of our feedback into the video.”
That's a Wrap
There’s always training and education going on in the modern workplace, and video training offers the best results to the companies that employ it. You need to provide engaging, high-quality content to ensure that your employees enjoy their training and get positive results. Choosing the right training video production company will make all the difference.
For HR departments charged with delivering training to a large cohort while covering many required topics, it helps to have quick turnaround times and easily scalable production without driving up costs. Hour One’s AI video generator is an ideal solution, easily and quickly turning your existing materials into scripts and producing professional-quality videos without needing cameras, actors, or sound stages. If you’re curious to see Hour One in action, you can try creating your first training video for free.
Summary for Hour One
HR departments are increasingly tasked with providing training and educational content. Video is the most effective medium for training content, so companies must find high-quality video production solutions within their budget. Top training video production companies include Hour One, Demo Duck, LAI Video, NextThought Studios, Skeleton Productions, Pigeon Studio, and Veracity Colab. Hour One stands out as a unique, cost-effective solution because it uses AI to automate video production and virtual presenters to give videos an engaging, human touch
