Introduction
Whiteboard animation has emerged as one of the most effective methods of conveying complex ideas in a simple, engaging, and visually appealing way. Whether you’re creating a marketing video, educational content, or explainer videos for your business, whiteboard animation captures the audience’s attention and clearly communicates your message.
This blog will guide you through the process of creating a whiteboard animation in After Effects, making it accessible and understandable even for those who are new to the software.
Why Whiteboard Animation is an Effective Choice for Content Creation
Whiteboard animation has become a go-to choice for content creators looking to convey their brand message in an engaging and dynamic way. It offers clear advantages for educational purposes, marketing, or brand storytelling. With the best whiteboard animation software, creators can easily make animated videos that captivate audiences.
Popular animation studios also rely on this technique for its simplicity and effectiveness. It allows brands to tell their stories visually, keeping the content engaging while making complex ideas easy to understand. It’s a powerful tool that continues to grow in popularity.
- Enhanced Viewer Engagement: Whiteboard animations captivate the audience with their engaging, hand-drawn styles. The process of images being “created” in real-time holds the viewer’s attention, encouraging them to focus on the message being conveyed. Unlike traditional videos, this technique appeals to both visual and auditory senses, keeping viewers actively engaged.
- Clear Communication of Complex Ideas: Whiteboard animations simplify complicated concepts by breaking them down visually. Through effective illustration and narration, abstract ideas can be made clearer, ensuring that even difficult concepts are easily understood by a diverse audience.
- Wide-Ranging Applications: These animations are highly adaptable and work across various industries. Whether you’re explaining a new product, offering a tutorial, creating a promotional video, or providing educational content, whiteboard animation is versatile and can meet the needs of multiple business and educational sectors.
- Appealing to All Ages: Whiteboard animations appeal to both children and adults due to their straightforward yet creative nature. For businesses, this makes them an excellent choice for content meant for diverse demographic groups, as they can effectively hold attention across age ranges.
- Boosts Information Retention: Studies have shown that visuals help with better memory retention. Whiteboard animation has a unique advantage in this area since it combines visual cues with storytelling, which enhances the audience’s ability to recall the content long after viewing.
- Cost-Effective and Time-Saving: Contrary to the belief that animations are expensive to produce, whiteboard animations can be created relatively quickly and affordably, especially with software like After Effects. This makes it a cost-effective option for businesses and individuals with limited budgets.
- Increased Shareability: Whiteboard animation videos tend to be shared more on social media due to their attention-grabbing nature. Their simple and clean design makes them easy to consume, while the drawing process adds a unique flair that attracts audiences looking for fresh content.
- Encourages Action: The combination of clear messaging, appealing visuals, and a straightforward narrative often results in a stronger call to action. Whether you’re looking to educate your audience or encourage them to take a specific action (such as signing up for a service or purchasing a product), whiteboard animation has been proven to increase conversions.
Step-by-Step Process for Creating Whiteboard Animation in After Effects
1 . The first step is to determine what you want to highlight through the whiteboard animation, whether it’s a product, service, or cause.
2. Once you have decided on the message you wish to communicate to your audience or customers, the next step is to create graphics or a storyboard.
3. In this phase, it’s important to carefully select the graphics that will best convey your message in a clear and effective manner.
4. After finalizing your storyboard for the video, you will need to import the graphic files into After Effects by setting up a new composition that suits your needs.
5. To import the graphic files, simply double-click the project panel and browse for the files in the pop-up window.
6. Once the graphic files are imported, drag them into the timeline for further editing.
7. Next, go to the effects panel, search for the “write-on” effect, and apply it to the graphic layer by selecting the layer you want to animate.
8. After applying the write-on effect to the graphic layer, access the effects control panel and adjust the keyframes according to how you want the effect to appear.
9. In the effects control panel, adjust the write-on effect settings by changing the brush color to red instead of the default white.
10. Modify the brush size to a range of 50-150, based on what works best for your animation.
11. Set the brush opacity to your desired level for the effect.
12. Go to the first frame of the timeline and create a keyframe for the brush position in the effects control panel under the write-on effect.
13. You can adjust the brush position either by entering values manually or by clicking the anchor button next to the brush position settings.
14. Move five frames ahead in the timeline and create the next keyframe, as shown in the reference image.
15. Continue applying new keyframes every five frames in a zig-zag pattern until the entire graphic is covered, as depicted in the image.
16. Once all keyframes are created and the graphic is fully covered, add a hand graphic over the design to simulate the appearance of a hand drawing it.
17. Drag the hand graphic into the timeline and select the layer. Then, press “P” to open the position settings for the hand graphic, as shown in the image.
18. Select the graphic layer and press “U” to display all keyframes applied to the layer, including those for the brush position.
19. Click on the brush position setting in the timeline under the graphic layer to select all the keyframes that have been applied by default. Then, copy the keyframes using Ctrl + C.
20. Next, select the position properties of the hand layer and press Ctrl + V to paste the copied keyframes onto the hand layer.
21. Now, the hand graphic will be synchronized with the graphic layer, and you can make any adjustments as needed to fine-tune the animation.
If you feel overwhelmed using After Effects, we have a list of 8 alternate whiteboard animation software that you can find easier and perfect for your respective job. Check out the infographic below.
Conclusion
Whiteboard animation is a fun and simple way to bring ideas to life, making complex concepts easier to understand and keeping your audience engaged. Whether you’re showcasing a product, teaching, or telling a story, whiteboard animations help your message stick. Creating these animations in After Effects is simple, even for beginners. By selecting the right graphics, setting keyframes, and adding special effects, you can create professional animations that resonate with your audience. Whether for marketing, education, or branding, whiteboard animation is an engaging tool that helps you connect with viewers in a memorable and impactful way.

By day I create engaging content along with infusing high-volume, low-competition keywords strategically so that it gets loved by you and Google Crawler. Off the clock? I scroll for fresh ideas. (Don’t judge, gotta fuel the creativity!)