Week 1
Brief and the doubt
Which question this video removes, and for whom. Usually the one your sales team answers most often, which makes the research free.
Videography · Product and explainer · Sydney
Product and explainer video in Sydney
A product video has one job: to get someone from not understanding to wanting, without a sales call in between. The ones that fail almost always fail the same way, by touring every feature instead of finishing one task.
Grab the snowball. Give it a spin, and watch it grow as you scroll. Just like understanding.
1task shown, not every feature
90seconds is the usual demo
Real screenno mockups, no fake data
Sydneystudio, macro kit and edit suite
The short answer
What is a product or explainer video?
A product video shows a real thing being used, and an explainer video makes an idea or a service understandable in about ninety seconds. Both are usually live action: a camera on the actual product, the actual screen or the actual pair of hands. In Sydney they are normally filmed in a day, often several at once.
The distinction that matters is live action against animated. If you can point a camera at it, filming it is nearly always more persuasive and often cheaper, because a real product in real hands carries trust a drawing has to work to earn. If the subject is invisible or changes constantly, it should be animated instead.
We build these from the questions buyers actually ask before they buy, using the same research behind our search work, so the video answers a real doubt rather than describing the product. Because our Snowball SEO platform automates the search heavy lifting other agencies bill by the hour, more of your budget goes into the filming. It sits inside our wider Sydney video production service.
The difference
What shape should a product demo be?
There is a shape that works and a shape that does not, and the difference is not production value. It is whether the video finishes something or merely shows you around.
Why one task beats a tour
- A tour has no ending, so nobody knows when they are allowed to stop watching
- One completed task proves the thing works; a feature list only claims it does
- The task can be the one your sales team explains most often, which is free research
- A viewer who sees one job finished imagines their own, which a tour prevents
The rules that keep it honest
- No fake data on screen, because everyone can tell and it costs you trust
- No mocked-up interface that does not match what they will actually get
- No speed ramps that hide how long something really takes
- No claim in the voiceover that the picture does not support
If the subject cannot be filmed at all, it belongs with our animation and motion graphics service, and plenty of pieces are both: filmed, then finished with animated diagrams over the top.
The cost
What drives the price of a product video?
Setups and precision. Product work is slow because it is close: macro focus, controlled light and a lot of very small adjustments. The number of separate products or screens matters far more than the finished running time.
One product, one video
One day
A single product or one software workflow, filmed in a day, delivered as a hero video plus short cuts. The commonest brief.
A set from one day
One to two days
Several products or several workflows filmed together while the lighting is up. Each gets its own video for a fraction of what a second day would cost.
Ongoing library
Retainer
A recurring day as the range or the software changes, so the library stays current instead of half of it quietly showing a version nobody uses.
We quote a fixed price after a free consult. For indicative Australian ranges across every kind of video, see our guide to what video production costs.
What moves the number, in order
Product work is priced by setups, and a setup is every time the lighting or the rig has to change rather than every time a new video starts.
- How many separate products or workflows, which is the number of setups
- Whether anything moves, since motion control and macro are slow and precise
- Hands, talent or a voice, and the usage those carry
- Screen recording quality, and whether a clean demo environment exists
- Animated diagrams or callouts laid over the footage
- How many finished videos and cuts come out of the day
The demo environment is the hidden cost
For software, the single most expensive thing is usually not the filming. It is discovering on the morning that there is no clean account to film in, so the screen is full of real customer names, half-finished records and a test entry someone called asdf in 2023.
A prepared demo environment with plausible data takes an afternoon to set up and saves a day of retouching every frame, or a reshoot. We ask for it two weeks out for exactly this reason.
For physical product the equivalent is having enough clean, unmarked samples on hand. Close-up filming shows every fingerprint and scratch, and the one you have been carrying in a bag is not the one to film.
The scope
What you receive from a product video
Cut for the places these actually get watched, which is rarely just the product page.
The hero video
Sixty to ninety seconds, one task done properly, cut for the product page, the pitch and the sales email.
Feature cuts
Each moment as its own short piece, so support and sales can send the fifteen seconds that answers one question rather than the whole thing.
Vertical and captioned
Nine by sixteen versions with captions burned in, because a demo that only exists wide reaches the website and nothing else.
Callouts and diagrams
Animated labels, arrows and highlights over the footage where a viewer would otherwise have to be told where to look.
Stills from the shoot
Frames pulled and graded for the product page and the deck, which covers the basics between full photography shoots.
The raw footage
Yours, labelled, so the next version of the product does not mean starting from an empty timeline.
The return
Which video answers which doubt?
A single video cannot carry a whole buying decision, and asking it to is why so many product videos feel like they are trying to do everything. Four doubts, four short pieces, and they can be filmed in the same day.
Send the one that matches the question
The advantage of four short pieces over one long one is not the filming. It is that a salesperson can send the ninety seconds that answers the exact objection just raised, instead of a link with a note saying the relevant part is at four minutes twenty.
That also makes them measurable. When one piece is attached to one doubt, you can see which doubt is actually stopping people, which is information no single overview video will ever give you.
It is the same logic as our product demo guide: one video, one job, and let the set do the work that a single piece cannot.
The process
How a product video gets made
Four to six weeks, with one preparation step that sits on your side and decides how the filming day goes.
Week 2
Script and the task
The single task the demo will complete, written out beat by beat. You approve it before anything is filmed, because this is where a demo is really made.
Week 2
Environment and samples
A clean demo account with plausible data, or unmarked product samples. On your side, and the single biggest influence on how the day runs.
Week 3
The shoot
Studio or on site. Macro, controlled light, screen capture at full resolution, and every setup used for as many pieces as it can serve.
Weeks 4 to 5
Edit and callouts
Cut, graded, with animated labels and highlights added where the eye needs directing, then captions and every ratio.
Week 6
Delivery and handover
Hero video, feature cuts, vertical versions, stills and the raw footage, named for where each one is going.
The brief
What to ask before you brief a product video
Product video is easy to make competently and hard to make persuasive, and the difference is decided in the brief rather than on the shoot.
Which single task will the demo complete?
If the answer is a list of features, the video has no ending and the viewer has no reason to keep watching. One task, finished, is the whole shape.
What will be on screen, and is it real?
Ask specifically about the demo environment and the data. Fake screens are obvious, and a product video that looks staged undoes the trust it was made to build.
Are we filming this or animating it?
Both are valid and they cost differently. The answer should follow from whether the subject can be pointed at with a camera, not from which one the supplier prefers.
What do we get besides the main video?
Feature cuts, vertical versions and stills should be in the quote, not discovered afterwards. Sending one relevant fifteen seconds is worth more than the hero piece.
We are happy to answer all four before you commit. If you are still deciding between filming and animating, our guide to live action versus animated works through it properly.
Start here
Ready to show it working?
Tell us what your buyers keep asking and what your sales team keeps explaining. The free consult is a working session, not a sales call, and you leave with three things whether or not you book us.
- The one task worth demonstrating, chosen from what buyers actually ask
- A straight answer on whether to film it or animate it
- A fixed price for the set, with the cuts and stills itemised
Good questions
Product and explainer video FAQs
What is a product video?
A product video shows a real thing being used, usually by completing one task from start to finish rather than touring every feature. An explainer video does the same for an idea or a service. Both are normally 60 to 90 seconds and both are usually live action, filmed on the actual product, screen or hands.
How much does a product video cost in Sydney?
We do not publish a single figure. Product work is priced by setups rather than by finished minutes, so what moves it is how many separate products or workflows are filmed, whether anything has to move on a motion rig, whether there are hands or talent on camera, and how many finished cuts come out of the day. Filming several in one day is far cheaper than several separate days.
Should we film it or animate it?
Film it if you can point a camera at it, because a real product in real hands is more persuasive and often cheaper. Animate it if the subject is invisible, abstract or changes so often that filmed footage would date. Many pieces are both, filmed and then finished with animated callouts.
How long should a product demo be?
Sixty to ninety seconds for one task. If it is running past two minutes it is usually demonstrating two things and would work better as two pieces, each sent at the moment the matching question comes up.
What do you need from us before the shoot?
For software, a clean demo environment with plausible data, which takes an afternoon to prepare and saves a great deal on the day. For physical product, several unmarked samples, because close-up filming shows every fingerprint and scratch.
Can you film several products in one day?
Yes, and it is where the saving is. Once the lighting and the rig are set, each additional product costs a fraction of what it would as its own day. The limit is how many setups genuinely differ, not how many items you have.
Do we need a voiceover?
Often not. A demo with captions and clear on-screen labels works everywhere, including the many places video plays silent, and it is far cheaper to update when the product changes. We usually record one only when the piece has to carry an argument as well as a demonstration.
What happens when the product changes?
Which it will. We film so that individual sections can be replaced rather than the whole piece, keep labels on editable layers, and hand over the raw footage, so a new release means recutting one part instead of starting again.