In-house 3D animation vs a film made from your manual
Blender is free, and CAD packages and renderers like KeyShot can animate assemblies. So should your team make assembly videos itself? It depends on skills, volume and time.
The short answer
Doing it in-house gives you full control and can pay off if you already have a 3D artist with spare time and CAD for every product. Software cost is rarely the problem (Blender is free and open source); the time of a skilled person, per film, is.
Ordering a film from the manual costs from $119 per film, most manuals $149 to $179, needs no software or 3D skills, and arrives within a day.
| In-house (Blender, KeyShot, CAD) | Film from your manual | |
|---|---|---|
| Software | Blender is free; commercial renderers and CAD animation modules are licensed (check vendor pricing) | None |
| Skills | 3D modelling or CAD, animation, rendering, editing | None: upload a manual |
| Inputs | 3D model of every part | The manual (PDF or link) |
| Time per film | Your artist's hours, plus render time | Ready within 24 hours |
| Cost per film | Salary time + licences + hardware | From $119, most manuals $149 to $179; credits at 10 cents each, more in bigger bundles |
| Control | Total | Brand colours, logo and style; editor add-on for later changes |
Other providers' figures are published starting rates or listings we checked, not quotes. Our prices exclude VAT.
In-house makes sense when
- You already employ 3D artists or CAD technicians with capacity
- Every product has a clean 3D model
- You need engineering-accurate motion or photoreal renders
- Films feed other uses too: configurators, AR, marketing renders
Ordering makes sense when
- Nobody on the team has 3D time to spare
- You need films for a whole range, soon
- Products come from suppliers without usable 3D files
- The manual is the approved source of truth and the film should match it
A mixed approach
Some teams keep hero products in-house and order films for the long tail of the catalogue. The films can share a look: pick a style close to your in-house renders and use the same brand colours.
Price
Preview
Free
A short film made from your own manual, under a minute, with a watermark, one manual per company
Full film
from $119excl. VAT
Most manuals $149 to $179, priced by your manual's length and shown before you pay, within 24 hours
Express
+$50excl. VAT
Your film goes first in line
Up to 3 min: $119 · 3 to 6 min: $149 · 6 to 10 min: $179 · 10 to 15 min: $219 · 15 to 20 min: $259 · Over 20 min: $259 + $40 per 5 min. Voice and calm music included. Sound effects +$2. Pay by card or with credits: 1 credit is 10 cents. All prices are in US dollars and exclude VAT. VAT is added at checkout where it applies; businesses can enter their VAT number.
Full pricingQuestions
Can you use our CAD files?+
We don't need them. The manual is the input, so suppliers' products without 3D files work too.
Can our designers edit the film afterwards?+
The editor add-on ($49 per film, paid once) lets you change colours, fonts, captions and style after delivery.
See your own manual as a film.
Upload it now. Your free, watermarked preview arrives within 24 hours.
Upload a manual