Commercial Video Production 2026: Formats, Costs, and Examples

Key takeaways

• Commercial videos are one of the most effective marketing tools today, especially with short-form content dominating most platforms.
• They work because they stop the scroll, spark interest, and guide viewers toward real action like buying, signing up, or remembering your brand.
• Animation, live action, and hybrid formats all have their strengths. The best choice depends on your message, product type, and how abstract or human your visuals need to be.
• Costs vary widely across the industry, but Motion The Agency provides clear, predictable pricing across Basic, Premium, and Enhanced packages, with flexible options for animation-only work.

Commercial video production

We’ve talked about almost every type of video in our blogs except for one of the services people ask for the most: commercial videos. If you’ve been online at all lately, you’ve definitely noticed how brands use video to grab attention because that’s exactly what we create every day.

A commercial video is a short, persuasive piece of content designed to market a product, service, or brand. Its job is simple: stop the scroll, spark interest, and guide people toward an action, whether that’s buying, signing up, or just remembering the name.

What’s wild is how fast the format is evolving. Short-form content has taken over, with about 66 percent of ads now running under 30 seconds. That shift makes motion-based formats like animated explainers and product demos even more powerful because they deliver the message quickly without losing clarity.

And here’s the kicker: 84 percent of businesses say video has helped increase their sales. It doesn’t matter if it’s a simple 2D animation or a polished live-action shoot, the medium works. Commercial video production has become one of the most effective ways for brands to tell their story and actually get results.

Here are some of the most common types of commercial videos:

• The brand anthem: Focuses on emotional storytelling, often relying heavily on live action to create a strong audience connection.

• The product deep dive: Uses motion graphics to explain and showcase the product or service in detail, making it ideal for complex or technical content.

• The hybrid commercial: Combines live action with motion graphics to show real people interacting with the product or interface, making it perfect for tech and app-driven brands.

Now the question is, which one does your company need, how do you create a commercial video, and how do you decide which style fits best? Let’s talk about it here.

Steps of commercial video production

Okay, let’s answer this question first. Just like any of our other projects, commercial video steps can be divided into three categories: pre-production, production, and post-production. In general, every type of project we handle follows a similar workflow, which is what makes us effective. But each video type still needs its own adjustments, so we refine parts of the process to fit what the project needs most. And this is how we approach commercial video.

Pre-production

Pre-production is where the entire commercial video starts taking shape. This phase sets the foundation for everything that comes after, so getting it right is crucial.

• Goal-setting and audience research: Before anything else, we need to understand why the video exists and who it’s speaking to. This means getting clear on the client’s marketing objectives, key message, and the specific audience we’re trying to reach. A commercial video for a fintech SaaS product will look very different from one for an e-commerce brand, so aligning early prevents wasted time and revisions later.

• Scriptwriting and storyboarding: Once the goals are locked in, we start shaping the actual story. This is where we outline the message, write the script, and create a storyboard that visualizes each moment of the video. Whether it’s animated or live action, a strong storyboard gives everyone, from the client to the production team; a clear roadmap of what the final product will look like. It’s also the stage where we solve most creative challenges before they become expensive.

• Style direction, planning, and logistics: After the message and story are defined, we choose the video style based on what we already aligned on during the initial planning. This could be fully animated, live action, a product demo, or a hybrid approach if the client provides footage. This stage is also where we finalize the budget, timeline, deliverables, visual direction, and any production requirements. For animation-heavy projects, this means gathering brand assets, defining illustration or 3D styles, and prepping UI or product references. For hybrid videos, this might include reviewing client footage, selecting stock, or establishing the visual integration plan.

Production

Production is where all the planning finally turns into real, tangible content. Since we are an animation-forward agency, this stage primarily involves building out animated sequences and integrating any external footage when needed.

• Creating the commercial: This is where everything starts moving. Because we do not handle live-action shoots in-house, any human element in the video comes from client-provided raw footage, AI-generated video, or carefully selected stock footage that we will enhance and integrate into the project. For fully animated projects, our team begins building scenes, animating UI elements, crafting transitions, and shaping the visual story. For hybrid-style projects, we blend animation with the provided or sourced footage to create a seamless and polished narrative. Every detail matters here, from pacing and motion to how each scene supports the core message.

• Ensuring technical quality: Production quality directly affects how the final video feels. Smooth animation, clean timing, consistent lighting, accurate UI flow, and thoughtful motion design all contribute to a professional result. Even small technical choices such as easing, color accuracy, typography, or audio sync help elevate the viewer’s experience and reinforce the brand identity.

Production is where ideas turn into visuals. It is the stage where the project gains personality, movement, and energy, setting the tone for the final refinement in post-production.

Post-production

Post-production is the final stage where all the animated scenes come together and the video is polished into a finished, ready-to-publish commercial. Even though animation doesn’t require things like color grading for physical footage, the post stage is still crucial because it handles refinement, consistency, sound, and output.

• Refining motion and visuals: We adjust animation curves, easing, timing, visual consistency, lighting (in 3D), and any effects that help the video feel polished. This stage is often where a good animation becomes a great one because small refinements make a huge impact.
• Sound design: Sound is a major part of making an ad feel engaging. Post-production involves adding and fine-tuning elements such as:
  • Background music
  • Sound effects
  • UI clicks or swipes
  • Swooshes, pops, wipes, and transitions
  Good sound design makes the visuals feel more dynamic and real.
• Voiceover integration: If the project includes voiceover, this is where the track is cleaned, synced, paced, and mixed with the music so everything sounds balanced and professional.
• Final rendering: Once everything is locked in, we render out the master file in the required formats. For commercial ads, this can include:
  • 16:9 for YouTube or website
  • 1:1 or 4:5 for social
  • 9:16 for ads and TikTok
  Multiple versions may be exported depending on where the ad will run.

Choosing between live action and animation for your commercial video

Both live action and animation have their own roles, so it’s never really about which one is better. It comes down to what your brand actually needs. Since we are a motion-forward agency, we naturally lean toward animation because it is flexible, efficient, and perfect for explaining ideas that do not exist in the real world.

We do not handle live action shoots ourselves, but we have worked on plenty of hybrid projects. If a client provides raw footage, or if we use AI-generated video or stock clips, we can blend it seamlessly with motion graphics to create something polished and on-brand. This works especially well for products that need both a human element and clear visual explanation.

The simplest way to think about it:

Use motion graphics when you need to show the invisible, like data flow, automation, security, or system speed. Use live action when you want to highlight the human benefit, like real users, lifestyle improvements, or someone actually interacting with the product.

Our experience with commercial video production

By this point in the blog, you have probably noticed that we are a very animation-forward agency. We will always recommend animation whenever it makes sense because it gives us the most control and clarity. That said, we also pride ourselves on being flexible. We can produce strong hybrid videos when clients provide raw footage, or when we use AI-generated video or high-quality stock footage to bring the human element into the project. so these are two of our recent  commercial video:

Tasker

One of the hybrid projects we worked on recently was with Tasker. The video itself followed a simple talking-head format, with the main subject speaking directly to the camera, but the goal was to make it feel more dynamic and product-focused. So we mixed in motion design to bring their message to life. In some sections, we even switched completely to stylized UI animation to explain features in a clearer, more engaging way than live action alone could. The final result delivered a nice balance: real human presence paired with animation that breaks down the product in a way that actually makes sense to viewers.

The challenge: Tasker shared their raw footage with us, but the tricky part was timing. They were right in the middle of an internal rebrand, which meant their visuals and messaging kept evolving while we were already working on the video. Naturally, this stretched the timeline a bit because we had to keep adjusting the animation to match the new brand direction. But that’s part of the process, and it’s something we’re used to handling.

Even with the shifting brand elements, the video came together really well. It’s a great example of how hybrid videos can work smoothly when clients provide footage and how animation can step in to fill gaps, enhance clarity, and make the whole piece feel more polished.

Hyperexponential

We recently partnered with Hyperexponential (HX) to help communicate their advanced underwriting technology in a way that feels modern, clear, and visually engaging. To bring that story to life, we blended AI-generated visuals with motion graphics to simplify concepts that are normally impossible to show with live footage. Things like predictive modeling, risk analysis, or data flows don’t exist in the real world, so animation became the perfect tool to make those ideas feel intuitive and easy to understand.

Internally, this is still one of the videos we’re incredibly proud of. It challenged us, taught us a lot, and pushed our workflow forward in the best way possible. It also opened the door to more complex, AI-supported commercial videos, and we’re genuinely excited to take on more projects with similar needs.

The challenge: This project pushed us creatively and technically. At the time, this was a completely new type of brief for us. We had used AI here and there to support parts of our workflow, but the tools weren’t nearly as advanced as what we have today. That meant a lot of experimentation, testing, and figuring out how to use AI without compromising quality.

We used both Midjourney and Google’s Nano Banana (Gemini 2.5 Flash Image) to generate visual elements that matched the tone and style HX needed. From there, we combined the AI outputs with our animation work, making sure everything looked cohesive, polished, and natural. One of the biggest goals was avoiding that “choppy” or “stiff” AI look you see in a lot of videos. So every AI-generated piece went through careful refinement to maintain a professional finish that blended seamlessly with the rest of the video. We actually talk more about our AI workflow in our blog "AI Generated Image& Animation Workflow"

So how much does commercial video production cost?

Live action production

Okay, so this is based on comparing other agencies that has this service. A professionally produced 30-second commercial can vary widely in cost depending on the level of production, crew size, talent, location, and post-production requirements. Industry sources place the range anywhere from about $10,000 to $50,000 for a standard, well-executed spot, according to Simulmedia. Broader estimates from Vidico show that costs can start as low as $1,000 and rise past $50,000 depending on complexity. Some production guides, like Farallon, note that when you factor in a full creative team and high-end execution, the average budget often lands between $25,000 and $150,000+ for a 30-second commercial.

Animation

When it comes to animation-based commercial videos, the cost really depends on how detailed and complex the visuals need to be. For 2D animation or motion graphics, a 30-second spot usually falls somewhere between $1,000 and $7,000, depending on how intricate the graphics and storytelling are. If you want something more polished with custom illustrations or smoother character animation, mid-tier ads often land in the $2,000 to $5,000+ range. And for projects that need 3D or more advanced animation, the budget can go up to $3,500 to $25,000+ for a 30-second video, since rendering, lighting, and complex movement take more time and resources to get right.

Motion The Agency

This table gives a clear breakdown of how our pricing works across three package tiers: Basic, Premium, and Enhanced. Each tier is designed for different needs, whether a client wants simple motion graphics, a more polished or even 2.5D animation, or a fully crafted animation with advanced visuals and sound design, or even 3D animated video.

Our pricing starts from £2,700 to £5,600 for videos between 30 and 150 seconds. Shorter videos like 30 or 45 seconds sit at the lower end of the range, while longer pieces such as 120 or 150 seconds land at the higher end because they require more planning and animation time. For projects where the client provides raw footage, we only charge for the animation or motion graphics work, which can make hybrid videos more cost-efficient.

Now that we’ve broken down everything you need to know about commercial video production, what do you think? Feeling ready to start your next project? If the answer is yes, we’d love to hear what you’re planning. Feel free to book a call with us and let’s bring your idea to life together.

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