How a social enterprise used Krikey AI Animations to create YouTube shorts for their mission of accessibility and inclusion

Summary

• Description: Looking for tools to build out their animated video series on YouTube, the social enterprise WeCanAccess found Krikey AI Animation. Now they could have full creative control over their animated videos, especially for YouTube shorts.
• Krikey AI Features used: Custom 3D Character Upload, Voiceover (Record your own voice), Video editor, Aesthetic backgrounds

"We had nearly given up on our goals of producing animations because of cost and time constraints. The Krikey AI Animation tool opened a new door for us and allowed us to revisit our ambitions of an animated series of video shorts. Krikey AI has been a game changer for our organization. Now we can creatively direct and manage every video to ensure we convey our messaging thoughtfully to encourage inclusion and understanding of hidden and visible disabilities." ~ Emma Bara, Founder of WeCanAccess

Challenge

• Previously, the organization used 2D characters and hired outside animators to help them produce every YouTube video. This proved costly and time consuming and meant that projects could not be developed due to cost constraints. It was also challenging for creative control and to ensure the characters were accurately represented.
• Learning animation skills would take too long and take their focus away from their core mission. The WeCanAccess founders needed to find a simpler technology solution to animate their videos and make explainer videos.
• Posting consistently to YouTube was one of their goals and in order to do this, they needed to be able to make a video right away when inspiration or an idea came to mind, directly on their laptop.

Solution

• Krikey AI received a support email from the WeCanAccess team asking if they could support custom characters. WeCanAccess converted their 2D characters into 3D FBX files and joined the Krikey AI Character upload beta program. Now they could animate and add lip synced dialogue to their custom 3D characters in minutes.
• Krikey AI shared video tutorials with the WeCanAccess team and was able to empower them to begin animating videos on their own.
• Within a week, the WeCanAccess team was able to start creating individual YouTube shorts and publishing them to their YouTube channel.

Time and Cost

• 5x the views per video - with Krikey AI Animation, the WeCanAccess team introduced their YouTube Shorts strategy and within a month were able to publish more YouTube shorts with greater audience reach, with some videos reaching hundreds of views within days. Being able to produce videos in this way also allowed WeCanAccess to develop short segments to help illustrate key points in their online training courses.
• 10x the savings in cost to produce animated videos. Previously, the WeCanAccess team had tried several different software tools and hired freelancers to assist in animated video production. Now, they could directly access and manage all their creative production resources on a low monthly subscription.
• Priceless: The ability to maintain creative control and direction for videos that have a significant impact on families of children with disabilities. Being able to create and produce videos in a respectful manner with nuanced attention to detail on voiceover, character movement and backgrounds was extremely important to the WeCanAccess team.

Creative control and Video Editing for animation

• Krikey AI enabled the WeCanAccess team to upload three of their custom 3D characters to the tool. The characters were automatically rigged for both body movement and lip synced dialogue. This made it easy for the team to quickly get started experimenting and using the video editor tool.
• Krikey AI has an online, browser based video editor. The simple interface makes it easy for anyone to animate. No coding skills, previous animation skills or video editing skills are required. Within a few minutes, the WeCanAccess team was able to begin producing their first video clips.
• Krikey AI's custom record your own voiceover tool, directly inside the video editor, helped streamline the production of each video. Now, the WeCanAccess team can directly record their voices for each video and within seconds see their custom character lip syncing on screen. They can also easily add narration to their videos and bring the characters to life in any scene.

About the Customer

WeCanAccess is a UK based social enterprise founded by David and Emma Bara. The organization's mission is to enable people to access the world physically, socially and economically, improving inclusion and accessibility to the world around us. WeCanAccess is a certified Social Enterprise and has been identified as a Global Pioneer by #learningplanet (a project of UNESCO and CRI). In 2012, their daughter was diagnosed with a malignant brain tumour at the age of 2. She survived a 7 hour surgery and a year of intensive chemotherapy and radiotherapy but was left with life changing disabilities. Through their journey, the Bara family has met hundreds of families in similar circumstances, all trying to navigate their way through a world that isn't always designed for their children. WeCanAccess is a website with resources for people with disabilities and their families - it includes courses, videos, lesson plans and more. The website serves as a central hub for experts in special educational needs and disabilities (SEND).

About Krikey AI

Krikey AI Animation tools empower anyone to animate a 3D character in minutes. The character animations can be used in marketing, tutorials, games, films, social media, lesson plans and more. In addition to a video to animation and text to animation AI model, Krikey offers a 3D editor that creators can use to add lip synced dialogue, change backgrounds, facial expressions, hand gestures, camera angles and more to their animated videos. Krikey's AI tools are available online at www.krikey.ai today, on Canva Apps, Adobe Express and on the AWS Marketplace!

The Challenge

These are some of the challenges the WeCanAccess team faced before they found Krikey AI Animation tools.

Accessibility: Animation and video editing

One of the biggest challenges the WeCanAccess team had was around their own accessibility to animation and video editing tools. Many of these software tools were expensive, difficult to learn, in some cases required an understanding of coding or programming. Their focus was on building out curriculum for accessibility and working with policymakers to improve the resources available for children with disabilities and their families. They did not have time to spend several hours learning how to animate characters and add voiceover. They began searching online for new AI technology and tools to help bring their vision to life for their animated video series and that led them to Krikey AI Animation tools.

Consistent Content Creation for YouTube and YouTube shorts

With a multi-channel approach to content creation for their resource hub, the WeCanAccess team knew they needed to scale up their YouTube presence. Traditionally, they made long form videos, usually 5-15 minutes, which were recordings of themselves speaking with a few slides. These videos took time to produce and edit, and so posting consistently was a challenge. The videos would bring on average under 30 views per video and they worried about their ability to have an impact with long form content. The team wanted to experiment with YouTube shorts and wanted to use animation in this medium. They worked with 3D artists to design their own custom characters and then brought those characters to Krikey AI Animation tools to animate them.

Reaching international audiences with animated videos

With decades of experience in the field, David and Emma Bara found themselves often engaging with families for whom English was not a first language. These families shared the same struggles but had an astonishing lack of disability education resources in their native languages. To compound the challenge, each country had different cultural practices around engaging with disabled children and families. David and Emma knew their long term goal would be to produce educational content in multiple languages so they could reach international audiences and increase accessibility to these important resource. With Krikey AI Animation, their 3D characters can now lip sync in 20+ languages.

The Solution

Here is how the WeCanAccess team solved their challenge to begin producing animated videos for YouTube shorts.

How the WeCanAccess team found and experimented with Krikey AI Animation

After posting a few long form videos to their YouTube channel, David and Emma Bara wondered if they could find an animation tool to help them experiment with a new medium for the platform. They had animated characters they used on their website and in lesson plans, but they had never before had direct creative control over these characters. They searched online for AI Animation tools in Google and found Krikey AI.

They uploaded a video of Emma waving and standing and sitting. Within 5 minutes, she had an animated character performing the same motions. She was elated and knew that this was a tool she could use without having to face a technical barrier to entry. It was accessible and easy to learn. David immediately reached out to the Krikey AI Animation team to ask if the WeCanAccess custom 3D characters could be added to the animation tools. The Krikey AI team invited WeCanAccess to their custom character upload beta program and the team began experimenting and making videos with their characters.

Making YouTube shorts with Krikey AI Animation tools

The Krikey AI Animation tool made it easy for the WeCanAccess team to begin producing YouTube Shorts videos. These required a simple single character, short script and usually one camera angle and background. The team was able to quickly make four of these videos in a couple weeks. They began experimenting with AI generated backgrounds, record your own voice tools and different animations from the Krikey AI Animation library in the video editor. Each YouTube shorts video they published has received hundreds of views, in some cases 24x the number of views per YouTube Shorts video than their long form content. This dramatic increase in reach was inspiring and exciting for the team to see and they began considering a larger strategy around their animated videos for YouTube.

Multiple use cases with Krikey AI voiceover and Voice AI tools

Initially, the WeCanAccess team considered the Krikey AI Animation tool for their YouTube Shorts videos. These were a success and they began to explore additional use cases, on YouTube and beyond. The animated videos could be used in their online courses, policy presentations, in the lesson plans for college courses that they teach and also translated into 20+ languages to reach audiences in other countries. The Krikey AI Animation tool unlocked new opportunities for the WeCanAccess team and helped them explore ways to create content that could reach a greater number of people.

How Krikey AI was used to make videos for accessibility and inclusion, online teaching and lesson plan toolkits

The WeCanAccess team used the Krikey AI Animation tool in several unique ways to share their important messages with families around the world

Custom 3D Character Upload

Krikey AI's custom character upload feature enabled the WeCanAccess team to bring their personalized 3D characters into the Krikey AI video editor. This was important because their characters are designed in a very particular way to appeal to people of multiple cultures and backgrounds. Each character represents a different message and the Krikey AI tool enabled the WeCanAccess team to customize each video to the character. The WeCanAccess team did not have to learn anything about rigging in order to upload their character to the Krikey AI Animation tool and have it automatically animate and lip sync in seconds.

Voiceover and Voice AI

For the videos that required a specific voice or context, the WeCanAccess team could personally record audio or upload audio directly into the Krikey AI video editor. Within seconds they could get any of their custom characters to lip sync with this audio. This was important to accurately represent the character, disability and message for the audience. For other videos, the team experimented with the Voice AI tools which enable lip synced dialogue in 20+ languages. Through a combination of direct voice recording and Voice AI, the WeCanAccess team was able to easily bring voiceover to their animated videos using the Krikey AI Animation tool.

Custom Backgrounds

Krikey AI's custom backgrounds helped the WeCanAccess team add calming single color backdrops or AI generated scenes behind the characters. The team was also able to use AI generated images and uploaded backgrounds as they experimented with videos for specific use cases - for example, how to help a person with disabilities navigate a grocery store aisle. The team also shared excellent feedback with the Krikey AI team on additional ways they can make the Krikey AI Animation tool more accessible for future users.

"There are many families who struggle in isolation and our hope is that the WeCanAccess resources can reach these families and make them feel less alone. With Krikey AI Animation we can now do this through animated videos in multiple languages. The potential for impact in our field is huge and we are so excited to have found this tool and to share it with our communities." ~ David Bara, Founder of WeCanAccess