My philosophy is simple: Clarity breeds confidence, and intuition must precede rigor. An animated video isn't just about showing a formula; it's about building a mental model that a student can own forever.
Before we touch any software, we must internalize these principles. The technology serves the teaching, not the other way around.
This is the most critical phase. A C-grade animation with an A+ script is a thousand times better than the reverse.
Pick One Concept: E.g., The Pythagorean Theorem.
Define the Core Question: Don't start with "Today we'll learn a² + b² = c²." Start with "If you walk 3 blocks east and 4 blocks north, how far are you from your starting point in a straight line?"
Write for the Ear: Write your script as if you're explaining it to a friend over coffee. Use simple language. Read it aloud. Does it flow naturally? Your narration is the backbone.
Create a Two-Column Script: On the left, write your narration. On the right, sketch or describe the visual that corresponds to that exact moment. This is your storyboard. It doesn't need to be fancy—stick figures are fine.
| Narration (What I'm Saying) | Visuals (What the Viewer is Seeing) |
|---|---|
| "Imagine you're trying to figure out the perfect size for a TV for this wall." | Simple animation of a character looking at a blank wall. A dotted-line rectangle for a TV appears. |
| "You know the width and the height you want, but the store sells TVs by the diagonal length." | The width and height dimensions appear on the rectangle (e.g., 48" and 27"). A big question mark appears on the diagonal. |
| "How do we find that diagonal? This is a problem that puzzled people for thousands of years..." | The rectangle simplifies into a right-angled triangle. The background fades to a parchment/ancient Greece style. |
| "...until they realized something beautiful about the squares of the sides." | A square literally animates out from the 'a' side. A second square animates out from the 'b' side. |
| "The area of these two smaller squares... perfectly fills the area of the largest square." | The 'a' and 'b' squares break into pieces and fluidly fly over to fill the area of the square on the hypotenuse ('c' side). This is the "Aha!" moment. |
Now we bring the blueprint to life. I'll categorize tools by style and complexity.
This style mimics a teacher at a blackboard. It's fantastic for step-by-step problem-solving.
Core Idea: Record your screen as you write and draw on a digital canvas.
Hardware: An iPad with an Apple Pencil or a Wacom/Huion drawing tablet connected to a computer.
Software:
This is the style of channels like Kurzgesagt or Vox. It uses vector graphics, text, and smooth animations.
Core Idea: Animate pre-made shapes, text, and graphics.
Adobe After Effects: The industry standard. It has a steep learning curve but unmatched power for this style. You create shapes and set "keyframes" (start and end points for motion, scale, opacity, etc.).
PowerPoint/Keynote: Do NOT underestimate these! The "Morph" (PPT) and "Magic Move" (Keynote) transitions are incredibly powerful for creating smooth animations between slides.
Hardware: A decent computer with a good amount of RAM.
This is the style of the legendary 3Blue1Brown. The animations are generated by code. This is the gold standard for pure, precise mathematical visualization.
Core Idea: You write code that describes the mathematical objects and their transformations, and a library renders it into a video.
You can animate things that are impossible to draw by hand, like a fractal generating, a vector field flowing, or a function transforming perfectly into its derivative. The animation is mathematically exact.
Programming Language: Python. It's readable, has a massive community, and is the language of science and data.
Animation Engine:
This is where you assemble the pieces and add the final 10% that makes it shine.
Tool: Audacity (Free). Use it to cut out mistakes, reduce background noise, and normalize the volume of your voice-over. A clean, crisp voice-over is non-negotiable.
Microphone: A USB microphone like a Blue Yeti or Rode NT-USB will be a massive upgrade over your computer's built-in mic.
Tool: DaVinci Resolve (Free version is incredibly powerful). This is where you'll combine your animation clips, voice-over, background music, and sound effects.
Alternatives: Adobe Premiere Pro (Subscription), Final Cut Pro (Mac only).
Tool: Epidemic Sound / Artlist (Subscription). High-quality, royalty-free music is worth the investment.
Sound Effects: Use subtle swooshes, clicks, and pops to give your animations weight and impact. Freesound.org is a great resource.