The animation studio Austin teams hire to explain what ships next.
Magic Motion Studio is an animation studio Austin companies hire remotely for 2D animation, motion graphics, 3D, anime and explainer video. Austin buys animation the way it ships software and games: against a date that will not move. Whether you are a Silicon Hills product team, a game developer, a consumer brand or a state agency, every project includes script, design, animation, voiceover and sound design, with explainer video pricing published upfront.
Explainer pricing published in full. Everything else quoted within 24 hours. No discovery call required to find out whether this animation studio Austin teams shortlist is in range. 1,000+ videos delivered, 10+ years in production.
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beautifully.
All animation. One studio.
beautifully.
All animation. One studio.
Our Work
The work behind the animation studio Austin teams book for launch day.
Every frame from this animation studio Austin product, game and brand teams brief is drawn for that brief. No stock assets, no recycled characters, no template packs that turn up in a competitor's launch video. Below is a selection of corporate, educational and character work, the same craft we bring to software launches, game marketing and public information films. For work and advice written specifically for the city, read our guide to 2D animation services in Austin, see our Austin explainer video production page, or use our notes on choosing an explainer video company in Austin.
Bitzer AG, industrial corporate explainer
Enter Tech, educational series
Bee-Bot, character animation series
Industries We Serve
Four kinds of Austin buyer, four different briefs
Enterprise tech and hardware
Dell started in 1984 in a UT Austin student's off-campus dorm room and is now headquartered in Round Rock. Tesla moved its headquarters to Gigafactory Texas, just outside the city in Travis County, on December 1, 2021. Apple, Google, IBM and Intel all run major Austin operations, alongside the software companies that grew up around them.
The work these teams send an animation studio Austin product marketers trust is launch films, feature explainers, partner and channel enablement, and investor material. The hard part is not the animation, it is the moving target. Product teams change scope weekly, so we lock the script against a release, not a feature list, and build scenes in modules that can be swapped when a feature slips. Interface work usually lands in motion graphics, and devices that cannot be filmed before launch go to 3D product animation.
Video games and interactive entertainment
Austin has made games for decades. Austin-based Origin Systems built the Ultima and Wing Commander series. Aspyr was founded in Austin in 1996, Certain Affinity was founded here in 2006 and went on to co-develop Halo Infinite, and Blizzard Entertainment and Electronic Arts both have Austin operations.
Game developers keep their core art in house, so what reaches an animation studio Austin developers use is the marketing around the game: reveal trailers, animated openings, crowdfunding pitch videos, store page loops and community promos. Players judge these against the game itself, so the style has to match the key art frame for frame. For anime-styled titles we run a dedicated hand-drawn pipeline, covered on our anime animation studio Texas page and our main anime animation studio page.
Consumer, food and lifestyle brands
Whole Foods Market is headquartered in Austin, with roots in a small Austin store that opened in 1978. YETI, founded in 2006, and Tito's Handmade Vodka, founded in 1997 and distilled in southeast Austin, are Austin brands too.
Consumer briefs to an animation studio Austin lifestyle brands hire split three ways. Brand characters and origin stories need warmth and personality. Sourcing and sustainability explainers need to be credible without sounding like a report. Retail and social cutdowns need to work in every aspect ratio, often with the sound off. We design the character and the asset library once and cut all three from it, so the brand looks the same on a shelf screen as it does in a feed.
Government, universities and public agencies
As the state capital, Austin is home to the agencies of the State of Texas, the City of Austin and the University of Texas at Austin, all among the region's largest employers. Their animation needs look nothing like a product launch.
Public sector work that comes to an animation studio Austin agencies brief is public information campaigns, benefits and program explainers, staff training and research communication. It has to be read by everyone, at every reading level, and it has to make sense with captions on and sound off. We write in plain language from the first draft and can deliver caption files, voiceover and transcripts with the finished video. Tell us your accessibility standard in the brief so the deliverables are scoped to it from the start.
What We Produce
Five formats from one animation studio Austin teams can brief once
2D animation
Custom characters, environments and fluid motion, drawn for your brand and nobody else's. The most versatile format, because it carries a story and a product at the same time: a consumer brand mascot, a public information film or a launch story. Nothing comes from stock libraries. See our 2D animation studio and our guide to 2D animation for Austin companies.
Most requestedMotion graphics
Animated icons, kinetic typography, charts and interface walkthroughs. The right choice for software dashboards, release notes, program data and any subject where clarity beats character. It also suits the short loops and cutdowns a launch needs in every aspect ratio. More on motion graphics services.
Best for interfacesExplainer video
A complete 60 to 90 second piece built to make a product understood in one viewing. Script, voiceover, animation and sound design included, with the price published rather than quoted, and three to four weeks from approved brief to final file. See the explainer pricing page for every plan, and our explainer video production page for how it is made.
Published pricingAnime animation
Japanese anime visual language, drawn frame by frame. Dramatic composition, expressive characters and cinematic camera work, produced for commercial briefs such as game openings, reveal trailers and brand campaigns rather than fan projects. Quoted per finished minute. See our anime animation studio.
Specialist work3D animation
Product visualisation, technical assemblies and photorealistic rendering. This is the format hardware teams ask an animation studio Austin side for when the device is not finished, cannot be opened up on camera, or has to be shown before launch. A separate production pipeline, so it is always quoted individually. See our 3D animation page.
Custom quoteWhy Magic Motion Studio
What we do differently from other animation studios
Explainer pricing published, no quote wall
Every plan and every inclusion is listed on the pricing page. You find out whether we are in range before you spend half an hour on a call discovering we are not.
100% original assets, no templates
Every character, environment and prop is built from scratch for your brand. Austin audiences grew up on hand-crafted animation from local films and games, and a reused stock character is the fastest way to lose them.
A specialist team, not one generalist
A strategist writes the script, an art director sets the visual language, animators handle the motion and a sound designer mixes original audio. Any animation studio Austin teams hire should staff all four. Four disciplines, four people who do only that.
Anime for commercial briefs
Genuine hand drawn anime production with a dedicated pipeline behind it, not a filter applied to vector artwork. This animation studio Austin game teams brief scopes it for commercial work such as a game opening, a reveal trailer or a brand campaign, on a fixed scope with full rights transferred on delivery.
You own everything on delivery
Full ownership transfers on final payment. No licensing fees, no annual renewal, no restriction on running it as a paid ad or in any territory. Ask for this in writing from anyone you hire, not just us.
Remote, which is the point
Animation is produced on screens, reviewed on screens and delivered as files. Being down the road changes nothing, and no Downtown or Domain office lease is built into the quote.
From brief to broadcast-ready in 5 steps.
Every project follows a structured five-phase workflow developed over 10+ years of production. Each phase has defined deliverables and a client approval gate, so you are never left waiting or guessing. It is also why a remote animation studio Austin teams hire feels no different from one down the road, even when the release date is fixed and the feature list is not.
Strategy and Script
We define the messaging first: your audience, the one message that drives action, the tone, and the call to action. Then we write the full production script. A weak script produces a weak video regardless of animation quality.
Art Direction and Storyboard
Our art director sets the visual style guide, then produces a full storyboard showing every scene, camera angle and transition. You approve the visual story before any animation begins, which removes expensive revisions later.
Voiceover Recording
Runs in parallel with art direction, not after it. You choose from three to five professional voice samples matched to your brief. Recorded in a treated studio and delivered as a broadcast-quality WAV that becomes the timing track.
Animation Production
Every scene built from scratch, frame by frame or rigged depending on the style. Lip sync on every speaking character and motion curves adjusted by hand. A senior animator checks each scene against the storyboard.
Sound Design and Final Delivery
Licensed music, sound effects timed to motion, and mastering to broadcast loudness. You receive four cuts on the same day: 16:9 MP4, 16:9 MOV, 1:1 square and 9:16 vertical. Full commercial rights transfer on payment.
Pricing
What an animation studio Austin teams hire actually costs
Most studios will not give you a number without a discovery call. Finding out what an animation studio Austin teams hire will charge should not require a meeting. Both explainer video plans are listed in full, factor by factor, on our pricing page, so you can budget before you speak to anyone. Everything else is quoted on the brief and we come back within 24 hours. The same rates apply in Downtown Austin, Round Rock, Cedar Park and everywhere else in Central Texas.
| Plan | What is included |
|---|---|
| Standard | One complete 60 second animated video. Script, storyboard, custom animation, professional voiceover, sound design and revisions, all included. |
| Pro | Everything in Standard, plus 60 to 90 second runtime, five revision rounds, social resizes, cutdowns, animated GIFs, still images and source files. |
| 3D animation | Quoted per project because 3D runs on a separate rendering pipeline with different cost drivers. |
| Series and longer runtimes | Per minute cost falls once characters and environments are built, because those assets carry across every episode. |
Nothing is added later. No licensing fees, no renewal fees, no charge for the files you already paid to have made. Anime work for Texas game and brand teams is quoted the same way and covered on our anime animation in Texas page. The full factor by factor breakdown is on our explainer video pricing page.
See the full pricing breakdownKnow your number? Get it scoped.
Send us the brief and we come back with a fixed price and a timeline, usually within 24 hours.
Buyer's Guide
Six questions for animation studios in Austin, including us
Ask every animation studio Austin has on your shortlist the same six, whether it is a local shop on East Cesar Chavez or a remote team like ours. Compare the answers, not the showreels. A showreel is selected highlights and tells you almost nothing about what your project will actually be like.
Will you show me the price before a call?
A studio that will not state a range until it has qualified your budget is pricing you, not the project. The same sixty second video should not cost two companies two different amounts because one of them looked wealthier on a call.
Red flag
"Contact us for a quote", a wait, a discovery call, then a number that was never in your range.
Where we stand
Both plans published in full. You can budget tonight without speaking to anyone.
Who owns the files when it is finished?
Ask directly, and ask specifically whether editable source files are included. Plenty of studios retain the project files and charge an export fee later if you want the video changed. Others license the video rather than sell it, with a recurring fee or a usage limit you only discover at renewal.
Red flag
Ownership is not mentioned in the proposal, or source files appear as an upsell.
Where we stand
Full ownership on delivery. No licensing or renewal fees. Source files on the Pro plan.
Is voiceover and sound design inside the price?
This is where cheap quotes hide. Professional voiceover casting, direction and recording, plus sound design and an original music mix, commonly appears as a separate line item added after the first quote. A quote without them is not a cheaper video, it is an incomplete one.
Red flag
Audio listed as "optional" or "client supplied" anywhere in the scope.
Where we stand
Included at both plan levels. Script, voiceover, sound design and music.
How many revision rounds, and what happens after?
Unlimited revisions is either untrue or priced in somewhere you cannot see. A fixed number of rounds at each stage, with a stated rate beyond them, is the honest structure. Ask what specifically triggers a change order, because that definition is where disputes start.
Red flag
"Unlimited revisions" with no definition anywhere of what counts as one.
Where we stand
Fixed rounds at every stage. Scope changes are flagged before they are billed, never after.
Have you worked in my sector before?
It also decides which kind of studio you need. If you are producing a TV series, hire a series studio. If you need a business explainer, a product launch film or a game marketing asset on a fixed scope, hire a commercial studio with published pricing. Animation studios in Austin cover both ends, so match the studio to the job before you compare reels. Ask to see two projects from your own industry, not the general reel. The reel is the best work. You want the typical work.
Red flag
Every example shown is from a different industry to yours.
Where we stand
1,000+ videos across finance, healthcare, logistics, software and manufacturing.
Can I see the script and storyboard before animation?
Any animation studio Austin companies hire that animates before you approve a storyboard is setting up an expensive argument. Approval gates protect you far more than they protect the studio, because they are the only point in the process where changes are still cheap. Changing words costs nothing. Changing finished frames costs weeks.
Red flag
The first thing you are shown is a near-finished animation.
Where we stand
Script, then storyboard and style frames, both approved before a single frame is animated.
Austin Animation Heritage
Austin learned animation from film and games, not cereal boxes
1985
Richard Linklater creates the Austin Film Society
1987
SXSW begins, held every March in Austin ever since
About 30
Austin animators who hand-traced Waking Life in 2001
Animation and games made in Austin
Six titles that tie the city to animation, from rotoscoped features to web series and game worlds.
Ultima
Austin-based Origin Systems, 1983 onward
Waking Life
Richard Linklater, 2001
Red vs. Blue
Austin web series, 2003
A Scanner Darkly
Richard Linklater, 2006
Castlevania
Netflix, 2017, animated in Austin
Apollo 10½
Premiered at SXSW, 2022
Waking Life was shot mostly in Austin and rotoscoped with Rotoshop, software designed by Bob Sabiston, by a team of about 30 local animators. Five years later most of the animators on A Scanner Darkly were hired locally too. In 2003 Red vs. Blue launched from Austin as a web series, with RWBY following in 2013. In 2000 the Austin Film Society opened Austin Studios in the hangars of the former Robert Mueller Municipal Airport, and Apollo 10½ was finished partly in Austin before its SXSW premiere. We do not make feature films, and we do not claim this history as ours. We mention it because it is the context every animation studio Austin teams hire is judged against.
Austin audiences have seen what hand-crafted animation looks like, on festival screens and in the games they play. Any brief to an animation studio Austin audiences will judge should ask for performance, timing and craft, not a logo that moves.
Areas We Serve
An animation studio Austin wide, and across Central Texas
Austin neighbourhoods
Greater Austin and Central Texas
Elsewhere in Texas: see our animation studio for Houston companies and our animation studio for Dallas companies, each written for that city's own industries.
Common Questions
Hiring animation studios in Austin, answered
Still have a question after this? Email info@magicmotionstudio.com and we reply within 24 hours.
No, and we will not pretend otherwise. Animation is produced on screens, reviewed on screens and delivered as files, so for animated work an Austin address adds rent to your quote without adding anything to the video. We work as a remote animation studio Austin companies hire for 2D animation, motion graphics, 3D, anime and explainer video. If your brief needs a camera crew on site in Austin, a local live-action company is the better choice, and we will tell you so.
Explainer video pricing is published in full on our explainer video pricing page, both plans, factor by factor, so you can budget without a call. Every other format, 2D character work, motion graphics, 3D and anime, is quoted on the brief and we come back within 24 hours. We do not put figures on this page, so the pricing page is always the current source.
Four kinds of buyer cover most of the work an animation studio Austin side receives: enterprise tech and hardware, video games and interactive entertainment, consumer and lifestyle brands, and government, universities and public agencies. Each briefs differently. A hardware team wants the product understood before launch, a game studio wants its key art to move, and an agency wants every resident to follow the message.
Yes, when the schedule is agreed at kickoff. An explainer video takes three to four weeks from approved brief to final file. Every other format is scheduled per project, because the timeline depends on length and complexity, and that schedule comes with your quote in writing before work starts. March is Austin's busiest launch window because of SXSW, so brief early and we will plan backwards from your date.
Yes. We run a dedicated anime pipeline with hand-drawn production, used for game openings, reveal trailers and store page loops. Austin already has studios built for long-form series work. Our role is different: commercial scope, a fixed price agreed before work starts, and full rights transferred on delivery. More on our anime animation in Texas page.
Yes. We style-match to the characters, key art, colour palettes and brand guidelines you supply, You receive the finished files, and editable source files on the Pro explainer plan, so your own team can keep using the assets after launch.
Yes. As an animation studio Austin agencies can brief directly, we write public information and program explainers in plain language from the first draft, and we can deliver caption files, voiceover and transcripts with the finished video. Tell us the accessibility standard your agency works to in the brief, so the deliverables are scoped against it from the start.
No. Whether you are Downtown, in East Austin, at The Domain, or in Round Rock, Cedar Park, Georgetown or San Marcos, the work costs the same. Location does not change what it takes to produce animation, so it does not change what this animation studio Austin teams hire will charge.
Yes, in full, on delivery. No licensing fees, no annual renewal, no restriction on running it as a paid ad, at a festival booth or in any territory. Editable source files are included on the Pro explainer plan. Ask for this in writing from any animation studio Austin teams are considering, not just us.
Free quote, no obligation
Ready to brief an animation studio Austin teams trust?
Whether it is a launch film, a game trailer, a brand character or a public information video, tell us what you are making and the date it has to be ready. This animation studio Austin teams brief comes back within 24 hours with a scope, a timeline and a fixed price. If we are not the right fit for your project, we will tell you that instead.