The format determines half the price
Before complexity, length, or voiceover enters the conversation, the format itself sets a price floor.
Motion graphics: QAR 12,000 – 35,000 per 30 seconds
Type, shapes, charts, icons in motion. No characters. Fastest format, most predictable cost. Right for corporate explainers, data-heavy films, and presentations.
2D animation with characters: QAR 25,000 – 80,000 per 30 seconds
Custom illustration, characters, environments. The illustration alone is often 40% of the budget. Right for explainers, awareness campaigns, and brand films.
3D animation: QAR 80,000 – 400,000+ per 30 seconds
Full 3D modelling, texturing, lighting, rendering. The cost ladder here is steep — a stylized 3D explainer is one thing, photoreal product visualization or architectural walk-through is something else. Right for product launches, real-estate pre-vis, medical animation.
Whiteboard / scribble animation: QAR 8,000 – 25,000 per 30 seconds
Lower production value but extremely effective for e-learning and internal communications. The cheapest format that still feels intentional.
What drives the number up inside each format
Within a format, the same 30 seconds can vary by 3–4× depending on what's actually happening on screen.
Length
Most films cost roughly per-second, with a discount above 60 seconds. A two-minute film isn't four times a 30-second one — usually 3–3.5×.
Character complexity and rigging
A character that walks costs more than one that talks from the chest up. A character that runs, jumps, and emotes is its own line item.
Custom illustration vs library assets
A custom-drawn world built specifically for the film carries a real cost. A film built from licensed assets is faster and cheaper but looks like every other agency's output.
Voiceover and music
A professional Arabic and English VO can run QAR 2,000–8,000 per language. Music licensing or original score is its own item — somewhere between QAR 2,000 (library) and QAR 30,000+ (custom score).
Bilingual versions
Producing the same film in both Arabic and English isn't twice the cost — it's roughly 1.4–1.6× the single-language cost, since the design and animation work mostly carries over. Synced lip animation is the exception (full re-animation of mouth shapes per language).
Sound design and post
Sound effects, mixing, mastering. Often skipped on cheap quotes; always included on good ones. Budget 8–15% of total.
Red flags in animation pricing
- 30-second 2D animations under QAR 8,000 — almost always template-based
- Quotes that don't list voiceover and music as separate line items
- "Includes unlimited revisions" — see above re: branding pricing, same problem
- Sound design absent from the quote
- Bilingual delivery quoted at the same price as single-language
How we scope it
Format and reference style first, then a per-second rate, then add-ons (voiceover, music, sound, bilingual). Storyboard-locked before animation starts so you're not paying for surprises. Two structured revision rounds at storyboard stage and one at animation stage. The price you get on day one is the price you pay on delivery.