I’ve been using Doodly (Enterprise plan) to create whiteboard animations for a few years now, so I’m familiar with the software.In this Doodly review, I will provide you with all of the necessary facts about the software, as well as my honest opinion, so you can determine if it is the right option for you.Doodly is a piece of software that makes it simple to create whiteboard animations.Doodly, in my opinion, is the best whiteboard animation software available.
You’ve most likely seen whiteboard animations before.They’re the odd videos in which an artist makes doodles while a narrator comments.Whiteboard animations are used for a variety of purposes, including education and online marketing.They are excellent in holding a viewer’s attention.If you’re interested in Doodly, you might also be interested in Toonly, their sibling product.If you’re interested, I also have a Toonly review.
Dumb pricing
Doodly offers two pricing tiers: Standard and Enterprise.The monthly plan has the advantage of being able to cancel at any moment; nevertheless, the price (per month) is higher when compared to annual plans.Annual plans provide you with lower prices over a 12-month period.So, if you know you like Doodly and will use it frequently, consider signing up for an annual plan to save more money.However, if you decide to buy it, the developers provide a 30-day money-back guarantee.This gives you some assurance that if you don’t enjoy Doodly, you can get your money back.
What is the distinction between the Standard and Enterprise plans?
You may also make an infinite number of doodle films with either plan!The primary distinction between the two options is that Enterprise includes significantly more doodle images and royalty-free music tracks to utilise than Standard.In addition, Enterprise members receive new doodle characters and images every month at no extra charge.
Doodly characteristics
In this section, I will go over the primary features of Doodly in further detail.These features are available with both the Standard and Enterprise plans.
Various board designs
Despite being essentially a whiteboard animation software, Doodly allows you to create 5 animation styles by combining the following:
Customized Glassboard
With the custom style, you may choose your own background colour (or custom image) and whether the arm should draw with a marker or chalk.
Styles of doodly boards
Each board allows you to choose from a variety of various hand styles in addition to varied board styles.There are 59 different genuine hand styles, 59 2D cartoon hand styles, and 12 3D cartoon hand styles to choose from.You can also choose whether the style is right- or left-handed.Unfortunately, you cannot upload your own hand style.I know that some viewers find the fake hands irritating when watching whiteboard animations, so it’s fantastic to see that Doodly users can also choose to have no hand shown during the animation.
Hand styles with doodles
Doodly, like most whiteboard animation software, comes with ready-to-use doodles.All of these have draw paths associated, so they will be drawn automatically.It’s worth noting that all of the doodles are black and white. Color versions of each doodle are available if you purchase the Doodly Rainbow add-on for $67. (one-time fee).The Standard plan includes a library of 1,164 character photos and 1,620 unique objects.Some of these are shown below as examples.
Characters and props are ridiculous
The Enterprise package includes a significantly larger library (7,000 doodles) as well as access to the Doodly Club.
Every month, members of the Doodly Club get new doodles added to their library.Some Enterprise library examples are provided below.
Characters and problems from the Doodly Club
In addition to the library, you can contribute your own photographs.You can post colour photographs without having the Doodly Rainbow add-on installed.There are also many specialist doodles available in packages through the Doodly Marketplace.
Make your own draw paths
Doodly’s ability to build bespoke draw paths for any image you bring into the app is something I truly like.This means you can tell Doodly exactly how you want the image to be drawn.This produces a more natural look than merely bringing the image into view.The Draw Smart feature is demonstrated in the screenshot below.You can get the rocket image I used for this presentation here.
wacky custom draw path
Simply travel around the image, introducing new markers in a logical sequence.The route size and animation time can then be adjusted to make the drawing look more realistic.Importing SVG paths is another handy feature.So, if you import a picture in SVG format, you may add the attached paths with a single click.This saves a lot of time.
Doodly custom draw path SVG import
- Take a voice recording
- You may also record a voice over straight inside Doodly, so you can easily add narrations to the film.
- During audio recordings, a preview of the whiteboard animation is presented to ensure proper timing.
- The audio on the timeline can then be adjusted by eliminating bits of the beginning and conclusion, as well as adding fade in and fade out effects.
Dodgy voice recording
You can also import audio files if you wish.So, instead of recording your voice over in Doodly, you may use a software with greater audio editing features, such as Audacity.
Several video export options
When it comes to exporting your finished whiteboard animation, Doodly offers a variety of file kinds and resolutions.Videos can be stored in MP4, MKV, OGG, or WebM formats.Most folks will simply require MP4, especially if you intend to upload to YouTube.The resolutions range from 360p to full 1080p HD.For slightly different videos, such as those on social media, you can also input your own resolution without an aspect ratio.Doodly supports frame rates of 24, 25, 30, 48, 50, and 60 frames per second (FPS).Some individuals these days like to go all out 60 FPS to make their animations incredibly fluid.The screenshot below shows all of the export options available in Doodly.
Options for exporting dodgy videos
It’s important to remember that these options can effect how long it takes for your animation video to render.
Doodly assistance
Doodly is wonderful because it has a lot of help available.This is a must-have for any software you use!The creators have recently redesigned their YouTube channel with some new, simple instructions that should get you started.
YouTube channel Doodly
There is also a massive customer support centre where you can read FAQs as well as file a support ticket.When you purchase Doodly, you will receive an invitation to the Doodly Facebook Group, which has over 90,000 members! It’s a pretty busy Facebook group, with individuals posting their whiteboard animation videos and asking for assistance.
Facebook Doodly Design Group
A request feature is another useful feature of Doodly.Customers can submit features they’d like to see added to the programme here.Many of these requests are taken into consideration by the creators, which I appreciate!Three things I appreciate about DoodlyThis wouldn’t be a Doodly review if I didn’t tell you honestly about what I enjoy about the programme.So, here are three things I adore about Doodly.It is simple to create animations.
I’ve been using Doodly for a long time and can honestly state that it’s quite simple to use.I didn’t need to hunt up Doodly tutorials to figure out how to use the software because the UI is simple enough for most folks to get started right away.I’m not very good at drawing, so having a vast doodle library from which I can simply add images is crucial for me.This was the primary reason I chose the Enterprise plan over the Standard plan.
Support for custom pictures
I make animations for my specialised website that include a lot of statistical and mathematical imagery and symbols.These aren’t in the doodle collection, as expected, but I can easily import them into Doodly and add my own drawn path.Three things I dislike about DoodlyAgain, this would not be a Doodly review if I did not discuss what I dislike about the programme.SoThe absence of colour photographs as a standardDoodly comes with black and white doodles by default; but, if you want them in colour, you must purchase the Doodly Rainbow add-on for a one-time cost.The additional one-time price is to cover the feature’s development costs.For me, this isn’t a big concern because I exclusively do whiteboard films with black and white sketches.Others, though, would like to see this feature become commonplace.
It’s worth noting that having the ability to import your own colour photos is a workaround for this.An internet connection is required.Doodly has one minor flaw: it requires an internet connection to function.Although this isn’t a major issue, it can be inconvenient if you’re out and about and want to continue working on your whiteboard animation.
Audio features are limited
I always include voice overs in my whiteboard animations, so I was delighted to see a voice over feature in Doodly.
However, for the time being, it is quite simple.As a result, I avoid utilising the feature entirely and instead record my voice overs in software with better audio settings.I actually use Camtasia for this.Perhaps future software updates will improve things.
