Hype is a fantastic tool for educators with great tools to create engaging, beautiful and interactive products.
However, sometimes we just need to make non-interactive instructional videos to explain a concept. You’ve seen those in YouTube, they’re usually around 10-15 minutes in length. The workflow starts with a script +/- a crude hand-drawn storyboard. The script is then narrated. Animations are finally added as the last step and serve as visual aids to the narrated audio.
I’ve tried/considered so many alternatives including Adobe Animate, FCP X, Motion 5, Synfig, PowToon, and Explain Everything (iPad). None come close to Hype’s balance between power and simplicity for animation.
However, Hype is missing two essential features and a bug fix that will make this dream a reality:
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The ability to add an audio track to the timeline to sync animation to. The current workaround is to add the audio as an mp4, but displaying the audio waveform would be very helpful in timing/syncing the animation starts/ends to the narration.
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The ability to export the final product as an mp4 containing the audio. This can be worked around by exporting the video then adding the audio track to the exported video using a different app like FCP or iMovie.
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Improve video export for longer videos. I noticed that it currently stops progressing when the app is not visible (ie, when I’m in a different space while the app is full screen). There were rendering errors in the video that I believe correspond to when I change away from the space and back (Could those bugs be related to Safari’s battery saving features, which pause animations when an animation is not in view?). This one doesn’t have a workaround. I will try to re-render overnight with the app running in foreground, machine connected to power, and all other apps closed and battery saving features turned off.
I think that there’s a large market for educators interested in creating this type of content. In fact, a few web based solutions have cropped up specifically to address this need (eg, PowToon) but they’re all inferior. I feel like Hype is 99% there. Please consider expanding your audience to include this use case.
Cheers and thank you for a fantastic tool.
—Ahmad