Your first video

To make your first video, open /create, choose Generate with AI, type a topic or paste your text, and press the draft button. You then review a plan of the scenes and press Make my video to build it.

You need to be signed in to draft and build. Drafting a plan is free. Building the video is what uses credits.

The steps

1. 1

   Say what you want to explain

   Under What do you want to explain?, type a short topic, paste a lesson or doc, or drop a web link. Not sure where to begin? Pick one of the examples under Start from an example.

2. 2

   Pick a format

   Whiteboard is the default. The other cards are Drawn, Painted, Poster and Cartoon skit. You choose the format before drafting.

3. 3

   Set length, aspect ratio and voice

   Move the length slider (1 to 20 minutes, 2 by default), keep the aspect ratio on Auto or pick 16:9 or 9:16, and choose a language and voice.

4. 4

   Draft the plan

   Press the draft button. Its label changes with what you gave it, for example Draft outline for a topic or Read & draft outline for a link.

5. 5

   Check the plan

   Rename, rewrite, reorder or delete scenes. Nothing is drawn yet, so this is the cheapest place to make changes.

6. 6

   Build it

   Press Make my video. The button shows the estimated minutes and credits before you commit.

What you can give it

• A topic: short text, up to 2,000 characters. The button reads Draft outline.
• Pasted text: a lesson, README or notes. The button reads Draft grounded outline. If you turn on Keep my wording, your text becomes the narration and the button reads Structure into chapters.
• A link: a web page address. The button reads Read & draft outline.

You cannot upload a file such as a PDF or Word document. Copy the text and paste it instead. See What you can give it for the limits.

Credits

• Drafting a plan is free, up to 20 drafts per account per day.
• Building costs 7 credits per minute of video. The Make my video button shows the total for your plan.
• If a build fails, the credits are refunded automatically.

See Plans and credits for how many credits each plan includes.

While it builds

After you press Make my video, you land on the Projects page with a banner: "Your video is being made. It usually takes a few minutes. You can close this tab: we'll email you when it's ready." A card for the video shows its progress, and the preview player opens on its own when it finishes. More in While your video builds.

What to expect from the first draft

When you paste your own material, the AI builds the story from the facts in it. It can still get a detail wrong, so watch the preview and check any numbers or names before you share the video.

Cartoon skits

If you pick Cartoon skit, there is no plan step. The button reads Make the skit and the build starts right away.

Watching and downloading

On every plan you can build your video and watch it in the editor. Downloading the MP4 on a free account needs a paid plan or a one-time purchase of that video's export. See Downloading your video.

Next

• Editing a scene
• Narration and voice
• Choosing a look