> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: /llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.
# Make an explainer video with AI
> Turn notes, an article, or a difficult idea into a visual explanation without product footage.
Start from a topic, article, or notes. HyperFrames invents the typography, diagrams, abstract graphics, and data visualization that teach it.
Kinetic type, an abstract graphic, a diagram, and a data-visualisation — all
invented from the text. There is no source video anywhere in this.
## Explainers made with HyperFrames
Any style works. The same request comes back as a woodblock print, a 3D tutorial or a hand-drawn diagram depending on
what you show it.
**The journey of "k"**: how one letter crosses the ocean. Woodblock prints, made with the skills.
**How phone GPS works**: made in the Studio app from a reference video, in its style.
**Axe chop**: a 3D how-to, step by step.
## Make it
**Start from an explainer you like.** In the Studio app, open **Reference** on Home and paste its link (YouTube,
TikTok, Instagram or X), upload the file, or choose one under **Pick a reference**. Then say what yours is about: you
get that pacing and drawing style, about your topic. You don't have to love all of it; one thing you like is
enough to start from. Reference uses your HeyGen API key, and the app asks for it the first time.
**Or describe it** in **Make something**, with your notes attached or pasted:
```text
Turn these notes into a 60-second explainer for people new to the topic: [paste notes]
```
Say which facts or wording must stay exact. With your own agent instead of the app, start the message with `/hyperframes`.
## How should the idea land?
* **Understand one idea** — open with a useful question, then reveal the mechanism one layer at a time.
* **Follow a process** — keep one visual stage and show each step in the order the viewer needs it.
* **Remember three points** — make the ideas parallel, concrete, and visually distinct enough to recall later.
* **Learn through a story** — use one case to move from setup and tension to a general lesson.
If you supply an approved script, say whether HyperFrames may restructure it or
must keep every word.
Use a [product and website video](/guides/product-launch-video.md) when the real interface should provide the proof. Use [captions or designed overlays](/guides/captions-and-recuts.md) when existing footage should remain underneath.
## From information to understanding
HyperFrames does not turn each paragraph into a scene. It finds the teaching spine, removes asides, and builds a sequence around the one idea the viewer should retain.
The visuals share one coherent language and develop with the explanation. A diagram should reveal a mechanism; a chart should prove a claim; motion should show what changes.
## Prompts that work
Paste your text into one message.
That is enough for a finished explainer. No site, no footage, no design
decisions yet.
Verified, from the [examples](/prompting/examples.md) page — a \~60-second vertical
explainer from pasted text:
> Turn this into a \~60-second 1080x1920 vertical explainer: \[paste your text]. One idea per scene, big typography, diagrams over stock footage, brand color #FF5533 on off-black. Male TTS voice, calm. Embedded captions, keywords highlighted in the brand color.
*Made from the prompt above.*
Note the `~`. When you supply a script, the runtime follows the spoken words. So
ask for *about* a minute, not exactly one. See the
[anatomy](/prompting/overview.md#the-shape-of-a-strong-prompt) for the rest of the skeleton.
### Say these when they matter
You can steer all of these from the prompt, before you have learned any
technique.
| Knob | What to say | Why it matters |
| - | - | - |
| **Verbatim vs summarized** | "use my wording verbatim" or "restructure it freely" | Verbatim keeps your voice but locks the word count. Summarized lets it cut and reorder for pace. |
| **Duration** | "\~60 seconds", never "60 seconds" | With a script, the narration sets the real length. A hard number forces the agent to trim or pad the words. |
| **Scene density** | "one idea per scene" | A faceless scene has one invented focal to animate. Two ideas leave nothing to build the motion around. It reads as a text dump. |
| **Angle** | "concept" / "how-to" / "listicle" / "story" | The angle decides the story shape. The agent reshapes your text into it instead of reading your paragraphs in order. |
| **Caption style** | "embedded captions, keywords highlighted in the accent color" | Captions are burned in. Naming the highlight color ties them to your palette instead of a default pill. |
| **Palette** | "brand color #FF5533 on off-black" | There is no site to borrow from, so the agent picks a palette. A named accent and ground personalize it. |
| **Voice** | "male TTS voice, calm" / "warm female voice" | Gender and tone are prompt words. The provider is the agent's decision. |
> [!TIP]
>
> Scene density is the single biggest quality lever here. "One idea per scene"
> turns a dense paragraph into a paced sequence. The agent reorders and
> compresses your text to hit it. That is what makes an explainer teach instead
> of recite.
### Variants
> [accordion] 30-second landscape topic explainer (16:9)
>
> > Make a \~30-second 1920x1080 explainer on how HTTPS keeps a request private, for a non-technical audience — the takeaway: your data is sealed before it leaves the browser. Concept angle: one idea per scene, big geometric type, a simple lock-and-key diagram as the centerpiece (swap the metaphor with the topic). Near-black ink on off-white with a deep-blue accent. Female TTS voice, warm and clear. Embedded captions, key terms highlighted in the accent color.
>
> Shorter runtime, landscape for YouTube or an embed. Fewer scenes means the
> topic has to compress. Naming the takeaway tells the agent what to keep.
>
>
>
> *Rendered from this prompt with the topic swapped to HTTP caching (cache diagram as the metaphor), unedited — 26s, because the narration sets the length.*
> [accordion] Listicle
>
> > Make a \~45-second 1080x1920 listicle: "5 habits of fast-shipping teams". Listicle angle — one habit per scene, each with a big number and a one-line label, escalating energy toward #1. Off-black with a lime accent. Male TTS voice, upbeat. Embedded captions, the habit label highlighted each scene.
>
> The listicle angle gives each item its own scene. Every scene reuses the same
> number-and-label shape. The result reads as a countdown, not a wall of
> points.
> [accordion] How-to with diagrams
>
> > Make a \~60-second 1920x1080 how-to on setting up a CI pipeline, for developers. How-to angle: one step per scene, each built around a simple node-and-arrow diagram that draws on as the narration explains it. Charcoal with a teal accent. Calm male TTS voice. Embedded captions, the step name highlighted.
>
> A how-to leans on diagrams as the load-bearing visual. Describe the diagram
> *shape* per step — "node-and-arrow", or "a pipeline that fills left to
> right". Let the agent invent the specifics.
### Common mistakes
**"60 seconds" instead of "\~60 seconds".** Same rule as on the
[product launch page](/guides/product-launch-video.md#prompts-that-work). It bites
harder here, because the script is the whole video. You cannot know a supplied
script's spoken duration until the TTS renders.
* **Avoid:** `a 60-second explainer from this text: ...`
* **Instead:** `a ~60-second explainer from this text: ...`
**Cramming ideas into a scene.** Every faceless visual is invented around a
single focal. Overload the scene and there is no clear thing to animate.
* **Avoid:** `explain all five caching layers in one scene`
* **Instead:** `one idea per scene — one caching layer at a time`
**Asking it to capture or pull real imagery.** There is no capture step. A
faceless explainer invents its visuals.
* **Avoid:** `pull screenshots from the site and explain the feature`
* **Instead:** that's a site or product video — give it the URL
([product launch](/guides/product-launch-video.md#prompts-that-work))
**Leaving the look unspecified when you care.** There is no brand to read, so
the agent picks the palette. If you have colors, name them.
* **Avoid:** `make it look on-brand`
* **Instead:** `brand color #FF5533 on off-black`
## Review whether it teaches
* The opening creates a question, tension, or surprise.
* The main idea is clear by the second scene.
* Each body scene advances one mechanism, step, example, or implication.
* Numbers and factual claims match the source.
* The ending lands the sentence you wanted the viewer to remember.
Ask the agent when the teaching sequence or evidence must change. Use
the browser editor for a precise visual, timing, or animation correction.
> [card] [Finish and share](/guides/export-and-share.md)
>
> Check the final project, render through your preferred surface, and review the file.
## Related topics
* [Create a product video from real screens](/guides/product-launch-video.md)