Create your own animated cartoon – without being able to draw

1. Condense the idea into one sentence

Good short films ask a single question: Will the bear bring back the star? If you can't get the idea into one sentence, you usually have two stories in one.

2. Story and dialogues

Classic three-act structure: situation, problem, solution. For 30 to 60 seconds, three to five sentences of narration and two short dialogue lines are enough.

3. Define characters

More important than details is consistency: color, shape, size, and a distinguishing feature. That's exactly what reference images are for – they keep the character consistent across all scenes.

4. Storyboard and timing

Each scene gets image content and duration. Rule of thumb: one scene per action step, four to eight seconds. Only when the storyboard is solid is animation worthwhile.

5. Animation

Traditionally, images are drawn frame by frame. With AI video models, each storyboard image becomes a short clip – movement is derived from the image description.

6. Sound and editing

A film only feels complete with sound: narrator's voice, character voices, mood music, and a few sound effects. When editing: never overlap voices, music significantly quieter than speech.

How long does it take?

Classically, one minute of animation takes days to weeks to produce. Automated, the entire chain runs in minutes – yet each step remains individually editable.