Series Maker turns one idea into a short episode, and keeps your cast and look for the next one. You type what happens. It writes the cast and the shots, draws a storyboard for you to check, then makes the video.
PreviewSeries Maker idea box with the four example cards
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What you can do
Type one idea, from 8 to 1,200 characters, and get a planned episode.
Pick a look: Cartoon, Cinematic, Anime or Storybook.
Pick a kind: Animated (short clips cut into one episode) or Narrated story (still pictures with a voice reading the story).
Pick a length for animated episodes: about 20 seconds (3 shots) or about 30 seconds (4 shots). A narrated story is 5 pictures.
Pick a shape: Wide, or Upright for Shorts and phone screens.
Star your saved characters (up to 3, optional). They are drawn in their own style so they look like themselves.
Start from one of four example cards (a little inventor, a lighthouse keeper, a rooftop courier, a lantern walker). Your episode is planned fresh, in that style. It is not a copy.
Check the storyboard, then make the episode.
Keep going with What happens next? The next episode keeps the same cast and look.
Get an email when it is ready, and leave the page while it works.
Step by step
1
Open Series Maker from the top bar.
2
Type your idea in the Your idea box. For example: "A 10-year-old inventor and her polite robot build a rocket on a rainy day." Or tap an example card to fill the box.
3
Choose Look, Kind, Length and Shape. Star saved characters if you want them in it.
4
Press Plan my episode. This is free.
5
The director writes the cast (each character's name, who they are, their key features) and one action for each shot. Then it draws a portrait for each character and a picture for each shot. This takes about 3 minutes and is not charged.
PreviewA storyboard with cast portraits and shot pictures
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6
Check the storyboard. Each shot shows its camera, what happens and any spoken line. If the check found something off, a small "Check:" note says what, and says if the picture was redrawn once.
7
Leave Email me when it is ready ticked if you want to close the page.
8
Press Make my video. The button shows the number of shots, about how long it takes, and the credit cost. For a narrated story it says pictures instead of shots.
9
The first shot plays as soon as it is ready. When all shots are done they are cut into one episode with music (or narration for a narrated story).
10
Watch it on the page. It is also saved in your Library, and the file is in your exports. Use Open the file to download it.
11
Type what happens next and press Plan the next episode to make episode 2 with the same cast and look.
PreviewA finished episode with the What happens next box
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What it saves for you
Your cast becomes real saved characters, each shot becomes a scene in your Library (linked as a story), and the series keeps its list of episodes under Your series. You can open any past episode from there, or press Next episode on a series.
Credits
Planning and drawing the storyboard are free.
Make uses credits. A narrated story is 1 credit. An animated episode costs more when characters speak. The Make button always shows the exact number before you press it.
If an episode fails, the credit comes back. The page says "Your credit is back."
If a shot cannot be made, it is tried once more at no extra cost.
Accounts on the free plan are pointed to the free video in Create first. Series Maker itself uses credits.
Making many episodes very fast may ask you to wait a minute.
Good to know
Characters and backgrounds can still change a little from shot to shot. That is why you check the storyboard first. Starring your saved characters helps them look like themselves.
Keep the idea short and concrete, with one action per shot. You can say it another way, or pick an example, if the director cannot plan it.
If something stops, you can press Try again (credits are not charged twice) or plan it again.