AI series generator: create an animated show, episode by episode

What an AI series generator does

You write the idea for the show: who the characters are, what world they live in and where the story is going. You choose the number of episodes — up to 20 — and the length of each one. The studio then makes the episodes one after another, and each new episode is planned from everything that has already happened.

• Continuity. Each episode opens where the last one closed, so the story moves forward instead of starting over.
• The same cast. Characters keep their look and their voices across the whole season.
• Real episode lengths. One, two or five minutes per episode on Studio, and up to 20 minutes on Pro.
• Hands-off. Episodes are made in order while you do something else, and you get an email as each one is ready.

How to plan a season

1. Start with the character, not the plot. Give your lead two or three physical traits that never change and one clear personality. A nervous little dragon with a chipped horn and a red scarf will carry a season; "a dragon" will not.
2. Describe the world. Where the show lives — a coastal village, a space station, a school — and the visual style, written once and clearly.
3. Write the arc in one or two sentences. Where does the season start and where does it end? "She arrives in town knowing no one and, by the last episode, saves the lighthouse in a storm." Each episode will move along that path.
4. Pick a length that suits the story. Short episodes of one or two minutes suit YouTube and kids' channels; five-minute episodes give room for a full storyline; 10 to 20 minutes is a proper show.
5. Watch the first episode, then let it run. If the tone is wrong, change the idea and start again before the season is far along.

An idea, written for a series

A shy little dragon called Ember, with a chipped left horn and a red knitted scarf, moves to a windy fishing village where everyone is afraid of dragons. Episode by episode she makes her first friend, a grumpy lighthouse keeper's granddaughter, gets a job lighting the lamp, and learns to fly in a storm to bring the fishing boats home. Warm watercolour storybook style, gentle humour, cosy sea sounds.

That gives the studio a lead with fixed traits, a world, a style and an arc with a clear ending — everything it needs to plan episode one and keep going.

What people make with it

• YouTube cartoon channels. A weekly show with a recurring cast, without an animation team.
• Kids' bedtime series. The same gentle characters every night, with a new small adventure each time.
• Brand and mascot series. A mascot who returns in a new episode every month.
• Classroom series. A course taught as a story, one lesson per episode.
• Pilots and pitches. A few episodes to show what a show could be before anyone commits to producing it.

Credits and plans

Series are part of the Studio and Pro plans. Each episode is charged when it starts, so you only need enough credits for the first one to begin. If credits run out partway through a season, the series pauses and carries on by itself after a top-up. Anyone can write and plan a series in the studio; the plan is only needed when you press start.

Open the series studio to plan yours. For single long stories, see the long AI video generator; to design a lead character that holds up, read the cartoon character creator guide; and for story shapes that work, see cartoon story videos.