VODOOAI explainer video: how your product works, in ninety seconds
By VODOO AI · · 4 min read
An explainer video answers one question: how does this work, and why should I care? The best ones are short, clear and calm, and they're built like an argument, not a montage. AI can make every part of one: the script, the frames, the motion and the voice.
This guide covers how VODOO builds an explainer in four steps, why the script comes first, briefs to copy, and what to check before it goes on your homepage.
Four steps, in this order
Script and beats
- What happens
- The argument, split into short beats
- Why this order
- If the logic doesn't hold, no picture will save it
Boards
- What happens
- One frame per beat
- Why this order
- You judge the sequence before anything moves
Motion
- What happens
- The boards brought to life
- Why this order
- Type and layout stay steady, which words-to-video alone won't do
Narration
- What happens
- A voice timed to the beats
- Why this order
- The picture leads, the voice follows
| Step | What happens | Why this order |
|---|---|---|
| Script and beats | The argument, split into short beats | If the logic doesn't hold, no picture will save it |
| Boards | One frame per beat | You judge the sequence before anything moves |
| Motion | The boards brought to life | Type and layout stay steady, which words-to-video alone won't do |
| Narration | A voice timed to the beats | The picture leads, the voice follows |
Write the argument first
Most explainers follow the same shape, and it works because it's how people decide.
- The problem, in the viewer's words: one beat.
- What you do about it: one beat.
- How it works: three steps at most.
- What it means for them: the result, concrete.
- What to do next: one clear ask.
Briefs to copy
A ninety-second explainer for first-time customers on how our escrow payment works: the problem (paying a stranger online), what we do (hold the money until the item arrives), three steps, the result, and an ask to try it. Clean flat illustration, navy and coral, calm narration.Make this in VODOO →
A forty-five-second explainer on how our app splits a restaurant bill: the problem, one screen per step, the result. Simple phone mock-ups on a pale yellow background, large readable text, a friendly upbeat voice.Make this in VODOO →
A sixty-second explainer for new staff on how a returned order is processed, in four steps, with simple icons for each step, white background, teal accents, clear calm narration.Make this in VODOO →
A look that explains
- One idea per frame. If a frame needs a caption to make sense, split it.
- Few colours: one main colour, one accent, plenty of white space.
- Large text, few words: a viewer should read it in a second.
- The same style in every frame, so it feels like one film.
Where an explainer earns its keep
The homepage is the obvious place, near the top, but it is rarely the only one. The same video, cut shorter, answers the question in a sales email, on a pricing page next to the plan people hesitate over, inside the app the first time someone opens a feature, and in the help centre where the same question arrives every week.
- Homepage: the full version, sixty to ninety seconds, with captions.
- Social: one beat at a time, ten to fifteen seconds each, vertical.
- Sales and support: the 'how it works' steps alone, thirty seconds.
- Inside the product: one step, next to the button it explains.
Check it before it goes live
- 01Watch it mutedIf the frames alone still tell the story, the structure is right.
- 02Show it to someone newAsk them to explain the product back to you afterwards. Where they stumble, the video does too.
- 03Check every word on screenProduct names, numbers and prices are where mistakes hide.
Make your first explainer
- 01Open CreateChoose Explainer and say what you're explaining, to whom, and how long you have.
- 02Approve the boardsRead the frames in order before they're animated.
- 03Add the voiceChoose a narrator and download the finished video.
Start in Create with 300 free credits a month, no card needed. For the narrator, see the AI voice generator guide.
Questions people ask
- Can AI make an explainer video?
- Yes. It writes the script, draws a frame for each beat, animates them and adds a narrator, with you approving the script and the frames along the way.
- How long should an explainer video be?
- Sixty to ninety seconds for a product, about 200 spoken words at most. Shorter is better if the idea fits.
- Why make the frames before the motion?
- So you can judge the sequence and fix it cheaply. Animating from approved frames also keeps the text and layout steady.