How to make an explainer video: by hand and with AI

A good explainer video looks effortless. Ninety seconds, a friendly voice, a few clean scenes and suddenly a product that took your team ten slides to describe makes sense. Behind those ninety seconds sit a dozen decisions most people only notice when they are missing.

This guide walks through how to make an explainer video the traditional way, step by step, then shows what changes when you use AI. Whichever route you take, the steps that decide whether a video works are the same, and most of them happen before anyone opens animation software.

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Before you start: answer three questions

Write down three sentences before you write a single line of script:

• Who is watching? A first-time visitor on your homepage, a prospect after a sales call or an existing customer trying to complete a task?
• What should they understand afterwards? One idea, not five. “Our software routes every support request to the right person” is an idea. “We are an all-in-one platform” is not.
• What should they do next? Book a demo, request a quote, start a trial or call you.

These three answers become your brief. They also settle most arguments later, when someone on your team wants to add “just one more feature” to the film.

How to make an explainer video by hand: the classic process

This is how studios and freelancers have made animated explainer videos for years. Doing it yourself means taking on every role, or hiring people for them.

Step 1: Write the script

The script is the most important part of the video, and the cheapest to change. Spoken English runs at roughly 130 to 150 words per minute, so a 90-second explainer has room for about 200 to 220 words. That is less than this section.

A structure that works for most explainer video scripts:

1. Problem (about 15 seconds): A situation your viewer recognizes. “Another support request lands in the shared inbox. Who is handling it?”
2. Solution (about 15 seconds): Introduce your product as the answer to that exact problem, not as a list of features.
3. How it works (about 40 seconds): Show one complete workflow in three steps. Specific beats general.
4. Proof (about 10 seconds): A number, a customer name or a rating, if you have one you can stand behind.
5. Call to action (about 10 seconds): One clear next step.

Read the script out loud with a stopwatch. If you run out of breath, cut words, not pauses. For a full walkthrough with a template and a complete example, see How to write an explainer video script.

Step 2: Draw a storyboard

Split the script into scenes of roughly five to eight seconds. For each one, sketch what the viewer sees while they hear that line. Stick figures are fine. The goal is to check that every sentence has a picture that supports it, and that no scene tries to show three things at once.

Step 3: Design style frames

Pick a visual style and design two or three key scenes in full detail: colors, characters, typography, how your product or interface appears. This is when brand guidelines matter. Getting style frames approved before animating saves the most expensive kind of revision later.

Step 4: Record the voiceover

Record the narration before animating, because the animation is timed to the voice. Options range from your own voice with a decent USB microphone in a quiet room to a professional voice actor from a casting platform. Ask for a few takes with different energy and pick the one that sounds like a person, not an announcer.

Step 5: Animate

This is the longest step. Professionals typically use dedicated animation software for 2D motion graphics, often with custom-drawn illustrations, and specialized 3D programs for 3D. Template-based DIY tools are easier to learn but give you less control. Expect several days of work per minute of finished animation for a custom 2D film, even for an experienced animator.

Step 6: Add music and sound

Choose licensed background music that leaves space for the voice, and add subtle sound effects for clicks, transitions and key moments. Mix the voice clearly on top. Then add captions: many people watch with the sound off.

Step 7: Review, revise and export

Show the film to someone who has never heard of your product. Ask them to explain what it does and what they would do next. If they cannot, fix the script before polishing anything else. Export a horizontal version for your website and, if needed, square or vertical cuts for social media.

Realistic effort: for a first custom 90-second video made by hand, plan for two to six weeks and a few dozen working hours, or a budget in the thousands if you hire freelancers. Our article on how much an explainer video costs breaks those numbers down.

How to make an explainer video with AI

AI has changed nearly every step of that process. It has not changed the questions in your brief. For what AI explainers do well and where they fall short, read AI explainer videos.

What AI does well

• First script drafts: a language model can turn your notes into a structured draft in seconds. Treat it as a draft: it does not know your customers, and it will happily invent features or numbers.
• Voiceover: modern AI voices sound natural enough for most business explainers, in many languages, and changing a line no longer means booking a new studio session.
• Visuals and animation: AI tools can generate illustrations, assemble scenes and animate them far faster than a person working frame by frame.
• Versions: a second language or a shorter cut takes much less work than in a traditional pipeline.

Where AI still needs a human

• The message: AI writes fluent, generic copy. A clear explainer needs a specific problem, a specific customer and claims your team has approved.
• Consistency: characters, colors and interface details tend to drift between AI-generated scenes. Someone has to check that scene eight still looks like scene one.
• Accuracy: an AI tool can show a button your product does not have. Every frame needs a fact check.
• Taste: pacing, when to pause, what to leave out. These still decide whether a video feels professional.

Two ways to use AI

Do it yourself with an AI explainer video maker. You write the prompt, pick templates, generate a voice and assemble the result. It is fast and cheap, but you are still the scriptwriter, art director and quality check. Expect a few days for your first usable film.

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Manual or AI: which route fits you?

• Make it by hand if you need a fully custom 3D model, live-action footage or a flagship brand film with a large media budget behind it, and you have the time or budget for several weeks of production.
• Use an AI tool yourself if you have more time than budget, enjoy the craft and can review your own work critically.
• Use an AI-assisted service if you want a professional result in days rather than weeks, without learning animation software or managing freelancers.

Five mistakes that make viewers click away

1. Starting with your company instead of the viewer’s problem. Nobody cares about your founding year in the first five seconds.
2. Explaining every feature. One clear workflow beats ten half-explained ones. Make a second video for the rest.
3. Writing for reading, not for listening. Long sentences and jargon that work on a website fall apart when spoken.
4. Visuals that repeat the voiceover. If the narrator says “fast”, do not show the word “fast”. Show something becoming faster.
5. No next step. End with one clear action and make sure the page around the video supports it.

Frequently asked questions

How long should an explainer video be?

For most homepage and product explainers, 60 to 90 seconds is enough to show one complete idea. Social ads work best at 15 to 20 seconds. Training videos can be longer because the viewer has already decided to watch. For benchmarks by use and script word counts, see How long should an explainer video be?

Can I make an explainer video for free?

Yes, with free tiers of template tools, your own voice and free music libraries. The cost is your time and, usually, a less distinctive result. Check the licence terms of anything you use commercially.

What is the best software to make an explainer video?

For full control, After Effects remains the professional standard. For speed without animation skills, template-based and AI explainer video makers are easier. The best tool matters less than a clear script: a strong script in a simple tool beats a vague script in an expensive one.

Start with the question your customers keep asking

That question is the beginning of your script. Bring it to us, and we will turn it into a film you can review within a day.

Start with your website link. We create your first video for free with a watermark, including three revision rounds, no credit card needed. To keep the original without a watermark, subscribe from $99 a month plus sales tax, cancel monthly. Try it for free.