Describe an object, not a mood
"A toggle switch flipping on with a green glow" works. "Make it look premium" does not — there is no object in it to animate. The AI builds one looping scene around one thing.
Make your first Short in three minutes.
Everything here is short on purpose. If something is still unclear, the last section goes straight to a human.
Make your first animation
- Pick a template. Open Templates and click any card. There are 58 of them across 8 categories — documentary, paper craft, kinetic text, maps, finance, UI, social and charts. Every one previews live, so you can judge it before you commit.
- Change the words. In the Studio the right-hand panel has a field for each line of text. Type and the preview updates as you go. Editing and previewing are free and unlimited — you are never charged to look.
- Set the look. One accent colour drives the whole scene, so a single click restyles it. Below that: the font, the aspect ratio (9:16 for Shorts and Reels, 16:9 for YouTube) and the loop length.
- Export the MP4. Press Export. Rendering takes roughly 15 to 40 seconds depending on length and resolution — the video is built frame by frame on our server, which is why it is not instant. The file downloads when it is done.
Using the AI
Scenes are up to 10 seconds
Ask for longer and it comes back at 10. Shorter is fine and often better — most Shorts hooks land in under six.
You can attach an image
The picture becomes part of the scene — a background that drifts, or a shape the animation reveals. It is used as artwork, not analysed.
Credits and plans
What costs a credit
Exporting a video costs 1. Asking the AI to design a new scene costs 2. Browsing, editing, previewing and the SEO tools cost nothing.
Why exports are the thing we charge for
They are the only part that runs on our machines. Everything else happens in your browser, so it is free to give away and we do.
They refill daily
Free gives 8 a day. Credits reset at midnight UTC and do not roll over. See the plans for what Pro adds.
Common questions
Why does my video have a ShortsCraft watermark?
Free exports carry a small watermark in the corner. Pro and Pro Max remove it — that is the main thing the paid plans buy.
My export is taking a long time.
Between 15 and 40 seconds is normal. Exports run one at a time, so if someone else started just before you, yours waits its turn. Longer videos and higher resolutions take proportionally longer.
Where did my project go?
Projects are saved in the browser you made them in, so they do not follow you to another device, and clearing site data removes them. Publishing a scene to the community keeps it on your account instead.
Can I use the videos commercially?
Yes. What you make is yours — put it on YouTube, Instagram, anywhere, including monetised channels.
The AI said my prompt was rejected.
Every generated scene is checked before it reaches you, and one that is static, unsafe or malformed is refused rather than shipped. Rewording around a concrete object usually fixes it, and you are not charged for a rejected scene.
Still stuck?
Bug reports and template requests both reach a person, usually within two days.