Skip to content

Animated ads

How To Make $1M Animated AI Ads (Full Workflow)

Artem5 min read

Five steps, and the skill comes first. The finished ad is 385 credits ($19.25). For a first 60-second ad, I’d set aside three hours.

This is the written version of my YouTube video. Watch the original video

Download the skill

The workflow is a Claude skill called 1m-animated-ad. Download the zip and add it to Claude before the first message.

Resilia is running over three hundred ads right now. Website traffic is exploding, and estimated revenue is over a million dollars a day. Most of those ads look like Disney cartoons, and they’re generated. I made this version in a few hours. The finished ad is at the end.

01Step 1

Research and idea

Slash the skill, send the product with the pouch, and pick the idea.

In a new Claude chat I type slash and select 1m-animated-ad, then send the product.

First message

/1m-animated-ad let's make an ad for Kayara – berberine + cinnamon capsules for women 40+ who can't quit nightly dessert

What I typed to start the chat.

White pouch with a yellow band, labeled Kayara Berberine with Ceylon Cinnamon, sugar craving support, 60 capsules, with cinnamon sticks, turmeric, and yellow capsules
ProductThe pouch attached with the first message.

Claude researches the customer first: the frustrations, what they’ve already tried, and what might stop them buying. I read that and approve it. Then it suggests three stories: The Strings, Needle vs. Root, and The Pantry.

Claude’s reply

Three story ideas (60 seconds, 9:16) 1. “The Strings” Every night at 9 p.m., glowing pink candy strings hook into her and pull her to the freezer like a puppet. She fights it, but the strings always win. • Beats: ◦ 0–8s: she gets yanked out of bed and dragged past her sleeping husband to the freezer. ◦ 8–15s: mirror shot. Her belly is swollen with glowing pink sugar. ◦ 15–22s: a friend slides the Kayara pouch across the counter. ◦ 22–32s: inside her body, golden root light races up the strings and they snap one by one. ◦ 32–42s: 9 p.m. comes. She walks past the freezer with tea, and the leftover strings droop and fizzle out. ◦ 42–52s: the transformation. Her belly deflates like a balloon, pink glitter drains away, and her old dress zips at her daughter’s wedding. ◦ 52–60s: product shot, offer, call to action. • Why it works: one protagonist, one unforgettable metaphor, and the lyrics write themselves (“the strings don’t pull me anymore”). 2. “Needle vs. Root” Twin sisters, same body, same belly at last year’s reunion. One picks the needle and one picks Kayara. • Beats: ◦ 0–8s: split screen of the twins at the reunion. ◦ 8–20s: the needle sister shrinks fast, but her face caves in and she ages twenty years. It’s cartoonishly hollow. ◦ 20–35s: the Kayara sister: the inside-the-body sequence, cravings fade, and she slims down gradually and glows. ◦ 35–50s: next reunion. Grandma mistakes the Kayara twin for the younger cousin. ◦ 50–60s: product and offer. • Why it works: very hooky, and it lands squarely on the Ozempic fear. • Risk: keeping two near-identical characters distinct is hard for Seedance. Also, for real brands, comparing yourself to a named drug is a likely ad-policy problem. 3. “The Pantry” A first-person confession, a squeezed version of Resilia’s long ad: “For eleven years I ate dessert in the pantry so my kids wouldn’t see.” • Beats: ◦ 0–10s: secret eating in the dark, wrappers hidden in a shoebox. ◦ 10–18s: her husband finds the box, and she’s crushed. ◦ 18–28s: her grandmother from Sri Lanka, where Ceylon cinnamon comes from, brings “the golden root.” ◦ 28–40s: inside the body, then the pantry door losing its pull week by week. ◦ 40–52s: the family photo. She moves from the back row to the front, transformed. ◦ 52–60s: product and offer. • Why it works: the deepest emotion of the three, and the cinnamon origin story gives real credibility. • Weakness: the transformation is less “crazy” visually. My pick is #1, “The Strings.” It has a single main character, which is easiest to keep consistent. The craving-as-villain angle kills the shame. And the strings give the song a hook and the edit a visual motif. One production note: I’ll write the strings as thick glowing ribbons rather than fine threads, because thin lines tend to break apart at 480p. Pick one, mix them, or redirect me. Next comes the brief, the cast, and the lyrics.

What Claude sent after the research.

My reply

I like #3 the most, but let's make sure to have a crazy visual transformation. So at the beginning of the ad, the woman is clearly overweight/obese, and as she starts taking our supplement, not only the cravings go away, but she also looks younger, more attractive, fit, all these things at the end of the ad. Does this hold up with what you had in mind?

What I sent back.

She starts by hiding in the pantry. She ends front and center in the family photo.

02Step 2

Cast and song

Name the cast, fix the lyrics, connect Everygen, then pick a song.

With the idea approved, Claude writes the cast and the script. Anusha goes from clearly obese to fit and toned.

Lyrics note

Love this, let's just also see Anusha's embarassment at 12–18s, let's make sure Amma looks hot, slim, fit, attractive, etc (although she's older). Let's make sure everyone else on the photo stays consistent (like Anusha's husband, maybe Anusha's dad too, maybe her son) – I don't think those extra people need their own character sheets, but yeah I just want the photo to stay consistent Btw let's make sure the song doesn't overpower the voice (just a side note for you) Let's add that Amma is her mother to the lyrics. We can literally say "my momma" or "momma", I feel like rap-wise it flows the same as "amma"

What I sent about the script and the song.

A line is much cheaper to change than a scene.

Connect Everygen

Before the song, connect Everygen so Claude can generate it. On the Everygen connect page I copy the connector URL. In Claude that’s Customize, then Connectors, then Add custom connector. I name it Everygen and paste the URL.

Claude comes back with three songs. I pick the best one.

Going straight to video spends hours, and potentially hundreds of dollars, on clips you can’t use.

03Step 3

Visual foundation

Storyboards, character sheets, locations, and props, before a single clip.

I make the storyboards, the character sheets, the locations, and the props before any video. Getting them right is what let me finish the ad without regenerating a clip.

The folder is attached to the Claude chat, and the chosen song is already in it, so Claude can write the image prompts against those files.

I copy a prompt into the Image Generator and generate several. A high-quality image costs around 15 cents, so this is the cheap place to try a version and throw it out. These three storyboards are the ones I kept.

Storyboard sheet of eight frames: Anusha at night in a kitchen and pantry, eating cake and cookies, and her daughter finding the wrappers
Sheet 1The night habit, and the daughter finding it.
Storyboard sheet of eight frames: Anusha’s mother in sunglasses with a suitcase, a neighbor with a garden hose, the Kayara pouch, a glowing vein and a brain, and a pink pantry door
Sheet 2Her mother brings the pouch.
Storyboard sheet of eight frames: Anusha walking past the pantry, the door closing, and her coming out in a green dress for a family photo
Sheet 3She walks past the pantry. The door shuts. She walks out.

Character sheets are the same loop in the Image Generator. If her face changes, the story stops being about one person. Anusha gets one sheet per stage: before, a middle stage, and after. Then the other people.

Character sheet of Anusha before: a heavier build, beige cardigan over a pale top, four full-body turns and eight expressions on grey
BeforeClearly obese. Cardigan on.
Character sheet of Anusha at week 3: slimmer, lavender pajamas, no cardigan, four full-body turns and eight expressions on grey
Week 3Slimmer. Same pajamas, cardigan off.
Character sheet of Anusha after: a fitted emerald dress, long dark hair worn down, four full-body turns and eight expressions on grey
AfterFit, in the emerald dress.
Character sheet of Anusha’s mother in a cream saree with a gold border, silver hair in a bun, four full-body turns and eight expressions
MomThe one who brings the supplement.
Character sheet of Anusha’s daughter in a navy hoodie and jeans, hair in a ponytail, four full-body turns and eight expressions
DaughterShe finds the hidden sweets.
Character sheet of Anusha’s husband in a blue shirt and her grandfather with glasses and a beige cardigan
Dad and grandfatherOne sheet for the two men in the family photo.

Locations and the pouch go through the Image Generator too. Locations are empty plates, with no people in them. The kitchen has to stay the same kitchen. When the product shows up, it has to be this pouch.

Empty 3D pantry with stocked wooden shelves, an open door into a bright kitchen, and a chocolate cake on a step stool
PantryEmpty plate. No people.
Empty 3D suburban sidewalk with pastel houses, a white picket fence, and a coiled green garden hose
StreetWhere her mother turns a head.
Empty 3D view down a red tunnel lined with clusters of pink sugar crystals
Inside the bodyThe craving, as a place.
White pouch with a yellow band, labeled Kayara Berberine with Ceylon Cinnamon, sugar craving support, 60 capsules, with cinnamon sticks, turmeric, and yellow capsules
ProductThe packshot. The label has to stay this pouch.
Finder window titled Generations, with folders Storyboard, Props, Character Sheets, Final Locations, and a file named Song.mp3
What I attached to the chat.

Claude organizes that folder and writes the video prompts. These files are not single-use. The same characters, locations, and product can go into the next ad.

04Step 4

Draft clips

Seedance 2.5 in the Video Generator. Draft small, unless the label has to stay sharp.

I open the Video Generator, choose Seedance 2.5, and paste the prompt. Most shots are 480p. That is not the quality I would post. The video upscaler comes after the cut. A 10-second clip is 18 credits ($0.90) at 480p and 43 credits ($2.15) at 1080p, so generating it again costs less than half. I keep 1080p for a clip where the product label has to stay sharp. Upscaling does not make that text readable.

I attach the reference images in the order Claude lists. A prompt covers a few shots in the same location, so I’m not pasting one prompt per frame. About a minute later the first clip is back. Mine followed the storyboard. She looked right, the actions played out, and I especially like the sound effects.

I download the drafts and cut them to the song before upscaling. There’s no point upscaling an ad that doesn’t work.

05Step 5

Finalize

Edit, add the missing reaction, upscale 1.5x, then captions.

I cut in Premiere Pro. CapCut works for this too. Claude has already numbered the files, so they land on the timeline in order. The song goes underneath, and then I move the cuts. An emotional beat can hold, or a cut can land on the beat of the song.

One shot worked on the storyboard and not in the clip. Anusha’s mom walks down the street and turns a guy’s head. The clip ended before his full reaction, so the moment didn’t land. I asked Claude for an extra shot to give that reaction time. That prompt isn’t written down here.

When the sequence works, I upscale only the clips that are in it. In the video upscaler I drop a clip in and pick the scale. 1.5x was sharp enough for this ad. Those versions replace the drafts.

Captions go on in the editor I’m already in, or in Everygen’s video editor, which has presets for these ads.

Finished ad. 385 credits ($19.25).

The calculations are based on Everygen’s Creator plan.

This ad is 385 credits ($19.25). For a first 60-second ad I’d set aside three hours.

The part that matters is the story and the reference images, before any clip.

Grab the skill and connect Claude

The zip is the workflow. The connector is how Claude generates the song.

Trusted by 5,000+

Dean JohnsonDiscovery DosePushing Positivity

Where ideas turn intovideos that go viral