Five formats, one prompt each
I Gave AI One Prompt To Make Me a Viral Short
I sent Wizard one message per short. Below is the prompt, what it cost, and the file that came back.
This is the written version of my YouTube video. Watch the original video
013D explainers
A broken bone, from one prompt
A 30-second 3D explainer where the picture stays on the voiceover.
Zack D. Films is the reference. The three shorts in the prompt are How Stitches Work, How Splinters Get Unstuck, and Could Ancient Armor Stop Bullets. What I asked Wizard to copy is the pacing: every line is on screen at that second, and the shots stay satisfying. I also told it to spend the credits carefully and to check the cut before handing it back.
Create a 30-second Zack D Films style short. Come up with the idea, script, voiceover, and visuals yourself. Take these three videos as reference: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/ttuKeS5k4Uo, https://www.youtube.com/shorts/yGw0nhlUtkQ, and https://www.youtube.com/shorts/ciIAcD4eXsI Specifically pay attention to how satisfying the visuals are and how well they showcase the voiceover. We don't need many cuts inside the video, but make sure the visuals don't drift off from the voiceover a few seconds in. Every visual has to perfectly match what's being said at every second of the video. Your job is to think through the visuals and the script so that they match each other like that. Be efficient with my credits. Don't generate extra long or redundant clips. The final video has to be up to the standard of the three reference videos. When you think you're done, double-check your work independently and make sure it meets the standard I described above.
The full Wizard message. The bubble on screen shows the opening, through “every second,” and is cut off. The visible lines match this text, including “Specifically.”
245 credits, $15. It took about 20 minutes. Wizard used Seedance 2.5. Kling starts drifting off the voiceover a few seconds into a clip, and some of these shots run past 7 seconds, so the more expensive model was the one that held the sync.
The calculations are based on Everygen’s Creator plan: 1,000 credits a month, at least four shorts like this one, which is enough to test a few ideas. On monetization, what I go by is YouTube’s own bar: original, useful to a viewer, and not mass-produced.
02Nursery rhymes
Shapes, on the beat, in one shot
A kids’ song where the shape on screen is the word being sung.
NuNu Tv Nursery Rhymes has a counting short with 5.5 billion views. When the song says a number, the kid is on that step. I asked for shapes instead of numbers, in one continuous shot that loops.
Create a nursery rhyme short teaching kids basic shapes. Take this short as inspiration for what it should look like: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/amTmnnqQf_E. Make sure the timing of the visuals and the song match perfectly. E.g. when the song sings “circle” or “square”, the visuals emphasize exactly that shape. For that, you’d need to think through the composition of the shot really well before jumping into generation. I also want this short to have no cuts and be a perfect loop.
The Wizard message I sent. I describe the same job aloud. The curly quotes around “circle” and “square” are in the message.
125 credits, $5.84, about 10 minutes. Kling could not keep the shapes on the sung words, so Wizard switched to Seedance 2.5. Asking for a perfect loop made that harder. Next time I would either start on Seedance 2.5 or drop the loop and let it use Kling.
The file above is that Seedance 2.5 take, about 15 seconds. This chat never stitched a separate export. The generation is the short.
03Horror stories
The figure moves. Nothing else does.
A silent horror short with one shot and a jump scare at the end.
LIGHTS ARE OFF is the channel. The bio says it brings nightmares to life with 3D animation. It has over 5 million subscribers, and the short in the prompt is the one past 500 million views. The scare works because the figure is closer every time the door opens, and the rest of the frame stays put.
Create a silent horror story short with a jump scare at the end similar to this one https://www.youtube.com/shorts/ZvptCPrknP8. Analyze the reference and pay attention to how the scary figure changes it's position every time the door opens, but nothing else changes. That's exactly what makes the short feel so tense and suspensful throughout and the jump scare at the end so scary. Come up with an idea/story yourself that will follow the same structure. The creepy figure should disappear every few seconds and get closer to the camera every time. Then, it fully disappears before the final jump scare because it's somewhere around the camera. This should be one continuous shot with no cuts in-between. The soundtrack should help build the fear and suspense. I want viewers to be on the edge of their seats during the short. Then, the jump scare at the end should be so sudden that it will make every viewer jump out of their seat.
The Wizard message I sent. Two spellings are in that message and left as-is: “it's position” and “suspensful.” I describe the structure aloud rather than reading the whole thing.
Five minutes, and no regenerations. 87 credits, $5.40. Seedance 2.5 again. The file above is the stitched export: one elevator shot, about 20 seconds, with the score under it.
04Sleep ambience
A loop you can stretch to eight hours
Rain and a room, long enough to repeat without looking like a mistake.
Channels post eight-hour fireplaces and rain for sleep and studying. New Bliss is the one I used. The thunderstorm in the prompt has 45 million views, and it is long-form. I did not know whether the loop should be 15, 30, or 60 seconds, so I told Wizard to pick a length that is not repetitive and does not waste credits.
Make me a perfectly loopable video and audio for people to play in the background. Use this as the reference: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kl2v9ydanrI. Figure out yourself what length it should be so that it’s not too repetitive but also uses as few credits as possible.
The Wizard message I sent. The curly apostrophe in “it’s” is in the message.
Wizard made a 60-second rain-and-thunder loop and a 15-second attic shot, then laid the shot four times under the audio. That stitch is the widescreen file above, about 60 seconds. To turn it into the eight-hour video I duplicate the loop in CapCut or Premiere. That step does not spend more credits.
68 credits, $4.25.
05Skeleton explainers
A banana a day, with no reference
A 30-second 3D skeleton that eats, and the body keeps up with the script.
I had seen shorts where a skeleton eats a food and the video shows what that does to a body. I could not find that channel again, so it is not linked here. Helix^2 is a similar health-experiment channel I had on screen. I say its most popular short is over 12 million views. This time I gave Wizard no reference at all.
Create a 30-second 3D animated explainer short about what would happen to your body if you were to eat a banana every day. Come up with the script, voiceover, and visuals yourself. The script has to keep the viewer engaged at all times without giving them a single place to swipe away. Make sure the hook is strong, and the progression inside the video (e.g. 1 day, 7 days, 12 days, etc) is entertaining with an interesting fact for each timestamp. Add a satisfying payoff/reveal at the end. You have full creative control, but don't get lazy. After you think you're done with the script, before generating the voiceover, double check the script to make sure the hook is catchy enough to have at least 80% of the viewers to stay after the first 3 seconds, and the story throughout is engaging enough for our short to have its average view duration at over 100%, meaning people are so engaged that they rewatch the short more than once. I want the visuals to be in the 3D animated skeleton style. So the skeleton would be eating a banana and it'd act as an example of a human body. The two things to pay attention to for visuals are how satisfying they are and their pacing. I want our visuals to be perfectly showcasing the voiceover at every single second of the video. Every action should be visualized literally in a satisfying way (whether it's eating a banana or skeleton's digestive system getting smoother over time or having more energy thanks to the bananas). I don't want to have many cuts inside the video. It's your job to generate fewer, but higher quality visuals and make sure they don't drift off the voiceover a few seconds into the video. Remember, besides the look of the visuals, pacing is our priority. Meaning the visuals should be showing EXACTLY what's being said at every second of the video. Be efficient with my credits. Don't generate extra long or redundant clips. When you think you're done, double check the short yourself to make sure it meets the standard described above.
The Wizard message I sent. On screen the composer is scrolled through this same text. I summarize it aloud.
98 credits, $6.10, about 10 minutes. That is less than half the bone explainer. Wizard used Kling 3.0 and generated its own reference frames, which is what kept the shots on the voiceover without Seedance 2.5.
If I started a faceless channel today I would use this format. I would give the skeleton a name and put it in one place, like a science lab, so the next short is recognizable.
What a 10-second clip costs
A 10-second clip costs $1.30 on Kling 3.0, $1.60 on Seedance 2.0, and $2.50 on Seedance 2.5. The model is most of the bill. The bone explainer and the horror short needed Seedance 2.5. The banana short did not.
Seedance 2.0 is the middle of those three. I did not use it on these five. It is the one I would try when Kling drifts and Seedance 2.5 is more than the shot needs.
Send one of these prompts
Pick a format, paste the prompt into Wizard, and swap in a reference you actually want to study.
