How to Make Animated YouTube Shorts with AI
October 28, 2026 · 5 min read
To make animated YouTube Shorts with AI, start from a question your audience asks, let the AI plan six to eight short scenes with one caption each, add a voiceover, and record a 9:16 MP4. Here's how to get one that holds attention to the end.
Start with a question, not a topic
“Volcanoes” is a topic. “Why do volcanoes erupt?” is a short: it promises an answer, and people stay to get it. Good questions are concrete and a little surprising:
- How did the ancients cook food before kitchens?
- Why is the sky blue, and why is it red at sunset?
- How does a seed know which way is up?
The shape of a short that works
| Scene | Job | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | The hook: ask the question with a striking image | 3 to 5 s |
| 2 to 6 | One idea per scene, in order | 5 to 8 s each |
| Last | The payoff: one line that ties it together | 4 to 6 s |
That lands between 35 and 55 seconds, inside the Shorts limit, with room for a voiceover to breathe.
Write captions people can read in a second
One short sentence per scene, with the key words highlighted. The caption is also the voiceover script, so read it aloud: if you run out of breath, it's too long.
Making it in Polly Studio
- Choose Video and Short · 9:16, then type the question.
- Frankie plans the scenes and builds them one at a time; each appears in the preview as it's saved.
- Ask for changes per scene: “make scene 3 show the magma rising”, “shorter caption on scene 5”.
- Turn on Voiceover (with your ElevenLabs key in Settings) to narrate each caption.
- Press Record video to download the MP4, captions and sound included.
More on formats and voiceovers in the AI video maker guide.
Three mistakes that lose viewers
- A slow first scene. The hook has to land in the first three seconds.
- Two ideas in one scene. Split it; scenes are cheap.
- Tiny subjects. On a phone, the thing you're explaining should fill the middle of the frame.
Ready? Open the studio, pick Video, and ask your first question. Making games too? Start with these game ideas.
Your first game or video is free.
Start creating