How to create videos
This guide walks you through the full workflow of creating AI videos with VidMachine: from defining a project and generating ideas to producing a finished video and scheduling or publishing it to YouTube Shorts or TikTok. Use this when you want to create videos manually; for hands-free automation, see Automatic video generation.
What you’ll do
You’ll create a project (your channel or niche), write a description that steers the AI, then use the Videos page to generate ideas and turn selected ideas into full videos. Each video goes through idea expansion, screenplay generation, and AI video (or AI images plus narrator). You can add captions and optional cover art. Finally you schedule a post time or publish to your connected YouTube and TikTok accounts. The same workflow powers both manual creation and automatic video generation; here we focus on the manual steps so you understand each part of the pipeline.
Step-by-step
Create a project
In the dashboard, go to Projects and click to create a new project. Give it a title (e.g. your channel name), a detailed description (100+ characters) that describes your topic and style, and choose settings like target duration, video type (AI Video or AI Images), model priority, narrator, and captions. Save the project.
Generate video ideas
Go to Videos and click “Generate Video Ideas”. Select the project and confirm. VidMachine generates multiple ideas based on your project description; this uses a small amount of credits per batch. Pick the ideas you want to turn into full videos.
Pick an idea and generate the video
In the Videos list, open an idea you like. Use “Generate video” to run the full pipeline: expanded idea, screenplay, AI video (or AI images + narrator), and optional captions. Generation uses credits (video length and model affect cost). Wait for it to complete; you can then preview, edit the title or schedule, or publish.
Schedule or publish
Once the video is ready, set its status to “Upcoming” and choose a post time to schedule it, or publish it immediately. Connect your YouTube and TikTok accounts (Accounts in the sidebar) to enable publishing to Shorts and TikTok. For fully automatic creation and posting, use the project’s Schedule settings and see the Automatic video generation guide.
Project description matters
Your project description is the main input for the AI. Use it to explain your topic, channel, or brand, desired video structure, visual style, and tone. You can include example video ideas or titles. A clear, detailed description (at least 100 characters) leads to more relevant ideas and better screenplays. When you enable automatic video generation, this same description drives every auto-generated video, so it’s worth spending time on it upfront.
Credits and generation time
Video and narrator generation use credits from your plan. Cost depends on video length, chosen AI models (video and image), and options like narrator and captions. See Credits & billing for a breakdown. Generation can take a few minutes per video depending on length and model; you can leave the page and come back—the Videos list shows status (e.g. generating, ready, error).