> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.crealix.ai/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.
# Animated Stories
> Claude writes the story and builds its world shot by shot, and Crealix animates it in one of 22 looks — stick figures, clay, toy bricks, blueprints, pixel art and more.
Animated Stories turns an idea — or your own script — into a fully animated, narrated video. **Claude writes the story and designs the world it happens in**, shot by shot, and Crealix animates every scene in the look you pick: 3D stick figures, clay, toy bricks, a blueprint, a noir comic, pixel art… Every character, prop and place is drawn for your story, not picked from stock footage or generated images.
**Best for:** explainers, "what if" videos, survival rules, countdowns, history in 60 seconds, head-to-head comparisons and twist stories — channels that need a recognisable look in every video.
*Stickman 3D, Noir Comic and Clay — all made with Animated Stories.*
## Step by step
**1. Write your idea — or paste your script**
① Who writes the story · ② Your idea or script · ③ Example ideas · ④ Looks, Preview and Examples
Choose who writes ①:
* **AI writes it for me** — give a short idea or a question ②. Claude turns it into a full story, splits it into shots and builds the world each shot happens in.
* **I have the exact script** — paste your narration. It's read by **one narrator, word for word**, and its length sets the video's duration (up to 3 minutes). One beat per line works best; timestamps and *NARRATOR:* labels are removed automatically.
The box takes up to **12,000 characters**. Not sure where to start? Click an example under **Try** ③ — *How it works*, *Planet*, *Impact*, *Night shift*, *History*…
Claude picks the story's structure from your idea. These are the kinds of stories it tells best:
| Story | What it does | Example idea |
| - | - | - |
| **Explainer** | How or why something works, chapter by chapter | *How does a dishwasher actually clean your plates?* |
| **What If** | A what-if that escalates, with a live number | *What if Earth stopped spinning for five seconds?* |
| **Countdown** | Time runs out — what happens at each step | *An asteroid will hit in 30 days. What happens each day?* |
| **Rules** | Survive by following the rules | *You took a night job guarding an empty aquarium. There are 5 rules.* |
| **POV** | You are there, in the moment | *You are in mission control during the Apollo 11 landing.* |
| **Versus** | Two sides, real numbers, one winner | *Rome vs Persia at their peak — who wins?* |
| **Timeline** | A story told through dates and eras | *The history of the smartphone, from the first call to today.* |
| **You Decide** | An interactive story the comments steer | *Your spaceship's oxygen alarm goes off. Fix the leak or wake the crew?* |
| **Levels** | Tier by tier, from mild to unbelievable | *Every level of spicy food, from ketchup to the hottest pepper.* |
| **Twist** | A strange premise that ends in a reveal | *The thief who returned everything he stole, one day later.* |
**2. Choose format, length and language**
① Aspect ratio · ② Duration · ③ Narration language · ④ The look you picked
* **Aspect ratio** ① — **9:16** for TikTok, Reels and Shorts, or **16:9** for YouTube.
* **Duration** ② — **45 s, 1 min, 1:30, 2 min or 3 min**. It's an approximate length; the final runtime can vary slightly. With an exact script, your script sets the length instead.
* **Narration language** ③ — English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Mandarin or Indonesian (**See more** shows the rest). Claude writes the story in that language.
**3. Pick a look**
The **Looks** gallery on the right (or **Browse all** in the **Visual Style** section) shows every look as a short animated preview, with its engine (**3D** or **2D**) and its price. Every look costs the same — **8 credits per minute**. Search looks, filter them, and star your favourites.
There are **22 looks** in four groups:
| Group | Looks |
| - | - |
| **Stickman & figures** | Stickman 3D, Stickman (Comic, Paper and Noir palettes), Clay, Mannequin |
| **Toys & games** | Toy Bricks, Low-Poly, Voxel, Knit & Felt, Pixel 3D, Pixel 2D |
| **Studio & tech** | Hologram, Gilded, Point Cloud, Blueprint, CRT Phosphor, Editorial |
| **Cartoon & ink** | Bold Cartoon, Cel Anime, Vintage Toon, Noir Comic, Sumi Gold, Aged Paper |
Each look has its own **palettes** (for example *Sunny*, *Teal* or *Pastel*) — pick one under **Palette** once a look is selected. The look also picks matching captions for you.
> [!TIP]
>
> Not sure which look fits? Open **Examples** ④ in the first screenshot to watch finished videos, or **Preview** to see a summary of your choices. You can also change the look later in the editor for free.
**4. Voice, music and captions**
* **Voiceover** — one narrator tells the whole story. Pick any of the 1,800+ voices (or one of [your own voices](https://docs.crealix.ai/workspace/my-voices.md)), tune it with the presets *Natural*, *Documentary*, *Dramatic* or *Energetic*, and adjust consistency, style intensity and speed.
* **Music** — a background track from the library, one of your own, or none. It starts low so the voice leads.
* **Captions** — word-by-word captions in the style that suits your look; change it here or in the editor.
**5. Check the price and create**
① Credit breakdown · ② Create video
The bottom bar shows the price. Click the **ⓘ** for the breakdown ①:
* **Story, voice & animation** — 8 credits per minute, about 15 scenes per minute.
* **AI cover** — 1 credit, a thumbnail made from a real frame of your video.
* **MP4 export** — billed only when you export (see below).
It's a flat price for the length, whatever the look. If a scene can't be narrated or the cover fails, that part is refunded automatically. Click **Create video** ②.
## While it's being made
The video opens straight away and shows its progress in four steps: **Story** (Claude writes about 15 scenes per minute and builds the world they happen in), **Voiceover** (every line is recorded), **Timing** (every shot is timed to the voice, with the music and sounds mixed in) and **Cover**. You can close the tab — the video keeps generating and waits for you in **My Videos**.
## Edit your story
① Editing tools · ② Scenes · ③ Player
The editor ① has the tools of the other formats — **Scenes**, **Style**, **Captions**, **Voice**, **Voice FX**, **Audio**, **Sounds**, **Text**, **Mark** and **Thumbnail** — plus the player ③. Every scene ② shows its number, its chapter, its duration and its line; ▷ plays from that scene and the bin deletes it. The document icon at the top shows the full script.
### Change a scene
① The line · ② Voice · ③ Duration · ④ On-screen text · ⑤ Restage with AI
Open a scene with its arrow:
* **The line** ① — click the pencil to rewrite it. The line is re-recorded when you save (**1 credit**).
* **Voice** ② — play the line, or regenerate its voiceover. If you changed the voice for the whole video, scenes recorded with the old one are marked **Outdated**.
* **Duration** ③ — from 0.5 to 15 seconds. If you make a scene shorter than its voiceover, the voice and captions stop at the cut.
* **On-screen text** ④ — the scene's **Title**, **Card** or **Counter**, depending on the story.
* **Restage with AI** ⑤ — keeps the line, the voice and the length and stages a **new shot** (**2 credits**). Optionally describe what you want — *"wide shot, from above"*. **Enhance prompt** rewrites your direction for you.
### Change the whole look — for free
① Palette · ② Live label · ③ Looks
**Style** repaints the same story in another look — **free, with no new generation**. Pick a new look ③ or a new palette ①; the player previews it right away, and **Save** applies it. **Live label** ② is the small label some stories keep on screen (a counter, a stage or a date).
## Export
Click **Render** to export an MP4 in the cloud, in **720p or 1080p**. The export is billed when you start it, like every other format: **2 credits per 30 seconds at 1080p**, a quarter of that at 720p. See [Render & export](https://docs.crealix.ai/editor/render.md).
## What it costs
| Length | Credits (story, voice, animation and cover) |
| - | - |
| 45 s | 7 |
| 1 min | 9 |
| 1:30 | 13 |
| 2 min | 17 |
| 3 min | 25 |
Plus the MP4 export when you render. Restaging a shot costs **2 credits** and re-recording a line **1 credit**; changing the look or the palette is free.
## Tips
* **Ask a real question.** *"What happens to your body in 60 seconds without oxygen?"* gives Claude a clear arc; *"space"* doesn't.
* **Numbers make it binge-worthy.** Days, levels, rules and scores give the story a live counter on screen.
* **Generate once, restyle for free.** Make the story in one look, then try others in **Style** before you export.
* **Use your own script** when you already know every word — the narrator reads it exactly as written.
This documentation is built and hosted on [Mintlify](https://mintlify.com), a developer documentation platform.