How to Create a Video with Claude: Motion and Remotion

You can make a short video with Claude in two different ways. Claude Motion is the quickest route to a short animated explainer exported as MP4. Claude Code with Remotion is better when you want a project folder, reusable scenes, source files and repeatable renders. In both workflows, Claude is the collaborator: you approve the story, inspect the preview and give specific revision notes.

These routes create different kinds of output. Motion animates text, charts, shapes and images; Anthropic says it does not use a video-generation model to create realistic footage or people. Remotion uses code to compose a video from scenes and supplied media. It can place your own footage on a timeline, but it does not create permission to use that footage, music or images. Start with the Techotick storyboard and shot-plan prompt if you want a reusable planning template.

Choose the right Claude workflow

• Use Claude Motion if your account has the beta and you need a short animated explainer, chart or walkthrough quickly. It can export the animation as MP4.
• Use Claude Code and Remotion if you want a local video project you can inspect, version, extend with media or render again with changed inputs.
• Use a conventional editor such as DaVinci Resolve or CapCut when you need a familiar manual timeline, detailed colour and audio finishing, or a large amount of real camera footage. Claude can help plan and prepare assets, then you finish in the editor.

As checked on 6 November 2026, Claude Motion is a beta on Team and Enterprise plans. It is enabled by default for Team and must be enabled by an organization owner on Enterprise. If you do not see the Motion option, check plan and workspace availability. Claude Artifacts more broadly can make documents, code and small interactive web experiences, but an HTML artifact is not automatically a downloadable video file; MP4 export is documented for Motion animations.

Plan the video before asking Claude to build it

Write a short brief that fixes the audience, purpose, destination, aspect ratio, approximate runtime, voice and any non-negotiable facts. Then ask for two planning artifacts: a visual style sheet and a storyboard. Review those before requesting an animation. This makes it easier to catch a bad direction while it is still cheap to change.

Goal: explain how a small café prepares a takeaway coffee order.
Audience: first-time customers.
Destination: vertical social video, 9:16.
Length: about 20 seconds.
Tone: warm, calm, practical; not a sales ad.
Required details: order, grind, brew, lid and hand-off.
Brand: cream background, dark green headings, one orange accent.
Assets: use only the attached café logo and photos; do not invent prices.

First, propose a one-page visual style sheet and a six-shot storyboard.
For each shot include its purpose, on-screen text, visual, approximate
seconds, transition and any asset needed. Do not create the final animation
yet. Ask me to approve or revise the storyboard.

This example is a request format, not a tested Claude Motion template. Replace the café details with your own project. Keep text brief enough to read on a phone. For a 20-second piece, six scenes of roughly three seconds each are a useful starting point, not a strict timing rule.

Create and refine an MP4 in Claude Motion

1. Open Claude on the web or desktop and start a chat. Choose Output → Motion if available, or open the Artifacts tab and select a Motion template.
2. Paste your brief and storyboard request. Attach source material that you want the animation to use, such as approved images, a short report or verified chart data. Avoid pasting confidential material unless your organization permits it.
3. Read the proposed scenes and check names, numbers, wording, visual sequence and source fidelity. Ask Claude to correct the plan before generating the animation if any of those are wrong.
4. Ask it to create the animation with a restrained style, readable text and a clear start and ending. Then inspect the whole animation in the artifact editor.
5. Give one concrete revision at a time: “Keep the colours and all wording. Move the title down so it does not overlap the person’s head”; “Keep every scene unchanged except scene three: hold the statistic on screen for one extra second”; or “Make the subtitles enter more slowly and remain within the vertical safe area.”
6. Replay the changed section and the transitions around it. When the result is ready, choose Export → MP4 and play the downloaded file outside Claude to check the exported version.

Claude Motion animations are code-based compositions of text, charts, shapes and images. They are suited to explainers and designed walkthroughs. They are not a substitute for realistic filmed footage or a generative video model. Longer and more complex animations use more of your Claude plan allowance.

Build a reusable video folder with Claude Code and Remotion

For a local, editable project, install Claude Code using Anthropic’s current setup instructions and make sure Node.js is available. Then create a fresh Remotion project. This example deliberately uses the folder name clip-lab; change that one name to match your own project.

npx create-video@latest --yes --blank clip-lab
cd clip-lab
npx remotion skills add
npm run dev

The first command creates a blank project in clip-lab; the Remotion skill gives the coding agent workflow-specific instructions; and npm run dev starts the preview. Keep this preview terminal running. In a second terminal, open the same folder in Claude Code:

cd clip-lab
claude

Alternatively, open clip-lab in your editor and start Claude Code from that project. Give it a bounded first assignment rather than “make it look good”:

Read the Remotion instructions and inspect this project before editing.
Create a 20-second, 9:16 vertical video called CafeSteps.
Use six scenes from the attached storyboard. Keep the cream, dark-green
and orange palette, use only assets already in public/, and do not invent
prices or claims. Put scene timing and copy in one data file so I can
revise it later. Build the first pass, start or preserve the preview, and
tell me which composition to inspect. Do not render the final MP4 yet.

Use this path if you want Claude to edit an existing recording: copy the media you have rights to into the project’s public/ folder, tell Claude the exact filenames and desired in/out points, and ask it to preserve the original files. A coding agent may create a clip sequence, captions and graphics around those files; inspect the actual edit in the Remotion Studio before rendering.

Use a shot sheet to keep revisions controlled

Ask Claude to express each scene in a small table or data file with a start time, duration, visual, text and transition. Then review the preview and report visible mismatches. Avoid vague notes such as “make it more cinematic”; describe the change you can see and what must stay put.

Keep the storyboard, aspect ratio, scene order and all wording unchanged.
In shot 2 only, move the subject slightly left so the subtitle is clear.
In shot 4, reduce the subtitle fade-in from about one second to half a
second. Do not change other animation timings or colours.
Show me the changed files and the preview result.

For each revision round: (1) write a short note, (2) ask Claude to change only the named item, (3) inspect that scene and its neighboring transition, and (4) save a checkpoint when it works. The loop from the reel is the useful part: you direct taste and framing; the model handles implementation.

Preview, render and check the exported video

Preview the full composition at the final aspect ratio. Check the opening, every cut, subtitles on a phone-sized view, the last frame, audio levels and any real logos or product details. Ask Claude to fix a specific item, then replay from a few seconds before the edit so you can judge the transition too.

When the preview looks right, let Claude inspect the project’s registered composition IDs and use the Render button in Remotion Studio, or run Remotion’s documented render command. If you leave out the composition ID, Remotion opens a picker. Specify an output file path when you need a predictable location. Play the finished MP4 from beginning to end; a browser preview is not proof that an export succeeded.

npx remotion render

Remotion’s CLI renders the chosen composition to a video file. For repeat work, keep the project files, asset licenses, source script and export settings together. A clean example layout is clip-lab/ for project code, public/ for the media Remotion loads, and out/ for rendered exports. Do not place secrets or private client assets in a public repository.

When to use another tool

Use Claude Motion for a quick, designed animation where its documented Motion export fits the job. Use Remotion when you want editable source code and repeatable versions. If your project is mainly camera footage, audio mixing, colour matching or hand-tuned cutting, finish it in a non-linear editor such as DaVinci Resolve or CapCut. Claude can help turn the script into a shot list, draft captions or prepare a versioned graphics package; those tools provide the timeline and export controls.

Only import music, footage, fonts and logos that you have permission to use. Check captions for names and numbers, review generated layouts for invented details, and obtain consent before publishing identifiable people. These steps matter whether the video was assembled by an AI agent or edited by hand.

Common questions

Can Claude create a video directly?

Claude Motion can create and export short code-based animations as MP4 for eligible Team and Enterprise workspaces. It does not generate realistic footage or people. Standard Claude chat or a regular HTML artifact should not be assumed to export an MP4.

Can I use Claude Code to edit my own footage?

Yes, as a coding agent working in a Remotion project. Provide the media files, exact filenames, desired sequence and revision notes, then inspect the project preview. You still need to check playback, audio, rights and final rendering.

Why ask for a storyboard first?

A storyboard exposes scene order, text and timing before detailed implementation. It gives you something concrete to approve and makes later feedback more precise.

AI tools assisted with research, drafting and editorial revision. The cover illustration is an original conceptual SVG, not a screenshot of Claude or a frame from a produced video. No product testing, sponsorship or affiliate relationship is claimed.