AI Video Lectures

Scholarly can turn your study materials into fully narrated, animated video lectures. Upload PDFs, text files, images, or just describe a topic -- and the platform generates a video with animated scenes, illustrations, charts, and voice narration, complete with chapters, a transcript, and AI chat.

Creating a Video Lecture

Video lecture creation is a two-step process.

Step 1 -- Pick your content. Choose your source material:

• PDFs -- Select up to 3 PDFs from your library or upload new files. For long PDFs, use the page selector to pick exactly which pages the lecture should cover.
• Text files -- Upload .txt, .md, or .csv files.
• Images -- Upload photos, diagrams, or screenshots.
• Google Drive -- Pick files straight from your Drive, no downloading and re-uploading. See Connected Apps.
• Link -- Paste a link to a website or an online PDF.
• Prompt -- Use the Prompt tab to describe any topic and generate a video from scratch, no files needed.

Step 2 -- Customize settings. Before generating, you can configure:

• Length -- Choose how long and deep the lecture should be. Every length is available on every plan:
  • Quick (3--5 minutes) -- A shorter, high-level pass focused on the highest-yield ideas. Perfect for last-minute review or a quick refresher.
  • Standard -- The balanced default. A full lecture with room to cover the key ideas and land a clear conclusion. Best when learning something new.
  • In-depth (8--12 minutes) -- A longer lecture with more examples, connections, and visuals where your source supports them. Best for thorough, exam-ready coverage.
• Video Mode -- Choose how the lecture teaches. Each mode re-teaches your material in its own style, tone, and visual language. Six modes to pick from: Standard (the default — a calm, editorial lecture), Math, Kids, Editorial (sleek motion-graphics), Retro (80s synthwave), and Freestyle (the AI picks the look). Every mode is available on every plan. See the full Video Modes guide.
• Video quality -- Choose the resolution your lecture renders at: 480p (faster to generate and a smaller file), 720p (the default — crisp and a good balance), or 1080p Full HD (the sharpest, available on paid plans). See Plans and Limits for which qualities your plan can generate.
• AI model -- Pick which AI model generates your video. The picker shows a Recommended badge on the best default for video lectures, with a short description under each model so you know what each one is good for. Paid users get the recommended model by default. Locked models show a lock badge on the free plan. See Choosing an AI Model for guidance.
• Custom Design -- Apply a saved Custom Design to lock in your own look — colors, typography, illustration style — across every lecture you generate. The unified Design picker pulls from the same designs you use on slides, story books, infographics, and mind maps. Paid plans.
• Language -- Choose the language for narration. Over 27 languages are supported, and the default Auto setting matches the language of your source material.
• Background music -- An optional soft music bed under the narration. Off by default; flip the toggle on if you like a little atmosphere.
• Scholarly logo -- Choose whether the Scholarly logo appears in the video. Handy to turn off when you're dropping the lecture into your own presentation.
• Custom instructions -- Add free-text instructions to steer the lecture: emphasize certain chapters, explain for a visual learner, focus on key formulas or common mistakes, and more.

Once you confirm, generation begins. You can close the modal and come back later -- you will receive a notification when the video is ready.

Voice Preference

Video lectures use your preferred AI voice (male or female) from Settings. Change your preference in Settings and all future videos will use that voice.

Generation Progress

Video lectures go through several stages:

1. Pending -- Queued for processing.
2. Processing -- The AI reads your source material, writes a narrated script, generates animated scenes and illustrations, and produces voice narration.
3. Completed -- Ready to watch.
4. Failed -- Can be retried from the video page.

Generation typically takes 10-25 minutes depending on the complexity and length of your source material. You can track the current status at any time, cancel in-progress generations, or retry failed ones.

Video Modes

Every lecture is generated in a Video Mode -- the teaching style that shapes how your material is explained and how the video looks. Six modes are available: Standard (a calm editorial lecture, the default), Math (animated whiteboard derivations), Kids (bright and playful for younger learners), Editorial (a sleek motion-graphics look with kinetic typography), Retro (an 80s synthwave / arcade aesthetic), and Freestyle (the AI picks the best visual approach for your topic).

Picking the right mode is often a bigger improvement than rewording the prompt. See the full Video Modes guide to choose the best fit for your subject.

Video Quality

You choose the resolution your lecture renders at in the customize step. Higher quality looks sharper but takes a little longer to generate and produces a larger file.

Quality only affects how sharp the picture is — every video, at every resolution, still comes with the same chapters, captions, interactive questions, transcript, and AI chat. Which qualities you can generate depends on your plan; see Plans and Limits for the breakdown.

Scenes and Visuals

Each video is composed of multiple scenes. The AI picks the scene type that best fits what's being explained:

• Definitions -- A term on screen, written like a textbook entry, with the explanation building up alongside it.
• Comparisons -- Two ideas side by side with their differences highlighted.
• Step-by-step processes -- Numbered stages that animate in as the narrator walks through each one.
• Equations -- Math rendered with proper typography so symbols, fractions, integrals, and superscripts read cleanly.
• Stats and figures -- Animated count-ups for big numbers and key statistics.
• Charts -- Bar charts, line graphs, and pie charts drawn live as the narrator describes the data.
• Key-insight callouts -- Short, emphasized takeaways for the most important moments in the lecture.
• AI-generated illustrations -- Custom imagery for concepts that benefit from a visual.

The visual style itself is designed to feel like a beautifully laid-out textbook in motion -- warm paper background, serif headlines, clean diagrams, and gentle animation. Narration is paired with natural-sounding AI text-to-speech in the language and voice you picked.

Chapters and Transcript

Videos include chapter markers so you can jump to specific sections. A full transcript of the narration is available on every completed video, with search support so you can quickly find specific moments or topics.

Captions

Every completed video lecture ships with synced captions. Use your video player's caption controls to turn them on — they follow the narration line by line so you can read along while you watch, or study with the sound off entirely.

Captions match the language you generated the lecture in, so a Spanish lecture comes with Spanish captions out of the box. See Captions for Podcasts and Videos for the full guide.

Interactive Questions

Every video lecture comes with built-in checkpoints. At key moments a small, non-intrusive question card slides up at the bottom of the video — playback keeps rolling, you hover or tap to expand it, answer, and the AI gives you instant feedback. You can turn the cards off anytime with the Interactive questions toggle in the panel below the player.

Each full pass through the questions is saved, so you can see your Best and Last scores at a glance and open your full attempt history right next to the questions list. You can also create flashcards from the whole video without leaving its page. See the Interactive Video Questions guide for the full breakdown.

Background Music

Background music is an optional toggle in the customize step, off by default. Turn it on for a subtle music bed under the narration — a faint, atmospheric layer rather than something competing with the speaker. The mix keeps the voice front and center, even at lower playback speeds.

Creating from an Upload

You can also create a video lecture when you upload files. Add your files, open the More menu, and choose Create Video Lecture. A customization panel lets you pick a length, a video mode, an AI model, the language, and custom instructions before generating.

Creating from AI Chat

You can create video lectures directly from the AI chat. Say something like "create a video lecture about thermodynamics" or "turn this into a video lecture" and the AI generates it for you. When the video is ready, it plays inline in the conversation.

AI Chat

Every completed video lecture has a dedicated AI chat panel. Ask questions about the video content, request clarification on a topic, or explore related ideas. The AI uses the video transcript and your original source materials to give grounded answers.

Flashcards

Generate flashcards directly from completed video lectures. Open the flashcard creator from the video page to turn key concepts into study cards.

Sharing

Share any video lecture with a link. Recipients can watch the video, read the transcript, and browse chapters without needing to create an account.

Downloading the Video

Open any completed lecture, click the three-dot menu in the top right, and choose Download video. Scholarly hands you the finished MP4 — keep it offline, drop it into a slide deck, or share it through your own channels. Downloads include the narration, captions, and music exactly as you'd watch them in the app.

Research Depth

Before writing the script, the AI actively researches your source material -- rereading key sections, pulling out real examples, and finding the most citation-worthy passages. An In-depth lecture covers more ground than a Quick one on the same source, with more examples and connections drawn from your material.

Limits

Free users get 3 lifetime AI creation credits, shared across video lectures, podcasts, AI Slides, flashcard decks, and other AI tools. These free credits do not reset. Every Video Mode and every length — Quick, Standard, and In-depth — is available on every plan; the free plan is limited only by those lifetime credits. A paid plan removes the creation cap and unlocks 1080p Full HD rendering. See Plans and Limits for the full breakdown.