Video Modes

A Video Mode decides how your AI Video Lecture teaches. The same PDF, the same topic, the same notes — re-taught a few different ways. Where the length setting controls how long the lecture runs, the mode controls how it looks, feels, and sounds.

You pick a mode in the customize step of the video lecture creator, right after you choose your source material. Standard is the default. Your last choice is remembered for next time.

Why Modes Exist

Different material — and different moments — call for different teaching. A dense proof is best on a whiteboard. A topic you're explaining to a younger learner wants simple words and a gentle pace. Instead of one fixed lecture style, you choose the teacher that fits the subject, the student, and the moment.

If a lecture doesn't land the way you hoped, switching the mode and regenerating is often a bigger improvement than tweaking the prompt.

The Five Modes

Standard (default)

A polished, editorial lesson that chooses the visual treatment concept by concept. Standard is the best all-rounder when you want a topic explained clearly, and it is the default if you do not change modes.

Standard changes visual structure as the lesson develops: selective generated illustrations, relationship diagrams, worked equations, processes, comparisons, paths, grids, charts, and asymmetric layouts can all appear in one coherent lesson. Motion and semantic transitions follow the teaching beat without changing narration timing, and the director selects a fully composed moment as the video's cover frame.

Illustrated

A full-length landscape lesson told through hand-drawn illustrations on a clean white background. A recurring ink character acts out each idea while sparse handwritten labels and visual metaphors make the explanation memorable. Pick Illustrated when a concept benefits from visual storytelling rather than a traditional slide-like lecture.

Short

A fast vertical explainer in a short video format for quick review. Short distills the source to one compelling thread, pairs it with full-screen visuals, and keeps the narration focused. Pick it when you want a phone-friendly recap instead of a full lecture.

Manim Math Animation

Precise animated derivations built with Manim. The mode first matches source-grounded concepts to vetted scenes for derivatives, integrals, function transforms, equation derivations, vector fields, and the Pythagorean theorem. When a topic needs a different mathematical visual, the same Video request continues through the flexible math renderer instead of failing or creating a separate artifact. Best for calculus, physics, statistics, and any STEM topic where the working matters as much as the answer.

Freestyle

Freestyle lets the AI choose the best visual style and animation approach for your specific material, instead of following a fixed look. Pick it when none of the named modes feel quite right — Freestyle will read your source and decide whether kinetic type, a whiteboard, a clean diagram sequence, or something in between best serves the topic.

Mode Availability

Every Video Mode is available on every plan. Short always renders in its own short video format with no length control; the other modes (Standard, Illustrated, Manim Math Animation, Freestyle) use the lecture length setting — a fixed 2-minute lecture on Free, or a target length up to 45 minutes on paid plans. Free includes one lifetime AI creation; Premium replaces that with 10 creations each week, while Laureate includes 80 creations each week (Frontier models such as GPT 5.6 Sol and Claude Opus 5 cost 3 credits per creation instead of 1). Paid plans also unlock 1080p rendering, watermark-free output, and MP4 downloads. See Plans and Limits for the full breakdown.

Picking the Right Mode

• Not sure where to start? Leave it on Standard — the default all-rounder that explains any topic cleanly.
• Learning a general topic for the first time? Standard.
• Want a hand-drawn visual story with memorable metaphors? Illustrated.
• Want a fast, phone-friendly recap? Short.
• Working through proofs, equations, or derivations? Manim Math Animation.
• Want the AI to pick the visual approach? Freestyle.

Not sure? Generate the same topic in two modes and compare — short lectures are quick to re-run, and the difference between modes is dramatic.

Modes and the Rest of the Lecture

Choosing a mode doesn't change anything else about your video. Every mode still ships with chapter navigation, a searchable transcript, synced captions, interactive question checkpoints, AI chat about the video, and one-click flashcard generation. The mode only shapes the teaching style and visuals — all the study tools come with every lecture.

For everything else about creating and watching video lectures, see the full AI Video Lectures guide.