Turn any PDF into a narrated video lecture

It is a narrated lecture built from new scenes, not a recording of your PDF pages: a natural voice explains the material while diagrams, charts, equations, and step-by-step builds animate in sync, and the AI can add generated pictures or figures cut from your PDF pages. The video is 16:9 (Short is vertical), split into chapters, with captions you can switch on, a searchable transcript, optional question checkpoints, and AI chat. Standard is the default style; Illustrated, Short, Manim Math Animation, and Freestyle are the other modes.

Yes, to start. The Free plan includes one lifetime AI Creation Credit, shared across every Scholarly tool, and it can make one narrated PDF video of about 2 minutes at 720p with Scholarly branding, with no credit card. Free uploads are up to 8 MB and PDFs are read up to 32 pages, so pick a page range for a longer file. Watching and sharing by link are free; MP4 download, 1080p, a custom length up to 45 minutes, and 15 AI Creation Credits a week come with Premium.

A 2-minute video usually takes about 8 to 20 minutes to generate, and longer lectures take longer: about 18 to 40 minutes for a 10-minute video and about 55 to 95 minutes for 45 minutes. It runs on Scholarly's servers, so you can close the tab and come back to the finished video.

Text-based PDFs like lecture slides, textbook chapters, research papers, and study guides work best. Scanned documents and image-heavy PDFs also work, though text-based files produce the most accurate results.

Yes, you can upload up to 10 PDFs at once (20 on Laureate). The AI combines the content into a single cohesive video lecture — useful for merging lecture slides with the corresponding textbook chapter.

Yes. After your video is generated, you can create flashcards from the content with one click and study them with spaced repetition. Exporting to Anki or PDF, downloading, and printing require a paid plan.

Yes. Every generated video includes a full, searchable transcript with timestamps. You can search for specific terms, click on any section to jump to that point in the video, or copy text for your own notes.

Yes. Share your generated video lecture with classmates or study groups directly from Scholarly. Everyone gets access to the video, transcript, AI chat, and flashcard generation features.

Narration, captions, and the transcript can be generated in 70+ output languages and regional variants, including English, Spanish, French, German, Portuguese, Hindi, Arabic, Japanese, and Chinese. The PDF and the video do not have to share a language, so an English paper can become a Spanish or Arabic lecture. Arabic and Hebrew lectures are laid out right to left, and on-screen text follows the lecture's language.

Yes, on any paid plan. Premium and Laureate download the finished lecture as an MP4, and turning the Scholarly logo off when you generate gives a watermark-free file; the export pack adds the companion slides PDF (Standard mode), the script, and caption files. On the Free plan you watch the video in Scholarly and share it with a view link that opens in the browser, but download is not included.

Upload the PDF on this page, wait while the AI generates a narrated, animated video lecture (usually 8 to 20 minutes for a 2-minute video), then watch it with chapter navigation, a searchable transcript, and AI chat. You can convert a single lecture slide deck or textbook chapter, or combine up to 10 PDFs (20 on Laureate) into one video on a paid plan. No script writing, slide design, or voice recording on your end.

Scholarly reads the PDF as a teaching source and keeps definitions, equations, and figure references intact. The video includes chapters, transcript search, contextual AI chat, and flashcards. It suits learners, educators, researchers, and trainers.

Yes, lecture slide PDFs are among the strongest inputs. The AI reads the slides in order, narrates the bullet points in full sentences, and adds animated supporting visuals, reusing figures from the slides where they help. A 2-minute video from an instructor-provided deck usually takes 8 to 20 minutes to generate.

Yes. If your notes are typed, paste them into Scholarly's text to video tool or upload the file directly; if they're handwritten, photograph or scan them to PDF and upload that. Scholarly also has a dedicated notes to video workflow that builds the same narrated, chaptered lecture from class notes — useful when your notes are messier than a polished document.

Yes. Paste a YouTube link and Scholarly imports the video as a study source the same way it handles a PDF — and can re-teach it as a condensed, chaptered video lecture with a transcript, AI chat, quizzes, and flashcards. It's the fastest way to compress a 90-minute recorded lecture into a focused review video.

When you need speed over depth. For a quick pre-exam skim, a summary or study guide is faster than watching. For finding one definition, AI chat or transcript search wins. For problem-heavy courses, practice questions build more skill than watching explanations. Video is strongest on your first pass through dense, unfamiliar, or visual material.

Yes. Upload a standard operating procedure, onboarding guide, process doc, or policy PDF, up to 10 files in one video (20 on Laureate), and Scholarly writes a teaching script only from that material, then generates a narrated video with chapters, captions, and a full transcript. Because the script comes from your document rather than the open internet, it uses your steps and your terminology. Review it before rolling it out, as with anything AI-generated. Compliance manuals and policy handbooks work the same way. Paid plans render up to 45 minutes at 1080p; Free renders one 2-minute video.

Yes. Text-based files produce the best results, and PDFs, Word documents, and slide decks all work. You can combine up to 10 files into one video (20 on Laureate) — for example an SOP plus the policy behind it — and when the document changes you update it and generate a fresh video in minutes instead of re-recording. The uploaded material stays in your workspace, so teammates can also chat with it and get cited answers.

Yes. Every video can be shared with a link and watched in the browser with chapters, captions, and a transcript, and paid plans can download a watermark-free MP4 to host in your wiki or anywhere else. Scholarly for Teams adds shared source libraries so everyone builds from the same approved material, invitations by email or link with Member and Admin roles, per-member activity, and one central bill for the seats you choose on Premium for Teams or Laureate for Teams; the team plan unlocks its formats and AI limits for every seat.

Yes. Every video Scholarly generates is narrated from start to finish. The AI writes the script from your PDF, then reads it aloud in the voice you pick when you create the video, synced to the visuals and chapters. Captions and a full searchable transcript come with it, so the same video also works with the sound off.

On the Free plan, a video lecture is a fixed length of about 2 minutes. On Premium and Laureate you set a target length up to 45 minutes before generating (15 minutes is the default), and the lecture is planned to that length, so a long PDF gets more chapters rather than a rushed pace. Each video costs 1 AI Creation Credit with the default model, plus 1 extra credit above 15 minutes and 2 extra above 30 minutes. The vertical Short format keeps its own fixed length.