Remotion + Claude Code: How To Make a Branded Video From Script to Render
October 28, 2026 · Mike Murphy
Build a branded stop-motion YouTube channel trailer with Remotion and Claude Code, from the creative brief and voiceover to the final MP4.
I made my new YouTube channel trailer with Remotion and Claude Code. It’s a papercut, stop-motion video where every scrap of paper and sound effect lands on a word I say.
You can’t follow a creative video click by click, so this post covers the workflow behind it. Most of the work happens before you open your code editor.
What Remotion does
Remotion is a React framework that makes videos with code. Each frame is a web page, so anything a browser can show, your video can show.
You don’t need to write the code yourself. An AI coding agent like Claude Code or Codex writes and edits it, and you direct.
What you need
- Node.js installed. Run
node --versionin Terminal. If it prints a version number, you’re good to go. - Claude Code or another AI coding agent
- VS Code or another code editor
- Your brand: colors, fonts, and logo files
- A microphone for the voiceover
New to Remotion? Start with Remotion: How To Get Started Making Videos With Code.
1. Write the creative brief
Write down what you want before you make anything. The brief guides every prompt that follows.
- Goal: what the video is for. Mine is a YouTube channel trailer.
- Style: the look. Mine is papercut, hand-drawn, and stop-motion.
- Brand: your design system colors and fonts.
- Length: about 60 seconds plus an outro.
When you give Claude style references, say “style only.” Otherwise it may copy details you don’t want.
2. Prepare your branded assets
I asked Claude Design to turn graphics from my design system into the papercut style: logos, props, torn paper strips, and a cutout of my photo.
Ask for transparent PNGs, one consistent texture, and separate pieces you can move. Keep the kit in a shared folder so every future video can use it.
3. Write the script and record the voiceover
Write your own rough draft first, then let Claude tighten it. Keep the lines that sound like you.
Speech runs about 150 words per minute, so a 60-second trailer is about 150 words. Record the voiceover before you build anything. Every animation is timed to it.
4. Build a storyboard and shot list
This is where the heavy lifting happens. I put everything in one document:
- The creative brief
- The voiceover script
- A storyboard and shot list with every scene, its timing, and what appears on screen
- Where the voiceover and audio files live
Because all the planning was done up front, the build step only took one prompt.
5. Set up the Remotion project
I keep every video in a folder called mike-video-factory, organized by framework: Remotion, HyperFrames, and plain HTML. Each video gets its own folder.
Open your new video folder in VS Code, then open the terminal and run:
npx create-video@latestChoose the Blank template. When it asks to install the Remotion skills, choose Install all skills. The skills teach Claude Code Remotion’s best practices.
Then add your files to the public/ folder: the voiceover, thumbnails, footage clips, and design assets.
6. Have Claude Code build the video
Open a second terminal in VS Code with the + icon and start Claude Code:
claudePoint Claude at your planning document:
Build the trailer video using the instructions in [your document].Mine took about five to ten minutes.
7. Preview and edit in Remotion Studio
Switch back to the first terminal and start Remotion Studio:
npm run devStudio opens in your browser at localhost:3000. Scrub the timeline and play the video with sound.
To change something, tell Claude what you want, like a director: rotate this, slow this down, lower the music. You can also edit the scene files in src/scenes/ yourself. Save the file, and Studio updates in real time.
To stop Studio, press Control + C in its terminal.
8. Render the final video
In Remotion Studio, click Render in the bottom right of the inspector panel. Choose H.264, name the output file, and click Render video.
The finished MP4 lands in the out/ folder of your project. Right-click it in VS Code and choose Reveal in Finder to open it. Bingo, you have a branded video you can edit any time.