Yes — a free plan lets you compose multi-scene motion graphics with voiceover and captions. Paid plans (Creator $29.90/mo, Pro $99.90/mo) add AI image, video, and sound generation and remove the watermark.

Can I edit the video after it's generated?

Yes. Onda produces an editable scene graph, so you can change any element — text, color, timing, layout — without re-generating the whole video.

Do I need video-editing or design skills?

No. You describe the video in plain language and an AI director composes it — there is no timeline to learn.

A finished MP4 in any aspect ratio — vertical, square, or widescreen — for social, ads, and product videos.

Is there a watermark?

Free exports include a small watermark; Creator and Pro plans remove it.

How to make an explainer video from a prompt

An explainer video from a prompt is made by describing the scene you want in plain language and letting an AI director compose the motion graphics, imagery, video, voiceover, and sound — then editing the result element by element until it's right. The key is choosing a system that produces an editable video, so you can fix a headline or swap a brand color without regenerating the whole thing.

Here's the practical workflow, the prompt that gets you a strong first draft, and how to refine without falling into the regeneration spiral.

Before you start: pick the right kind of tool

An explainer is motion graphics — text, brand, simple imagery, and designed motion. That points you toward an editable AI motion-graphics generator, not a one-shot photoreal video model.

The difference matters for explainers specifically, because explainers live or die on exact copy and brand. The product name must be spelled right; the value prop must read cleanly; the logo must be current. One-shot generators give you a convincing draft you can't surgically correct. An editable system lets you fix the one wrong word and leave the rest.

This guide uses Onda Studio, which composes a scene into a deterministic scene graph and renders it to a real, editable MP4.

Step 1 — Write the prompt as a brief, not a wish

The best first draft comes from a prompt that reads like a short creative brief. Cover four things:

What it's for. "A 30-second explainer for a project-management SaaS called Northwind."
The core message. The one idea a viewer should leave with.
The structure. The beats, in order — hook, problem, how it works, payoff, call to action.
Tone and brand. "Clean and confident, deep-blue brand, restrained motion."

A worked example:

Make a 30-second explainer for Northwind, a project-management app. Audience: small agency owners drowning in spreadsheets. Beats: 1) hook — "Your projects live in twelve tabs." 2) problem — scattered tasks, missed deadlines. 3) solution — Northwind puts every project on one board. 4) payoff — "Ship on time, every time." 5) CTA — "Start free at northwind.app." Tone: calm and credible, navy and white, kinetic typography, light motion.

Naming the beats matters. An explainer is a sequence of scenes, and spelling out the sequence gives the director a structure to compose against instead of guessing.

Step 2 — Generate the first draft

Submit the prompt and let the agent compose. It assembles the scenes — motion graphics, AI imagery and video where useful, an AI voiceover reading your lines, and sound — into a single composition you can preview.

Expect the first draft to be roughly right and not yet perfect. That's normal and, importantly, fine: because the result is editable, "not perfect" is a starting point you can correct, not a clip you have to re-roll from scratch.

Step 3 — Refine one element at a time

This is where editable AI video pays off. Don't re-prompt the whole video to fix small things — that's the regeneration spiral, where fixing one detail shifts everything else. Instead, edit the specific element.

Typical refinements for an explainer:

Fix copy. Correct a headline or tighten a line. Only that text changes.
Lock the brand. Set the exact brand color and swap in the real logo.
Adjust a beat. Make the problem scene a touch longer, or simplify a busy one.
Tune the voiceover. Re-read a line or change the read; the visuals hold.

You can refine by chatting with the agent ("make the CTA scene one second longer") or by manipulating the element directly. Both reach the same underlying scene graph, so the rest of the composition stays exactly as it was.

Step 4 — Reframe for where it will run

An explainer rarely lives in one place. The same composition can be reframed to different aspect ratios — wide for a site or YouTube, square or vertical for social — without rebuilding it. Reframing reflows the layout rather than re-generating the video, so your copy and brand carry across formats.

Step 5 — Export and ship

When it reads right, export the MP4. Because the render is deterministic, what you previewed is what you get.

A shortcut: start from a template

If you'd rather not start from a blank prompt, begin with an editable motion-graphics template that matches your structure — a feature walkthrough, a launch announcement, a stat-driven explainer. Add your copy and brand, let the agent reframe it to your format, and refine from there. You get the benefits of structure with a head start on the layout.

Common mistakes to avoid

Re-rolling to fix one word. Edit the element instead; re-generating invites drift.
Vague prompts. "Make an explainer about my app" gives the director nothing to structure. Name the beats.
Wrong tool for the shot. If you actually need photoreal or imaginative footage, a one-shot generator (Runway, Sora, Veo, Kling, Luma) is the right call — explainers usually aren't that.

The takeaway

To make an explainer video from a prompt, write the prompt as a brief with named beats, generate an editable first draft, then refine element by element instead of re-rolling. The editability is the whole point: it's what turns "almost right" into "exactly right" without starting over.

You can write your brief and generate a first draft at studio.onda.video.