Make a 15-Second AI Animation
Maps to: Animator · Motion Designer, VFX Artist, Filmmaker, Illustrator
You're going to make a 15 to 30 second animated piece: a loop, a micro-story, or a transition. Working in seconds forces something hard: every frame has to carry something (story, motion, meaning) or it goes. That's motion direction, the eye animators build for what to keep and what to cut, and doing one of these tells you fast whether thinking in motion is your kind of work.
The plan
0/4 doneYou're 20% in just for starting, the hardest part. Mark your first step done to keep the momentum.
Storyboard the key moments, 4 to 6 frames. With only seconds to work in, the storyboard is where you decide what actually matters.
Objective: A 4 to 6 frame storyboard.
- 1
Pick your idea: a loop, a micro-story, a transition study, or a 'thing transforming.'
- 2
Storyboard the 4 to 6 key frames.
Your call
Choose the idea and storyboard the key frames yourself.
The one moment the piece is built around.
What good looks like: Your storyboard already tells the piece: a stranger could look at the 4 to 6 frames and say what's happening and why it matters before a single second is generated.
- At 15 seconds, every frame is precious. Storyboard tight.
- 1
The bar to look back against
A 15 to 30 second piece with deliberate motion where every frame exists for a reason, posted to a platform, and you can name the frames you cut to make it tight. The cut is the work: not 'I generated some motion,' but 'every frame earns its place, and I can say which I killed.'
Finish the final step, then submit what you built. Your progress is saved.
Tools you'll use
Steps 2–3 · Generate sequences
Step 4 · Cut to only the frames that earn their place
How this shows up on a resume or college app
I animated a short piece using AI tools and posted it, working under a tight time limit so every frame had to earn its place. I learned the constraint of working in seconds: there's no room for a frame that doesn't carry the motion or the meaning.