Believe it or not, Claude built every frame of this animated explainer video for an “Old Fashioned” recipe. I didn’t touch After Effects or Canva once… it was literally just a prompt and a few rounds of feedback.
Want to make your own? Below is the exact prompt I’d start with. It works for anything with about 5 to 7 steps, like cocktails, coffee drinks, smoothies, or a simple sauce.
What you need
- A Claude account with code execution and file creation turned on (web or desktop app)
- About 15 to 30 minutes for the first version
The prompt
Copy this and replace [what you’re making] with your drink or dish.
Create a 30-40 second recipe explainer animation for [what you're making].
Style: a hand-drawn sketch look, with wobbly ink outlines, soft flat colors, a chunky hand-lettered title and handwritten labels on an off-white paper background.
Recipe: use a classic version and tell me the recipe you chose so I can tweak it.
Show it being made from start to finish, from the empty glass, bowl or plate to the finished result, with each ingredient and its measurement on screen as it goes in.
Include:
- The title on screen the whole time
- A card for each step with the ingredient, amount and a short tip
- A progress tracker of the steps along the bottom
- A final card with the full recipe
Make it 9:16 for Reels and TikTok, keep the important parts away from the top and bottom edges where the app's buttons sit, and give each step enough time to read. Build it with HTML and JavaScript and give me a downloadable MP4.Make it your own
Use your own recipe. If you leave the recipe line as is, Claude picks a classic version and tells you what it used, so you can tweak it. If you already have your own recipe with exact amounts, paste it in place of that line.
Use a different style. Attach any image whose look you like and swap the style line for “Match the style of the attached image.”
If something’s off
The first version is a draft. The polish comes from giving Claude feedback the way you would a designer. A few I used:
- “Slow it down so each step has time to read.”
- “Some text overflows its card. Fix it on every step.”
- “Make a 1:1 version too, with the same timing.”
What about the sound?
The prompt above gives you a silent video. The sound effects timed to every pour and clink, plus the background music edited so the song ends right as the recipe card pops up, come from a separate workflow I’ll be teaching soon.
Join my free JP Creator Academy on Skool so you don’t miss it!
