Documentation

Getting Started

TenStick turns a written script into a complete stick figure animation video. You paste your script, choose how it should look and sound, and the AI handles scene planning, visuals, narration, subtitles, and the final HD export.

Quick start

1. 1

   Create your account

   Sign up with email and password or continue with Google. Every new account starts on the Free plan, no card required.

2. 2

   Paste your script

   Open Create Video from the dashboard and paste your script. Separate scenes with a blank line so the AI can split them cleanly.

3. 3

   Analyze the script

   Click Analyze Script. TenStick reads your content and returns estimated duration, scene count, visuals, and render time before you commit.

4. 4

   Generate and download

   Confirm to start generation. You can leave the page and progress continues in the background. When it completes, preview and download your MP4.

What you need

• A modern browser. Nothing to install or download.
• A written script (or an outline; the AI will structure it for you).
• No animation, editing, or design skills.

Core Concepts

Projects

Every video you create is a project. A project holds your script, your configuration, the generated scenes, and the final video. Projects move through these states:

Scenes

TenStick splits your script into scenes. Each scene gets its own stick figure visual, a slice of narration, and synced subtitles. Scene breaks generally follow the paragraphs in your script, so how you format your script directly shapes the video.

The generation pipeline

Every video runs through seven stages. You can watch them progress live on the project page while your video is being built.

1. 1

   Script Analysis

   The AI reads your script and understands structure, tone, characters, and pacing.

2. 2

   Scene Planning

   The script is divided into scenes with framing, characters, objects, and narration timing.

3. 3

   Image Generation

   Stick figure visuals are matched from the asset library or generated for each scene.

4. 4

   Voice Generation

   Your chosen AI voice narrates each scene.

5. 5

   Subtitle Sync

   Subtitles are generated and timed to the narration.

6. 6

   Rendering

   Visuals, narration, and subtitles are combined into a video.

7. 7

   Final Optimization

   The output is finalized and prepared for download.

Creating a Video

Head to Create Video in the dashboard. The left side is your script editor; the right side holds your configuration and the Analyze Script button.

Configuration options

Reviewing the analysis

After analysis, you will see estimates before anything is generated: duration, number of scenes, number of visuals, expected render time, the selected voice, and a production complexity rating. This is your chance to adjust the script or settings.

While it generates

Generation runs in the background, so you can close the page or start another draft. The project page shows live pipeline progress, per-scene status, and a preview once the render finishes.

Paste Script

Everything starts with your script. Drop in finished copy, a rough outline, or bullet points. There is no required format, no timeline to build, and nothing to storyboard. TenStick reads what you wrote and turns it into structured scenes for you.

What you can paste

• A finished script. Written to be spoken, this gives you the most control over the narration.
• An outline or bullet points. The AI expands structure and pacing around your points.
• Existing content. A blog intro, lesson plan, or product explainer you want turned into video.

How your formatting becomes scenes

Blank lines are the strongest signal you can give. Each paragraph separated by a blank line generally becomes its own scene, with its own visual and narration slice.

Editing before you generate

Your draft is saved as you type, so you can refine the script, run analysis again, and only commit when the estimates look right.

AI Analysis

Before a single frame is produced, TenStick reads your entire script and builds a plan for the video. This is the step that decides how your story is broken up, how it is paced, and what each scene needs to show.

What the AI reads

• Story structure: where each idea begins and ends, and how scenes should be divided.
• Characters: who appears in the script, so the same people stay visually consistent.
• Locations and objects: the settings and props each scene needs.
• Emotional tone: the mood driving expression and delivery.
• Pacing: how long each scene should hold on screen.

What you get back

Analysis returns an estimate you can review before committing to a generation:

Using the estimates

If the duration exceeds your plan's maximum length, shorten the script before generating. The limit is checked up front, so nothing is wasted. If the scene count looks low, add blank lines to split dense paragraphs.

Natural Voice

Every video is narrated by an AI voice and captioned automatically. Narration and subtitles are generated from the same script and timed together, so the words on screen always match what is being spoken.

Choosing a voice

Set your voice in the Configuration panel on the Create Video page. Premium voices are available on paid plans.

Languages

Narration can be generated in English, Spanish, French, or Hindi. Write your script in the language you select so the narration and subtitles stay consistent.

Subtitles

Subtitles are produced automatically and synced to the narration, then burned into the exported video. You can choose how they look:

Download & Export

When generation finishes, your video is ready to preview and download as an MP4. The format every major platform accepts.

Export quality

Aspect ratios

Choose the ratio before generating, based on where you plan to publish:

Downloading your video

1. 1

   Open the project

   Completed projects show a video preview on the project page.

2. 2

   Preview the result

   Play it through to confirm the narration, subtitles, and visuals look right.

3. 3

   Download the MP4

   Use the Download button in the header or below the preview to save the file.

Publishing rights

Paid plans include a commercial license, so you can publish and monetize your videos on any platform. The Free plan is intended for personal use and evaluation.

Script Best Practices

The quality of your video follows the quality of your script. These practices consistently produce cleaner scene breaks and better visuals.

Structure

• One idea per paragraph. Separate paragraphs with a blank line, and each becomes its own scene.
• Keep sentences narratable. Write the way you would speak; the narration is read aloud exactly as written.
• Open with a hook. The first scene sets the thumbnail and the first few seconds of retention.

Visual language

• Name concrete subjects and objects: “a teacher pointing at a whiteboard” beats “explaining the concept”.
• Reuse the same character descriptions across scenes so characters stay consistent.
• Mention the setting when it changes (office, classroom, park) so backgrounds follow the story.

Length

Roughly 150 spoken words equals about one minute of video. Keep your script within your plan's maximum video length:

Plans & Limits

Every plan includes the full workflow, from script analysis through final export. Paid plans raise your monthly limits and unlock watermark-free HD output and commercial rights.

How the monthly limit works

• One generation is counted when you confirm Generate Video, not when you analyze.
• Your allowance resets at the start of each calendar month (UTC).
• Unused generations do not roll over to the next month.
• When you hit your limit, generation is locked until the reset or until you upgrade.

Managing Projects

Dashboard

Your dashboard shows total videos, how many completed, how many are in progress, and your usage for the current month, followed by your most recent projects.

Project actions

Settings

Under Settings you can update your display name, switch between light and dark themes, and set the default aspect ratio applied to new videos.

Troubleshooting

My generation is locked

You have used all of your monthly generations. Your allowance resets at the start of the next month, or you can upgrade your plan to continue immediately.

My video is longer than my plan allows

Shorten the script (roughly 150 words per minute) or upgrade to a plan with a higher length limit. The limit is checked before generation starts, so nothing is consumed.

Generation failed

Open the project and use Regenerate. If it fails repeatedly, try simplifying complex sentences or splitting very long paragraphs into separate scenes.

Rendering is taking a long time

Render time scales with video length and scene count. Pro and Business plans use priority and highest-priority queues, which shortens waits during busy periods.

Still stuck?

Browse the Help & Support centre for more answers, or send us a message and we will help you get unblocked.