$13,725 last month. Six tools. Four hours of my time total.
Three months ago I kept coming back to one question: what if animation characters, motion, voice, music could ship faster than a studio can schedule a kickoff call?
Turns out it can. And the market pays well for it
The studio runs 24/7. I sleep. It delivers
What it actually produces
Four formats, all automated:
- Animated story series - 6 to 10 minute episodes, original characters, AI voice cast, original score built from scratch every run.
- Brand explainer videos - 60 to 90 second product videos sold directly to SaaS companies and early-stage startups.
- Motion comic series - illustrated panels fed into Runway, narrated, cinematic pacing that most editors charge a week of work to produce.
- Children's story channels - 5 minute bedtime stories, soft animation, calming voice, ambient music underneath.
- Each format targets a different buyer. Together they clear $12,000+ a month. One pipeline handles all four.
The pipeline
Claude → Midjourney → Runway → ElevenLabs → Suno → Make
Script → frames → motion → voice → music → publish
Six tools. Fully automated after a one-time setup.
Step 1 - Claude writes the script
Everything originates here. Claude generates the episode script, visual scene breakdowns for Midjourney, voiceover lines for ElevenLabs, and the creative brief for Suno all structured and ready to feed into the next tool.
Prompt for episode script:
1You are a writer for an original animated series.23Write episode 2 of a 10-episode series called "Drift Protocol."4Main character: Mara, 19, a courier who discovers she can5replay 30 seconds of any moment she's touched.67Episode 2: Mara replays the moment before a building collapse8and realizes it wasn't an accident. Someone is erasing events.910Format the output as:11- Scene description (for image generation)12- Character dialogue13- Narrator lines14- Emotional tone notes1516Each scene: 30-45 seconds read aloud.17Total episode: 8 minutes.18Tense pacing. Cinematic cuts. End on an unresolved threat.
Prompt for brand explainer:
1You are a scriptwriter for premium SaaS explainer videos.23Product: Vaultly - document automation for law firms.4Audience: partners at mid-size firms, 35-55, skeptical of new software.5Tone: confident, direct, slightly dry.67Write a 75-second explainer script.8Structure:9- 0:00-0:12: the problem (one specific scenario, not a list)10- 0:12-0:45: how Vaultly solves it, step by step11- 0:45-1:15: result in numbers (time saved, error rate, cost)12- 1:15: one-line CTA1314No buzzwords. No enthusiasm. Just mechanics.
Step 2 - Midjourney builds the frames
Character sheet (series):
119-year-old boy, athletic build, short dark hair with one bleached streak,2worn courier jacket covered in faded patches, fingerless gloves,3expression: cautious but sharp, scanning the environment,4cinematic western animation style, Disney Feature meets Studio Ghibli,5high contrast lighting, muted earth tones with cyan accent,6full body, turnaround sheet style, white background,7ultra detailed, 4k
Environment - night city:
1rain-soaked elevated highway at night,2brutalist concrete and holographic transit signs,3deep shadows, orange sodium light mixing with cold blue from screens,4puddles reflecting neon, empty except for one courier bike,5western animated feature style, wide establishing shot,6cinematic, desaturated palette, moody
Brand explainer - corporate:
1clean minimal office, one lawyer at a desk,2stacks of paper contracts on left, laptop open on right,3overhead lighting, cool whites and grays,4flat vector-influenced style, professional but not sterile,5negative space composition, character mid-distance,6motion graphic aesthetic7Generate 4 variations per scene. Upscale the best. Series episodes: 12-18 images each. Explainer videos: 8-12.
Step 3 - Runway animates the frames
Action cut:
1Camera pushes in slow toward the character.2She turns her head left. Something off-screen caught her attention.3Her hand reaches out and touches the wall.4Subtle glow pulses from her palm, then fades.5She exhales.66 seconds. Tense, focused energy.
Environmental atmosphere:
1Rain falls in slow irregular sheets across the highway.2Holographic signs flicker in the wind.3One sign glitches. Text scrambles for a half-second, returns.4Camera holds still. Background moves.5Cold, unsettling, quiet. 8 seconds.
Brand explainer transition:
1Stack of paper contracts slides off the desk to the left.2Laptop screen brightens.3Interface elements appear one by one.4Clean, smooth motion. 2 seconds per element.5Professional pace. No drama.
Step 4 - ElevenLabs handles the voice cast
Most people paste raw lines and hope for the best. Write the performance into the prompt instead - ElevenLabs responds to direction exactly the way a voice actor would.
Best voices by content type:
1Role Voice Notes2----- ----- -----3Mara (main) Rachel young, controlled, edge underneath the calm4Narrator Antoni measured, cinematic, weight behind each line5Antagonist Clyde smooth authority, never raises his voice6Brand explainer Daniel precise, credible, adult professional
Settings:
- Stability: 0.40
- Similarity: 0.85
- Style exaggeration: 0.35
- Speaker boost: ON
Directing the performance:
1Read this line flat. She's not scared yet - she's calculating.2The fear comes later. Right now she's measuring the situation.3Slight pause before "erased":45"This moment wasn't lost. It was erased."67Hold 0.6 seconds before "erased."8Barely drop volume on the last word.9ElevenLabs responds to direction written into the prompt. Most people paste lines. Write the performance.
Step 5 - Suno builds the score
Main title theme:
1Original animated series theme, western feature style,2brass and strings leading, percussive electronic undertone,3opens quietly with solo piano, full orchestra enters at 0:20,4builds to emotional swell at 0:55, then resolves into a fragile melody,5runtime 1:45, memorable but not aggressive,6Steven Price meets Thomas Newman energy,7cinematic, emotional, slightly uncertain
Chase and tension:
1Taut rhythmic underscore, animation thriller pacing,2low bass pulses every 2 beats, staccato string hits,3sparse piano accents on offbeats,4tempo 112 BPM, never fully resolves,53 minutes, loops cleanly,6The Bear meets Into the Spider-Verse OST
Brand explainer background:
1Corporate ambient, clean and confident,2light piano chords, neutral pad underneath,3no melody - just motion and space,42 minutes, fades under voiceover without competing,5modern, professional
All tracks are yours. Commercial license included on the $8/month plan.
Step 6 - Make runs the whole operation
The scenario fires every Monday and Thursday at 8am:
1Trigger: Schedule (2x per week)231. Pull new script folder from Google Drive42. Extract scene list, send prompts to Midjourney via API53. Download generated images to organized Drive folders64. Send dialogue lines to ElevenLabs, download audio75. Send scene + image pairs to Runway, download clips86. Combine clips and audio in CapCut template97. Upload finished episode to YouTube with auto-generated title and tags108. Clip 30-second preview, upload to X with article link119. Post episode to Patreon (members get 48-hour early access)1210. Send Telegram notification with upload confirmation
The explainer pipeline runs on demand. One Make webhook. Client drops a brief, finished video lands in a shared Drive folder in 6 hours.
Setup time: 5 hours once. Runs indefinitely after that.
Where the money comes from
YouTube AdSense:
- Animation RPM runs $5-12 per thousand views. At 900K monthly views that's $4,500-10,800 a month.
Patreon early access:
- First 48 hours per episode at $5.99 a month. 150 members is $900 passive every month.
Brand explainer sales:
- $350-800 per 90-second video, pipeline cost per video is $12. Ten videos a month is $3,500-8,000.
Asset licensing
- Midjourney character packs on Gumroad at $27 each. Sell indefinitely, zero marginal cost.
Sponsorships:
- Animation tools, indie game studios, design software. Starting at 40K subscribers: $400-1,000 per integration.
The growth curve
- Month 1: setup, $0.
- Month 2: $600-1,200.
- Month 3: $2,000-3,500.
- Month 6: $5,000-7,500.
- Month 9: $8,000-11,000.
- Month 12: $12,000-18,000+
What it costs to run
1Claude Pro $20/month2Midjourney Pro $30/month3Runway Standard $35/month4ElevenLabs Creator $22/month5Suno Pro $8/month6Make Core $9/month7---------------------8Total $124/month
$124 in. $12,000+ out.
The factory runs. You direct it. Pick the story, pick the style, approve the output.
That's the entire job
Follow me
@Asteri_eth for more posts on Claude, AI tools, Prediction markets
