--- title: Turn slides into a narrated video, one deck or hundreds description: Turn a PDF or PowerPoint deck into a narrated training video with one slide per image, a voiceover and optional captions. --- Turn a slide deck into a narrated video: a PowerPoint to video, a PDF to video, a deck with a voiceover. You get one image per slide, a narration for each slide, and an editable timeline where each slide stays on screen while its line is spoken. The same steps run for one deck or a folder of decks. Use invideo for this when you want the slides and the voice on a real timeline, so you can fix one slide or one line later without rebuilding the video. ## Quickest path Set up your agent first with [invideo for AI agents](/agents). Then give it this prompt. ```text Make a narrated video from deck.pdf in a new invideo project. One image per slide. Write a short script for each slide from its text, show me the script, then voice it with a calm narrator. Hold each slide while its line plays. Add captions. Show me frames before you export. ``` In a chat app, you drag the deck into the project. In a terminal, your agent names the file or the folder of decks and uploads them. ## What you need These are the inputs your agent asks for. - The deck as a PDF, or an office file such as PPTX. - The script, or permission for the agent to write one from the slide text. Speaker notes do not come through `document.pages`, so paste them if you want them used. - A voice. Your agent finds one with `search_library` and sends you the preview. - The shape. Slides are usually 16:9. - Captions on or off. ## Steps The agent works on a branch, so the main timeline stays clean until you approve. The agent uploads the file with `start_upload` and `add_media`. A PDF or office file goes to the project's files, not to a sequence. It sees the file's URL under `…/assets`, in a dated folder, and uses that URL as it is. The agent calls `media` with op `document.pages` on the file's URL that the upload returned. The dry run shows its price before anything starts. It sees an image sequence of each page on a new thread. The agent reads each slide image and writes one short line per slide. It shows you the script before it spends anything. It sees your yes, or your changes. 1. The agent runs `find_models` with "narration voice", picks one, and reads its inputs with `get_model`. A good pick is `elevenlabs_text_to_speech.elevenlabs_tts_v4`, with a voice from `search_library` in `elevenlabs_text_to_speech_voices`. Your agent can search for others with `find_models`. 2. It calls `generate` per slide with the line as `prompt`, the `voice_id` and `dry_run: true`, and tells you the price. 3. For a price of 1 credit or more it waits for your yes. Then it calls `generate` per slide with `max_credits` set to that price and an `idempotency_key`, like `deck-slide-01`. It gets a thread URL and, when the result lands, one sequence URL per slide. It reads each URL with `read` and never calls `generate` again to check. The agent makes a timeline with `new_timeline`, creates a branch with `timeline_history`, and places each voice clip on an audio track and each slide on a video track with `insert_media`. It reads the new clips with `get_timeline`, then sets each slide's length to its line with `trim_clip` in a second call. It sees a new `state_token` after each `edit_timeline` call. The agent prices `audio.transcript` with `dry_run` on each voice clip's sequence URL and tells you the price. For a price of 1 credit or more it waits for your yes. Then it starts the transcript with `max_credits` set to that price, and calls again after `retry_after_s` for the words. Then it sends `add_captions`. It sees a caption clip on a video track above the slides. The agent calls `capture` at a few slide changes and `check_timeline`, then `export` with format `video`. It sees an export card with status `completed`. The terminal version of the same job: ```bash invideo project new --title "Onboarding deck" invideo asset upload ./deck.pdf invideo media document.pages invideo library search \ --library elevenlabs_text_to_speech_voices --query "calm narrator" invideo gen models --query "narration voice" invideo gen model \ --model elevenlabs_text_to_speech.elevenlabs_tts_v4 invideo gen run \ --model elevenlabs_text_to_speech.elevenlabs_tts_v4 --dry-run \ -i prompt=@slide-01.txt -i voice_id= invideo gen run \ --model elevenlabs_text_to_speech.elevenlabs_tts_v4 \ --max-credits --idempotency-key deck-slide-01 \ -i prompt=@slide-01.txt -i voice_id= invideo status --wait invideo notebook show invideo edit new --name "Onboarding v1" invideo edit show --json invideo branch new --name deck-v1 --token invideo edit show --json invideo edit change --timeline T1 \ --token --operations @layout.json invideo edit show --json invideo edit change --timeline T1 \ --token --operations @lengths.json invideo edit capture --at 2,15,40 --out ./frames invideo edit check invideo edit export --format video --quality 1080 --json invideo status --wait invideo notebook show --out ./out ``` Where each value comes from: - `` comes from `invideo project new`, and `` from `invideo edit new`. - `` is the `url` that `invideo asset upload` returns for the deck. It sits in a dated folder, so never type the path. - `` comes from the `library search` line, a voice of `elevenlabs_text_to_speech.elevenlabs_tts_v4`. - `` is a notebook page of the project, listed by `invideo notebook show `. - `` is the dry run's `.estimated_credits`. - `` is the `url` the paid `gen run` returns. `notebook show` on it lists the voice line's sequence URL. - `` is the `branch_url` that `invideo branch new` returns. - `` comes from `invideo edit show` on the URL the next command runs on: `` for `branch new`, then ``, read again before each change. - `` is `.sequences[0]` of the export answer. `invideo status` waits but saves nothing. `invideo notebook show` saves the video as `./out/export.mp4`, and the agent renames it. The file behind `@layout.json` is the bare list of ops that `--operations` takes. It places one voice line and its slide at the start of the line. The `asset` values are sequence URLs: the voice take from `generate`, and the slide image from `document.pages`. ```json [ { "op": "insert_media", "asset": "", "track": "A1", "at_f": 0, "ripple": false }, { "op": "insert_media", "asset": "", "track": "V1", "at_f": 0, "ripple": false } ] ``` The file behind `@lengths.json` sets the slide's length to its line, in a second call. `to_f` is the voice clip's end frame. `c2` and its current end, `from_f`, come from `invideo edit show` after the first call. `from_f` must be where the edge is now, as the agent last read it. ```json [ { "op": "trim_clip", "clip": "c2", "edge": "tail", "from_f": 150, "to_f": 450, "mode": "leave_gap", "linked": false } ] ``` ### Many decks For a folder of decks, the agent runs the same steps once per deck, one timeline per deck. Run it in parts: a few decks per session, then check those videos before the next batch. The agent keeps a list of which decks are done in a brief made with `new_brief`, so a new session picks up where the last stopped. ## Cost and time Edits and exports are free. Generation and transcripts cost credits. Paid stock costs a small credit charge, or one of your workspace's iStock licenses. Your agent runs a dry run first and tells you the price before it spends anything. - Free: every timeline edit, `capture` and each export. - `document.pages`: the dry run shows its price before anything starts. - Costs credits: the voice from `elevenlabs_text_to_speech.elevenlabs_tts_v4`, and `audio.transcript` if you want captions. A single deck takes a few minutes of agent time plus the voice generation. A large batch takes hours. See [Credits](/account/credits) for prices. ## If something goes wrong Most problems are timing or file type. | Symptom | Fix | | --- | --- | | `get_model` or `generate` refuses the model as not found | Models retire. Run `find_models` with the job in words, use the best match, and tell the person which model you used. | | `document.pages` returns CLI exit 2 "Nothing at that URL" | The path was typed, not taken from the upload. Pass the `url` that `invideo asset upload` or `add_media` returned. | | `invideo status --wait` ends and the folder is empty | `status` does not download. Run `invideo notebook show --out `. | | `document.pages` returns no thread | The agent reads the project and checks the file type. | | `document.pages` makes nothing | The file must be a PDF or office file in the project's files. Upload it again with `start_upload`. | | A slide changes before its line ends | The slide clip is shorter than its voice clip. Trim the slide's tail to the voice clip's end with `trim_clip`. | | `trim_clip` is refused as stale | `from_f` must match the edge as last read. Call `get_timeline` and send the new value. | | CLI exit 3 | The edit changed since your read. Run `invideo edit show` and rebuild the ops. | | CLI exit 5 | Credits ran out. Stop the batch and tell the person. | | `timeout` on `generate` | Do not call it again. `read` the thread or call `status`. | | Avoid: resend `generate` to check on it | Instead: `read` the URL after `retry_after_s`. | | Avoid: edit main | Instead: create a branch with `timeline_history`. | ## Prompts to try Each prompt is a real variation of this job. ```text Turn every PDF in ./decks into a narrated video. Same voice for all. Do a few decks, show me the frames, then do the next few. ``` ```text Make a video from training.pptx. Use my speaker notes below as the script, one note per slide. No captions. 16:9. ``` ```text Narrate this deck in a warm female voice, and add burned-in captions at the bottom in white with a dark background. ``` ## When to use something else invideo does not read speaker notes from a PPTX. Paste them, or let your agent read the file on your computer first. For animated slide builds, export the deck from PowerPoint or Keynote as a video and bring that in. For a presenter on camera, record yourself or use an avatar tool such as HeyGen or Synthesia. ## Related - [Update one line and re-render, keep the rest](/how-to/training/update-one-line) - [Voice a script or narrate a course](/how-to/training/voice-a-script-or-narrate-a-course) - [Turn a syllabus into a course of lesson videos](/how-to/training/online-course) - [Make an SRT captions file for an LMS](/how-to/training/srt-for-an-lms) - [Check your video before you say it is done](/how-to/check-your-video) - [Know the cost before you spend](/how-to/cost-before-you-spend)