Automate Your Video Strategy: Free n8n + AI Workflow Template (10-Min Plan)

The Problem

You know those transformation videos, where a rusty old thing turns into something brand new? They're fun to watch, but writing the prompts for every single scene takes forever. It's also easy to miss a step, or to get a scene that doesn't match the one before it.

This workflow fixes that. You give it a title, and it gives you a full 10-minute video plan, clip by clip.

The Big Idea

• 10 minutes is 600 seconds. That's 150 clips of 4 seconds each.
• The camera is always a phone on a tripod. It never moves. No pan, no zoom, no shake, no cuts. Only the subject changes, not the camera.
• Every clip gets two prompts: an image prompt for the first frame, and a video prompt for the 4 seconds of movement.

How It Works Inside

1. You upload an Excel file with your titles.
2. The AI builds a "Production Bible" for each title. It describes the subject, the before and after look, the fixed location, the camera setup, the lighting, and the tools. It also writes a short continuity block. This block is pasted into every clip, so the look never drifts.
3. The video is split into 10 phases, like inspection, cleaning, repair, preparation, main work, finishing, and the final reveal. The start and end of each phase are planned in advance, so there are no jumps between phases.
4. Each phase gets 15 clips. Every clip shows one action and one small visible change.
5. Everything is joined into one Excel file, with timestamps and progress.
6. A coverage check tells you if all 150 clips are there for each title, and which phase to re-run if something failed.

What You Get for Every Clip

Title, clip number, timestamp, phase, progress, start state, end state, image prompt, video prompt, sound, and negative prompt.

The end state of one clip becomes the start state of the next. That's how no scene gets missed.

What You Need

• n8n, either n8n Cloud or your own server. Use a recent version that has the Form Trigger and Extract From File nodes.
• An Anthropic API key. You create it in your Anthropic account, and the account needs some credit.
• An Excel file with your titles.

How to Download the Workflow from Drive

1. Open this link: n8n file  DRIVE LINK and xlsx file DRIVE LINK
2. Click the Download icon at the top. Or click the three dots and choose Download.
3. If Drive says "No preview available," don't worry. That's normal for this kind of file. Just click Download.
4. If your browser shows text instead of downloading, save it and keep the file ending as .json.
5. You'll get two files: the workflow (.json) and titles_template.xlsx.

Do the import on a computer. It's much easier than on a phone.

Import It and Set It Up

1. Open n8n and click Create workflow.
2. Click the three-dot menu at the top right, then Import from File. Pick the .json file.
3. Open the Config node. Paste your Anthropic API key into api_key. This is the only place you add the API.
4. You can also change model, total_phases (10), clips_per_phase (15), and clip_seconds (4). Most people can leave these as they are.

Prepare Your Excel File

• Your titles must be on the first sheet.
• Row 1 needs the header Title. Then put one title in each row below it.
• You can add an optional Notes column for extra details about a title, like the place, colors, or style.
• Empty rows are skipped.

Run It and Get Your Files

1. Activate the workflow.
2. Open the Form: Upload Titles node and copy its Production URL. Open it in your browser.
3. Upload your Excel file. Add extra notes if you want, then submit.
4. The workflow runs in the background. Each title makes 11 API calls (1 for the bible and 10 for the phases), so it takes a while.
5. Go to Executions, open the finished run, and download your files from Export Clips XLSX and Export Coverage XLSX.

My tip: test with just one title first. Once you're happy, add more.

Turn the Prompts into a Video

1. Take the image prompt of clip 1 and make the first frame in your image tool.
2. Put that frame and the video prompt into an image-to-video tool. You get a 4-second clip.
3. Grab the last frame of that clip and use it as the first frame of the next clip. This keeps everything consistent.
4. Repeat for all 150 clips, then join them in a video editor.

Common Problems

• "No titles found": check that your header is exactly Title and that your data is on the first sheet.
• API error or empty reply: check that your key is correct and your account still has credit. The coverage report also shows the reason.
• A title shows INCOMPLETE: just run that one title again.
• Cost: every title uses 11 API calls, so try one or two titles first to see what it costs you.

Keep Your API Key Safe

Your key sits inside the Config node. Sharing the workflow file is safe only while your key isn't in it. Once you paste your key, don't export and share that version. Always share the original file, the one without a key.

Final Words

You need an Excel file of titles, one API key, and one click. The workflow takes care of the rest: every scene, the continuity, and all 150 clips in the right order.