A stick figure video maker for stories, not stick fights

Stick figure animation or stick figure explainer?

People searching for a stick figure video maker usually want one of two things. Some want the figure to move: walk, jump, fight, dance. That is frame-by-frame animation, and it takes a dedicated animator and a lot of posing. Others want a video that explains something, with a stick figure acting out each idea while a narrator talks. That is what StickTale makes.

StickTale draws still pictures and moves the camera over them with slow pans and zooms, then dissolves to the next scene about every 5 seconds. The figure does not walk across the screen or move its lips. This is the same look many faceless explainer channels use, because the story carries the video and the drawings only have to make each line easy to picture.

The stick figure style it draws

Every video uses one hand-drawn look: a big round white head, dot eyes, thin black stick limbs, and simple props and backgrounds. There is no style menu to choose from, and that is on purpose. A plain figure reads instantly on a phone screen, works for any topic, and keeps the viewer listening to the story instead of studying the art.

What changes from video to video is the character and the scene. A stick figure in a lab coat, a toga or a hard hat tells the viewer what the story is about before the narrator says a word. Labels in hand-lettered caps repeat the key word of a line, so the point lands even with the sound off.

Control the character

You decide who the stick figure is. Leave the character on Auto and StickTale picks one that fits the topic. Choose a preset (Caveman, Everyday person or Scientist). Or describe your own in a sentence.

Before any scene is drawn, StickTale draws a character reference sheet and uses it for every picture, so the figure keeps the same outfit and props from the first scene to the last. If the character is wrong, change the description and redraw all the scenes in one step. On the Creator plan you can save custom characters and bring the same one back in every video, which helps a channel build a recognizable host.

• Name one or two props or clothes. "A stick figure chef with a tall white hat" draws more reliably than a long list.
• Fit the character to the story. A detective for mysteries, an astronaut for space, a farmer for food history.
• Keep it a stick figure. The style stays simple, so describe what the figure wears and carries, not facial detail or body shape.

Text to stick figure video: what to type

The input is a question, not a script. StickTale researches it with Google Search, writes the narration and plans one picture per line. Questions with a surprising answer and a clear "why" or "how" work best, because each step of the explanation becomes something the stick figure can act out.

• Works well: "Why do onions make you cry?", "How did sailors know where they were before GPS?", "Why is the ocean salty but rivers aren't?"
• Works less well: "Make a stick figure dancing" (that is animation, not a story) or "Tell me about the ocean" (too broad to give a clear payoff).
• Set the rest before you start: Short (9:16) or YouTube (16:9), a length, a tone such as Calm documentary or Direct & funny, and one of 7 narrator voices.

1. Type the question and pick format, length, character, tone and voice.
2. Read the script and the source list. Rewrite any line; it is re-voiced on its own.
3. Look through the pictures. If one misses, change what the scene shows and redraw just that one.
4. Pick a caption style and export a 1080p MP4 with an upload kit of titles, a description and a thumbnail.

How long the videos are and what they cost

Videos run from about 45 seconds up to 10 minutes. A 45-60 second Short takes about 2 minutes to make; longer videos take more time because there are more scenes to draw. Narration is English only for now.

Plans are counted in minutes of finished video. Starter is $19 a month for 15 minutes, which covers one 10-minute video plus a handful of Shorts. Creator is $49 a month for 45 minutes, with saved recurring characters and priority. There is no free plan or trial, and StickTale is in private beta, so new users join a waitlist first. The first month is refundable within 14 days if you used less than 20% of your minutes. Full details are on the pricing page.

What it will not do

Being clear about the limits saves you a month of minutes:

• No moving limbs or lip sync. Pictures are stills with gentle camera motion.
• No stock footage, photos or talking avatars. Every scene is a stick figure drawing.
• No style switching. The hand-drawn stick figure look is the only look.
• No team accounts or API. It is a web app for one creator at a time.