🎬 What Sleepy Motion actually does
Sleepy Motion is the first tool to go from a text prompt directly to finished motion graphics not a slideshow, not a template with swapped text, but real kinetic typography with animated shapes, transitions, layered color systems, and human-quality voice narration. A complete production in under two minutes.
The engine reads everything you give it your prompt, brand colors, fonts, logo, vibe selection and makes creative decisions on your behalf. Your job is to give it good raw material. Every section of this tutorial is about exactly that.
✏️ Writing prompts that work
The engine is a writer first. When you describe your business or type a custom prompt, it writes an actual script so what you say shapes the entire narrative, tone, and angle of the video.
Be specific about the niche:
❌ Too vague
“We do marketing for businesses.”
✅ Sharp and usable
“Luxury car detailing studio in Miami. We obsess over paint correction and ceramic coating for high-end vehicles. Clientele is BMW, Porsche, Lamborghini owners.”
The more context you give location, clientele, what makes you different, the emotion you want to create the more the engine has to work with. Include brand personality words: bold, minimal, playful, premium, raw, clinical, vibrant.
Use the Prompt tab for pure creative direction:
Switch to Prompt mode when you want to go beyond a business description. Examples that perform well:
- “A cinematic promo for a rooftop restaurant. Golden hour vibes, luxury dining, the city below.”
- “Hype video for a gym launch. Aggressive energy, fast cuts, motivational language.”
- “Soft product reveal for a new skincare line. Clean, minimal, aspirational.”
🎨 Brand Colors the most important setting
Brand colors are not just cosmetic. They are injected throughout the animation engine as the primary design system for that video. The engine uses them to set:
- Background color layers and gradient blends
- Text colors and contrast ratios
- Animated shape fills and strokes
- Overlay tints and transitions between screens
- Accent highlights on key words
When you don't set colors, the engine falls back to a neutral dark palette. That works but it will never feel yours. A video with your actual brand colors looks like something you paid for. One without looks like a demo.
Color tips
2 colors is the sweet spot. Primary + accent. The engine does the rest.
High contrast pairs work best. Dark background + bright accent (e.g. navy + gold, charcoal + cyan, black + red).
Avoid near-white + near-white. Low contrast pairs collapse on screen. Test your colors on sleepymotion.com before generating.
3–4 colors unlock richer palettes. Use your full brand guide primary, secondary, and an accent. The engine cycles through them intelligently.
You can also let the Director auto-detect colors from your business description. If your prompt references a recognizable brand or a clear visual identity (“Apple-level minimalism”, “bold street brand”) the engine will pick appropriate colors on its own.
🔤 Custom Fonts
Typography is half the visual identity of a motion graphics piece. Sleepy Motion ships with a curated font library but you can upload your own, and the engine will use it across all text layers in the generated video.
Uploading a font:
- Open Settings (the gear icon, top right when logged in).
- Go to the Fonts section.
- Upload a .ttf or .otf file any font you own a license for.
- Set it as your Main Font or Accent Font.
- Every video you generate will use it from that point forward.
Where to get fonts:
- Google Fonts free, massive selection, download the TTF directly.
- DaFont huge variety including display and decorative typefaces.
- Your brand kit if your business has a brand guide, it specifies the typeface. Download and upload that exact file.
🖼️ Logos animated, not static
When you upload a logo, the engine doesn't just slap it in a corner. It's treated as a motion element. Your logo enters with an animated transition a fade, a scale-in, or a directional entrance and is positioned intentionally within the composition.
The logo appears in multiple places across the video:
- As an intro or opening card element
- Anchored in a branded lower-third during narration screens
- On the outro / call-to-action screen
Logo format guidelines:
- PNG with transparent background this is the ideal format. Avoids white boxes over colored backgrounds.
- Square or nearly-square logos work best for most layouts.
- High resolution (at least 400×400px) the engine scales to fit but starts from the source.
- Upload it once in Settings and it's saved to your account for all future videos.
🎭 Styles and Vibes
Styles control the visual language of the motion graphics the typography hierarchy, animation timing, shape vocabulary, and overall aesthetic. Each style has a distinct personality. Some are built for high-energy content, others for luxury brands, others for clean minimalist B2B use.
Experiment by generating the same prompt with two different styles. The script stays the same the visual interpretation changes dramatically.
Vibe is a separate control that primarily affects TTS delivery and scriptwriting tone:
- Energetic fast delivery, punchy sentences, high-conversion copy.
- Calm measured pace, trust-building language, good for services and professional brands.
- Playful casual, fun, slang-friendly. Works well for food, lifestyle, e-commerce.
- Luxury deliberate pace, aspirational phrasing, minimal sentences.
The vibe is passed to both the scriptwriter and the TTS engine, so voice delivery and written tone are always matched.
⏱️ Duration: 10–15s vs 25–30s
The two duration modes are structurally different, not just longer/shorter versions of the same output.
10–15 seconds
- • 3–5 screens
- • Hook → core message → CTA
- • Best for social ads, product drops, announcements
- • Works on every platform
- • Fast to iterate generate multiple angles quickly
25–30 seconds
- • 6–10 screens
- • Full narrative arc with story beats
- • Best for explainers, service breakdowns, brand stories
- • More room for benefits and social proof language
- • Available on Starter plan and above
If you're unsure which to use: start at 10–15s. If the result feels rushed or cuts off before the message lands, switch to 25–30s.
⚡ Pro tips for clean results
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Set brand colors before your first generation.
The single highest-impact thing you can do. Even two colors turn a generic output into something that looks brand-commissioned.
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Don't describe features describe the feeling.
"Our app tracks calories" → generic. "The app people use when they finally decide to get serious" → a hook that actually works.
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Use the Retry button with script edits.
After your first generation, edit the script in the editor and hit Retry. You keep the creative direction and fix the specific lines that didn't land. Much faster than re-generating from scratch.
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Match voice to vibe manually when needed.
The Auto voice setting is tuned by vibe but if you know you want a specific voice for a specific brand, lock it in. Consistency across a campaign matters.
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Short sentences in the description = short sentences in the script.
The writer mirrors punctuation and sentence rhythm from your input. Punchy input → punchy script. Long run-on descriptions → meandering copy.
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Upload your logo once, use it everywhere.
Save it to your account in Settings. It will be used in every video going forward without re-uploading.
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Split Screen (Brainrot mode) is not just for TikTok.
It keeps viewers watching longer on any short-form platform by adding a second visual layer underneath. Instagram Reels and YouTube Shorts benefit just as much.