Oct 8, 2026
Make an anime opening or intro with AI: plan the beats and title card, build a storyboard in MkAnime, generate the shots, then add your song and title in an editor.
An anime opening is a short title sequence that introduces the cast, the world, and the tone before the story starts. "Anime intro" usually means the same thing. Most TV openings run about 90 seconds and are cut to a song, but a fan project or a channel intro can work at 15 to 60 seconds.
AI can do a lot of the work: draft the shots, keep the characters consistent, and generate each clip. It will not write your song or lay out the finished title. This guide shows how to plan an opening, build it in MkAnime, and finish it in a video editor, with the limits stated up front.
An opening has a different job from an episode. It does not tell a story; it promises one. Four elements do most of that work:
If your sequence has those four things, it reads as an opening even when it is short.
Decide the length before you plan any shots, because the length sets the number of shots.
| Length | Use it for | Rough shot count |
|---|---|---|
| 15 seconds | Social teaser, channel intro | 3 to 5 |
| 30 seconds | Short series, cold open | 6 to 10 |
| 60 to 90 seconds | Full TV-style opening | 15 to 30 |
Then choose the music. MkAnime does not generate a full opening song. Use a track you made or one you have the rights to use. Count its sections: intro, verse, build, chorus, and outro. Those sections become the blocks of your shot plan.
List the beats in the order of the song before you open any tool. Here is a 30-second example for an original series about two couriers in a rainy city:
| Time | Music | Beat | Shot |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0 to 4 s | Quiet intro | The world | Wide shot of the city at dawn |
| 4 to 8 s | Intro | Lead entrance | Medium shot: the girl turns to the camera |
| 8 to 12 s | Verse | Second lead | Medium shot: the boy on a rooftop, wind in his jacket |
| 12 to 18 s | Build | Rival or threat | Close-up of a mysterious figure, then a fast cut to rain |
| 18 to 24 s | Chorus | Action | The two leads running side by side |
| 24 to 30 s | Outro | Title card | Wide shot with empty sky for the title |
A few rules keep the sheet useful:
The AI anime opening maker starts a project with the same workflow used for episodes. In the project settings you choose:
In the story description, describe the opening instead of a plot: name the characters, describe the world and the mood, and paste your beat sheet. MkAnime drafts the characters, scenes, and storyboard from that description.
Lock the characters before you generate shots. Give each one a fixed description (hair, outfit, one signature item) and approve their reference images. Consistent faces matter more in an opening than anywhere else, because each character appears for only a few seconds. The consistent character guide explains how.
The storyboard turns your description into shots. Each shot has a description, the characters and scene in it, a first frame, an optional last frame, and a video slot.
One setting needs attention for openings. The planner sets the default number of shots from the video model's clip length: Seedance 2.5 plans 30-second clips, while Seedance 2, Seedance 2 Fast, and Kling3.0 plan 15-second clips. A 30-second opening can therefore start with only one or two shots, while your beat sheet needs six or more. Insert and duplicate shots until the list matches your beats, and set each shot's duration in the video settings (Seedance 2.5 offers 5, 10, 15, or 30 seconds; the other models 5, 10, or 15). You can trim the clips to the exact beat later in your editor.
Then check the order in the grid view:
Generate in layers:
Test three shots first: one character close-up, one action shot, and the title shot. If they look like the same show, start a batch run for the rest from the AI Generated menu. The storyboard image-to-video guide covers motion prompts and continuity between shots in more detail.
Generate the title shot without the title text. Text that a video or image model draws inside the frame often comes out misspelled or distorted. Instead:
The same applies to credits. Add them in the editor, where you can fix the spelling.
MkAnime exports the images, videos, and audio of a project as separate ZIP files from the Batch Download menu. It does not compile a finished opening.
In your editor:
Build openings for your own characters and stories. Do not use the tools to recreate an existing anime opening, its characters, or its song.
Usually, yes. Both mean the title sequence before the story starts. "Opening" is the common term for TV anime; "intro" is often used for short channel or video intros.
TV openings run about 90 seconds. For a fan series or a social video, 15 to 60 seconds is enough. Choose the length first, because it decides how many shots you need.
Not all of it. MkAnime can draft the shots, keep characters consistent, and generate the clips. You still choose the song, cut the clips to the music, and add the title in an editor.
You can generate the background and the character art for it. Add the title text in your editor, because text drawn by the model can be misspelled.
Yes. Choose the 9:16 ratio when you create the project, before the storyboard is drawn. The AI anime shorts guide covers vertical framing.
Generating images and video follows the current sign-in and credit rules. Check the pricing page before you start.
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