How do you make a video from Claude or ChatGPT?

Popcorn publishes this guide and makes one of the services in it. Assistant features change often, so every fact about Claude, ChatGPT and other services below is dated.

Can Claude or ChatGPT make a video on their own?

Not a video with filmed or generated footage, as of October 2026.

• Claude does not generate photos or video footage. Since October 8, 2026, Claude Motion, a beta for Team and Enterprise plans, turns text, charts, shapes and images into short animations that export as MP4. Anthropic says it does not use a video generation model and makes no AI-generated people.
• Claude Code can write a video as code, for example with the Remotion library, which you then render. That suits animated data and interface videos made by developers.
• ChatGPT lost its video model when OpenAI discontinued Sora. The Sora app ended on April 26, 2026 and the Sora API on September 24, 2026, and ChatGPT has no built-in video generation to replace it.

Both assistants are still very good at the thinking around a video: ideas, scripts, shot lists and feedback. To get the video itself, you connect them to a service that makes it.

How does an assistant connect to a video service?

Through MCP, the Model Context Protocol: an open standard that lets an assistant use tools on another service. You add the service's MCP address to your assistant as a connector and sign in once. After that, you ask in plain language ("make a 30-second video from this post") and the assistant calls the service's tools for you.

What comes back depends entirely on the service you connect.

What can you connect, and what do you get back?

Runway's MCP server, launched on May 27, 2026, gives Claude, ChatGPT and other agents access to models including Runway Gen-4.5, Seedance 2.0 and Kling 3.0, billed to your Runway plan. It is a good fit when you want clips to edit yourself.

Popcorn works one level up. Your assistant does not generate clips; it briefs Pop, the AI Showrunner that runs your Popcorn project, the way you would brief a producer. Pop plans, writes, produces and edits the whole video, with your brand, your recurring characters and your history already in context.

How do you connect Popcorn?

Popcorn's MCP server is at https://api.popcorn.co/mcp. Most assistants connect with one click: you paste the address, sign in to Popcorn and approve. Clients without that option use a Popcorn security token instead.

• Claude (web and desktop apps): add a custom connector with the Popcorn address. Custom connectors are available on every Claude plan, with Free plans limited to one; on Team and Enterprise, an owner adds the connector for the workspace first.
• ChatGPT: as of October 2026, custom MCP apps that can take actions, which starting a video requires, are available to Business, Enterprise and Edu workspaces in ChatGPT on the web, set up through developer mode. Personal plans cannot add them yet.
• Claude Code, Cursor, VS Code, Windsurf, Zed and Tasklet connect too, each with its own short setup.

The MCP setup guide has the exact steps for each client. You need a Popcorn account with credits, because the videos are made in your Popcorn project and billed to it.

What happens after you ask for a video?

The assistant works through your Popcorn project, exactly as you would in its chat:

1. It finds your project. If you have several, it picks one by name or asks you which.
2. It sends your request to the Showrunner, word for word, with any links and details you gave.
3. It relays questions. If Pop needs to know something, such as the platform or the call to action, the assistant asks you and passes your answer back.
4. It waits while Popcorn works. Most short videos take 3 to 10 minutes once the plan and script are approved. The assistant checks every 20 to 30 seconds.
5. It hands you two links: the finished video, and the project in Popcorn's studio, where you or your team can keep editing.

To change the video, ask the assistant ("make the opening punchier", "swap the music for something calmer"). The request goes back to the Showrunner, and only what changed is regenerated.

What should you put in the request?

The Showrunner reads exactly what you write, so the more of a brief it gets, the fewer questions it asks:

• The format and platform: vertical for TikTok, Reels and Shorts, horizontal for YouTube.
• The length: most Popcorn videos run 30 to 90 seconds.
• The source: links to the post, product page, recording or deck the video should come from.
• Your characters and sets by name, if the project already has them.
• The tone and the ending: who it is for, and what viewers should do next.
• Whether to check in first, for example "show me the script before you produce it".

A complete request looks like this:

Use Popcorn to make a 45-second vertical explainer for YouTube Shorts from this blog post: [link]. Use our usual host, keep the tone practical, and end with "Book a demo at [your site]". Show me the script before you produce it.

When is something else the better choice?

• For a single clip to cut into your own edit, connect a video model such as Runway's.
• For animating a chart or slide, Claude Motion is built in for Team and Enterprise plans.
• For full control in code, Claude Code with Remotion.
• For a finished, on-brand video or an ongoing series, connect Popcorn. It is a paid service with no free plan.

Where do these facts come from?

• Claude and Claude Motion: Anthropic's Claude Help Center and the "Dashboards and Motion" announcement on claude.com, checked 2026-10-23. Custom connector plans: Anthropic's custom connectors article, checked 2026-10-26.
• Sora's discontinuation: OpenAI's help center, "What to know about the Sora app discontinuation", checked 2026-10-23.
• ChatGPT plans for MCP apps: OpenAI's help article Developer mode and MCP apps in ChatGPT, checked 2026-10-26. OpenAI changes these plans often; check it before you rely on it.
• Runway's MCP server: Runway's announcement, May 27, 2026, checked 2026-10-26.
• How Popcorn's MCP server works: the MCP setup guide and the Popcorn FAQ.