FeaturesLecture formats

FORMATS

Torn paper, tape and real photos, cut out and pinned on the beat.

Every scene is a paper collage slapped down while the narrator speaks: torn edges, tape, halftone shading and a bold cut-out headline, with the camera pushing and panning across the board in time with the words. When a sentence names a real thing, CourseSmith finds a licensed photo of it, cuts it out and pins it on the board — with the photo’s credit printed under it.

7 stylesReal photo cutoutsCamera on the beatSaved cast
Start free

What it does

The detail that makes it work.

Seven craft styles

Editorial collage, cardboard craft, newspaper, construction paper, retro archival, felt & fabric and Xerox zine — pick one and it carries across the lecture.

Real photos, cut out

Licensed photos (public domain, CC0, CC BY or stock) are found, cut out and pinned on their sentence; a credit is printed when the licence asks for one.

A camera on the beat

Each sentence moves the camera to the part of the collage it is about.

Pop-up pages and motion

Boards with several cutouts can tilt toward the camera like a pop-up book, and a short rendered animation can be pinned for the sentence that needs it.

Your cast, cut from paper

Characters you designed in Character Studio appear in the collage, the same in every scene.

Watch a whole one

Why the “unsinkable” Titanic sank — a full Paper Cutout lecture

Learn CourseSmith

Watch the short tutorial.

All 42 tutorials →

More in lecture formats

Pairs well with these.

Cinematic documentariesA narrative director plans the film; stock clips, AI images with Ken Burns motion and short AI video clips bring it to life — for any subject.Whiteboard Sketch lecturesHand-drawn boards that sketch themselves part by part, each part drawn on the sentence that names it — in fifteen drawing styles.K–5 character videosSing-alongs, letter songs, shapes and compare lessons for Kindergarten to Grade 5, with animated cast members and built-in think time.MotionCraft bespoke animationA director plans a design system for the whole lecture; each scene is then written as its own animation and rendered in isolation.MathMotion lecturesA Manim-only format for STEM subjects: fluid typeset math, plotted functions and geometry that moves as the narration explains it.Promos, how-tos & recipesSix formats for marketing promos, how-to guides, recipes, coaching and listicles — kinetic type, glass cards, cinematic imagery and speech-synced motion.Mixed-media explainersWhiteboard sketches, paper cutouts, motion graphics and animated math in a single film, split evenly across the lesson.Presentation lecturesPitch decks, business overviews and product launches built from a template catalogue that self-heals its own props.Accessible learning profilesFour accessibility profiles that slow narration, extend pauses and simplify motion — applied per scene, not as an afterthought.Subject lanesDedicated scene libraries and pedagogy per subject: molecule engines for chemistry, orbits for astronomy, schematics for electronics, 3D for biology.Sports BreakdownRules, technique, analysis or the latest news of any sport or game — drawn on a field at its real proportions, with sources on screen.Landscape or vertical, any lecturePick Landscape or Vertical before you generate, and every picture, animation and caption of any lecture type is made for that frame.

Make your first one with CourseSmith.

It’s one part of a tool that carries your source all the way to a polished, finished video.

Start freeAll features
Contact us