Are you in a situation where spending hours editing shorts and uploading them only to get less engagement than expected? Most creators face this frustration. But what if I told you that an AI system can create dozens of shorts for you on autopilot? This system creates viral shorts with realistic sound effects that engage audiences, it’s a proven way to monetize your channel. And I’m going to show you exactly how to replicate it.
What You’re About to Build
Listen, this isn’t some complicated coding project. This is an eight-step system that anyone can set up using visual automation tools. By the end of this guide, you’ll have a system that:
- Generates stunning AI images that look like mini movie scenes
- Transforms those images into cinematic 5-second videos
- Creates unique sound effects for each video
- Renders everything together into one polished short
- Auto-posts to Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube
And the best part? It all happens while you’re sleeping, working your day job, or actually living your life.
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Step 1: Setting Up Your Content Database
Let’s start with the foundation, your Google Sheet. This is where the magic begins.
What You’re Building: A simple spreadsheet that feeds your entire system. It’s basically your content queue that the AI pulls from automatically.
Here’s How:
Your sheet needs three columns:
- Category – This is your main theme (like “Fast Food Giants” or “Tech Brands”)
- Brands – Four specific brands within that category (McDonald’s, In-N-Out, Taco Bell, Chick-fil-A)
- Status – Starts as “To-Do” and changes to “Done” when processed
The beauty of this setup is that you can fill this sheet with 100 different ideas, and your system will automatically process them one by one. Set it to run once a day, three times a day, whatever works for you.
Pro Tip: Think about categories that are visually iconic. Sneaker brands, gaming companies, luxury cars ; anything that people instantly recognize by sight works incredibly well.
Step 2: Creating the AI Prompt Generator
Now we’re getting into the interesting part. You need an AI that understands what makes a video viral.
What’s Happening Here:
You’re building an AI agent that takes your category and brands, then creates three distinct prompts:
- An image prompt (for generating the base visual)
- A video prompt (for animating that image)
- An audio prompt (for creating the sound effect)
The Setup:
You’ll connect to OpenAI’s GPT-4o through a service called OpenRouter. Why? Because it’s cheaper than going direct to OpenAI, and you get access to multiple AI models from one place.
Step 3: Generating Your Images with Flux
Here’s where your prompts become reality. We’re using Flux Pro v1.1 Ultra, and trust me, it’s worth the extra few cents per image.
What You Need:
You’ll use a service called FAL AI ,think of it as your gateway to dozens of AI image models. You just need to:
- Sign up for FAL AI (free to start)
- Get your API key from the dashboard
- Set up the connection in n8n
The Technical Part (Don’t Worry, It’s Easy):
Your n8n workflow makes an HTTP request to FAL with:
- Your image prompt (from the AI agent)
- The aspect ratio (9:16 for vertical shorts)
- Your API key for authentication
Then here’s the clever part—images don’t generate instantly. So your system waits 12 seconds, then checks if the images are ready. If they’re not done yet, it waits 3 more seconds and checks again. This is called “polling,” and it ensures you never lose a request.
Step 4: Turning Images Into Videos with Kling
Static images are nice, but movement is what makes the shorts scroll stopping . This is where Kling AI comes in.
Why Kling?
After testing dozens of image-to-video models, Kling consistently produces the smoothest, and most the cinematic results.
The Process:
Your workflow sends three things to Kling:
- The video prompt (from your AI agent)
- The image URL (from Flux)
- Your aspect ratio (9:16 vertical)
Important Timing Note:
Video generation takes 5-6 minutes. So your workflow waits 5 minutes, then uses that same polling technique to check if they’re ready. Once they’re done, it downloads all four videos automatically.
If you liked this post, you’ll also love my other blog — “Stop Paying $100+ for Product Videos: I Built an AI System That Does It Nearly Free.”
Step 5: Creating Custom Sound Effects
Video and visuals are nothing without audio that pulls people in. This is where ELEVENLABS changes the game.
The Sound Strategy:
Your AI agent already created audio prompts.
Setting It Up:
Eleven Labs has an API specifically for sound effects. Your workflow sends:
- The audio prompt
- Duration (5 seconds to match your video length)
Within seconds, you get back a unique sound effect that actually matches your brand. When I tested McDonald’s, it gave me those restaurant ambiance sounds that just felt right.
Making Files Public:
Here’s a critical step that trips people up. The sound files need to be publicly accessible for the next stage. So your workflow:
- Uploads each audio file to Google Drive
- Makes each file publicly viewable
- Grabs the shareable link
Step 6: Rendering Everything Together
You’ve got four videos and four audio files. Now you need to combine them into one seamless 20-second short. Enter Creatomate.
Why Creatomate?
It’s specifically built for programmatic video rendering. Unlike traditional video editors, it’s designed to receive API requests and spit out finished videos automatically.
The Template:
You’ll import a pre-built template (I’m giving you the source code) that has:
- Four 5-second video slots
- Four 5-second audio slots
- Transitions between each brand
- Optimized rendering settings
The Connection:
Your workflow sends to Creatomate:
- Your template ID (from your Creatomate account)
- All four video files
- All four audio files
- Your API key
Then it waits about 60 seconds while Creatomate renders everything. When it’s done, you get back one polished 20-second short with all brands flowing seamlessly together.
Step 7: Auto-Posting to Social Media
Creating great content is only half the battle. Getting it seen is everything. This is where Botato saves you hours of manual posting.
The Three-Platform Strategy:
Your workflow automatically uploads your finished video to:
- Instagram Reels
- TikTok
- YouTube Shorts
Setting It Up:
For each platform, your workflow:
- Uploads the video to Botato
- Adds your caption (like “Fast Food Chains Reimagined”)
- Posts it with your account credentials
The Account Setup:
You’ll connect each social account to Botato once:
- Log in to Instagram, copy your account ID
- Log in to TikTok, copy your account ID
- Log in to YouTube, copy your account ID
Then paste each ID into your workflow. After that first setup, it’s completely hands-off.
Pro Posting Tips:
- Set your posting schedule to spread content throughout the day
- Check your “Failed Posts” section in Botato if something doesn’t publish
- TikTok sometimes rate-limits if you post too much too fast (learned that the hard way)
Step 8: Updating Your Tracking Sheet
The final piece of the puzzle—your workflow marks the row as “Done” and adds the final video URL to your Google Sheet.
Why This Matters:
This prevents your system from processing the same category twice. It also gives you a central dashboard to see:
- What’s been processed
- What’s still in the queue
- Direct links to every video created
It’s simple but essential for running this on autopilot.
The Bigger Picture
Here’s what most people miss about AI automation: It’s not about replacing creativity. It’s about amplifying it.
You still need to:
- Choose interesting categories people care about
- Understand what makes content viral
- Analyze your performance and iterate
- Engage with your audience in comments
What this system does is remove the tedious, time-consuming parts. The rendering, the editing, the posting, the scheduling—all the stuff that keeps you from making MORE content and building BIGGER audiences.
Final Thoughts
And that’s it—you now have the secret roadmap to go viral. But here’s the truth: waiting for the “right time” is the worst strategy. Every day you delay is another day your competitors are building their audience while you’re stuck in the editing grind. The tools are here. The system works. The only question is whether you’ll take action today. Start building your workflow now, automate your content creation, and become the viral creator you’ve always wanted to be. Your future audience is waiting—don’t make them wait any longer.
[…] If you enjoyed this, you’ll definitely want to see my next project — how I built an AI system with N8N that creates viral Shorts while I sleep. […]