Create short videos for YouTube by pulling a quote and creative prompts from Google Sheets, building the background image and video with AI, adding ambient sound, and publishing the final clip to your channel. Great for social teams and creators who want steady content without manual editing.

A manual start reads one row from Google Sheets with the quote, author, and scene prompts. The flow calls an image model to render a vertical image, waits, then writes the image link back to the sheet. It then sends that image to a video model to produce a cinematic vertical clip, waits again, downloads the file, and records the video link in the sheet. Audio is generated with a voice and sound service, stored to Google Drive, and the drive link is saved. A code node formats overlay text, then FFmpeg merges video, audio, and on screen text into a final MP4. The clip uploads to YouTube with a resumable upload, and the sheet is updated with status and the YouTube link.

You will need API keys for the AI services, Google and YouTube OAuth, and FFmpeg installed on the n8n host. Expect one run to replace hours of editing with a repeatable system managed from a spreadsheet. Ideal for daily quotes, quick tips, or listicle shorts driven by your sheet.

• Manual test run to process a selected Google Sheets row
• Reads quote, author, and scene prompts directly from Google Sheets
• Generates a vertical background image via PiAPI text to image and logs the URL
• Converts the image into a cinematic vertical video with PiAPI video generation
• Creates ambient audio with ElevenLabs and uploads the file to Google Drive
• Prepares overlay text using a code node that formats quote and author
• Merges video, audio, and text with FFmpeg to produce the final MP4
• Uses resumable upload to YouTube and updates the sheet with status and link
• Wait and poll steps to handle long AI render times reliably

• Reduce manual work from 3 hours to 15 minutes per video
• Automate 80% of repetitive steps across image, video, and audio creation
• Connect Google Sheets, PiAPI, ElevenLabs, Google Drive, and YouTube in one flow
• Handle 10 times more shorts per week without adding headcount
• Improve data consistency by 90% by writing asset URLs back to the sheet
• Track publish status and links in one place for faster reporting

1. Import the template into n8n: Create a new workflow in n8n > Click the three dots menu > Select 'Import from File' > Choose the downloaded JSON file.
2. You'll need accounts with Google Sheets, Google Drive, YouTube, PiAPI and ElevenLabs. See the Tools Required section above for links to create accounts with these services.
3. In the n8n credentials manager or by double clicking each Google Sheets node, create a new Google Sheets OAuth2 credential. Grant access to the sheet, then select the correct Document ID and sheet name for reading and updating rows.
4. Open the image generation and image to video HTTP Request nodes. Create a new API Key credential for PiAPI and paste your key from the PiAPI account API page. Ensure the X-API-Key header is set in all related request nodes.
5. Open the Generate Audio HTTP Request node. Create a new API Key credential for ElevenLabs and paste your key from the ElevenLabs API page. Confirm the required headers are present.
6. For the Upload Sound to Google Drive node, create a Google Drive OAuth2 credential. Pick the target folder where audio files will be stored.
7. For the Initiate YouTube Resumable Upload and Upload Video to YouTube nodes, create a YouTube OAuth2 credential with permission to upload videos. Approve the scopes during the consent screen.
8. Install FFmpeg on the machine running n8n. Verify it is available by running an FFmpeg version check or testing a simple Execute Command node.
9. Review file paths in Save Video Background Locally and Save Music Background Locally nodes. Set a writable folder and confirm the n8n process has permission to create files.
10. Open your Google Sheet and confirm column names used by the nodes such as Index, Background EN, Prompt EN, Background Image, Video Background, Sound Background, Upload Status, and YouTube Link.
11. Click Execute on the manual trigger. Watch the run and verify that image and video URLs appear in the sheet, the audio file lands in Google Drive, and a final MP4 is produced.
12. Confirm the video uploads to YouTube and that the Upload Status and YouTube Link fields update. If generation is slow, increase the Wait node times. If you see 401 errors, recheck API keys and OAuth tokens. Ensure there is enough disk space for temporary files.