How to Turn Articles and YouTube Videos into AI-Generated Explainer Videos Using Google NotebookLM

Artificial intelligence has been evolving at an incredible pace, but one of the most exciting developments in recent weeks has quietly emerged from Google’s NotebookLM platform.

NotebookLM is Google's AI research assistant, originally designed to help users digest complex materials, organize knowledge, and generate structured outputs. Now, with its newly introduced Studio panel and Video Overview feature, it takes things a step further — allowing you to generate full, narrated explainer videos directly from your notes, documents, or even YouTube transcripts.

In this post, I’ll walk you through exactly how the feature works, what kinds of content it can handle, and why I think it could be a game-changer for educators, content creators, researchers, and productivity enthusiasts.

🧠 What Is NotebookLM’s Video Overview Feature?

In the latest update, Google added a redesigned Studio panel to NotebookLM. This panel includes four output types:

Audio Overview

Video Overview

Mind Map

Reports

The standout here is the Video Overview, which uses your selected sources to generate a short, narrated video complete with visual slides, pull quotes, and synthesized voiceover. Think of it like an AI-powered TED-Ed or Kurzgesagt summary, except you don’t need to touch a video editor or write a script.

The Studio handles it all — and even allows for customization of the narrator’s tone and the structure of the video.

✍️ How to Use It: Step-by-Step

I recently tested the entire workflow using a mixture of copied text, web search results, and a YouTube transcript. Here’s what I did:

1. Create a new notebook:

From the NotebookLM homepage, click “Try NotebookLM” and start a new notebook.

2. Add sources:

You can paste copied text, search the web using the “Discover Sources” tool, or paste a YouTube URL to automatically pull in a transcript. For this demo, I pasted content about quantum internet breakthroughs and added a YouTube link about AI tools.

3. Open the Studio panel:

Once your sources are loaded, look for the Studio panel on the right side. Click “Video Overview.”

4. Customize the output:

Before generating, you can click the three-dot menu and choose “Customize.” Here, you can provide a short prompt telling the AI what tone you want (e.g., educational, professional, casual) and what key points to emphasize.

5. Generate the video:

Click “Generate,” and within seconds, NotebookLM creates a narrated slide-style video using your sources. It includes voiceover narration, key points, and even animated transitions between ideas.

6. Download or reuse:

Once your video is complete, you can preview it, make changes, or download the file directly.

🎯 Who Is This For?

This feature is incredibly useful for a wide range of people:

Educators can convert reading material into engaging videos for students.

Researchers can quickly summarize multiple academic papers or technical documentation.

Content creators can use it to produce explainers for social media, YouTube, or TikTok.

Marketers can convert longform content into shareable videos without hiring a video team.

Students can study smarter by turning dense notes into review-friendly videos.

It’s not just a novelty — it’s a time-saving productivity tool with serious real-world potential.

🔗 Watch the Full Walkthrough

If you'd like to see this process in action, I recorded a full tutorial covering everything from setup to final video export.

📺 Watch here: https://youtu.be/SCE7dXK0axU

In the video, I walk through:

Creating a notebook

Adding text and YouTube sources

Customizing the AI narrator

Downloading the final result

Whether you're curious about AI content generation or actively looking for ways to streamline your video production, this is a tool worth exploring.

🌐 Final Thoughts

Google’s NotebookLM Studio panel represents a subtle but significant shift in how we interact with AI-generated content. Instead of simply generating paragraphs of text, we can now create dynamic, visual explanations — quickly, efficiently, and without technical know-how.

It’s another step toward democratizing content creation, and I highly recommend giving it a try.

If you’ve tested this feature or used it for a creative project, I’d love to hear about it. Drop a comment or share your use case!