The picture you're stuck on, taught to you
Every subject has its diagrams: the heart, the kidney, a cell, the water cycle, an electric motor, a circuit, a four-stroke engine, a plant taking in water. In a book they sit still, with twenty labels and arrows, and you're left to work out the order yourself. Diagram to video does that work with you. It starts with the question the picture answers, then goes through it the way a good teacher would at the board: this part first, because it feeds that one, which does this.
It is your own picture, never redrawn. The video films the diagram you uploaded, so what you learn matches what's in your book, your lecture slides or your exam paper, label for label.
What you get
- The camera moves to each part as it's named. The rest of the picture dims, a box settles on the part and its label fades in, so you always know where to look.
- Things move the way they work. Dots travel along the picture's own arrows, vessels, pipes and wires, so you see the blood go round, the current flow, the water rise. Parts that move in real life move on the picture.
- A narrator explains it in plain words, with word-by-word captions, in English, Arabic, Urdu, Hindi, Spanish, French, Portuguese, German, Italian, Russian or Polish. Labels are written in the language you choose.
- Its length fits the picture. A simple figure takes under a minute; a complicated one gets the time it needs to be understood.
- Ideas for more. After the first video you get a few other things the same picture could teach ("Make it about…"), so one page can become several short lessons.
- A vertical video you can watch on your phone, send to a classmate, show in class or post on YouTube Shorts, TikTok and Reels.
Who it's for
| You are | What you upload | What it does for you |
|---|---|---|
| A student revising | The figure from your textbook or lecture slides | Explains the figure you're stuck on before the exam, as many times as you need |
| A student with notes | A photo of a page of your notes | Turns your own notes into a short video you can watch on the bus |
| A teacher or tutor | The figure from this week's chapter | A one-minute lesson to start the class or send as homework |
| A parent | The diagram from your child's homework | An explanation you can watch together, in your home language |
| A medical or nursing student | An anatomy or physiology diagram | The parts in the order they work, every term said aloud |
| An engineer, technician or trainer | A schematic, a machine drawing, a process diagram | A walkthrough for a new colleague, a trainee or a customer |
| A science creator | Any good diagram | A Short that teaches something real, in minutes |
More on each: studying from your notes, textbook pages for teachers, homework help for parents, anatomy diagrams, schematics and machines, training and onboarding and image to explainer video.
Why seeing it explained works better than staring at it
A labelled diagram shows what the parts are. It doesn't show the order or the why: what happens first, what it causes next, what would break if a part failed. That story is what exams ask for and what people remember. A narrated walkthrough gives the story and the picture at the same moment, one part at a time, so you're never reading a label while trying to find it. If you want to work through a diagram on your own, our guide how to understand any diagram shows the five questions to ask.
What pictures work
- Textbook and lecture figures: biology, anatomy, chemistry apparatus, physics, geography, engineering.
- Schematics and drawings: circuits, motors, engines, pumps, machines, cross-sections.
- Process diagrams and cycles: the water cycle, the carbon cycle, a production line, a flowchart.
- Photos of real things: a tree, a bicycle's gears, a machine. It explains what the photo shows working.
- A page of notes or a whole textbook page: it picks the main idea, or the one you ask for.
A clear, straight photo works best. If a picture has nothing to explain (a chat screenshot, a selfie), you're told so in plain words instead of getting a made-up video.
Use pictures you're allowed to use
For your own studying, any page you own or borrowed is fine. If you plan to post the video publicly, use a diagram you drew, one from an openly licensed source, or one you have permission to share, as you would with any picture.
How it works
- Choose Diagram to video and add your pictureOn the home page pick Diagram to video and drop in a photo or image of the diagram, page or notes (JPG, PNG or WebP). A free Google sign-in is needed to upload.
- Say what you want to learn, or don'tType a question like "How does blood flow through the heart?", or leave it empty and the video explains the picture's main idea.
- Watch the previewIn about two minutes the picture is read, its parts and paths are found, and a narrated video plays. Change any line of the narration and the video follows.
- Download or share itDownload the vertical video to watch again, send it, show it in class or post it.
Questions
Does it redraw my diagram?
No. The video is made on the exact picture you uploaded, so every label and shape matches your book or notes. Only the camera, highlights, labels and moving dots are added.
Can it help me study for an exam?
Yes. Upload the figure you need to know and ask the question your exam is likely to ask. You get a short explanation in the right order, with every part named, that you can watch as often as you like.
Does it work with handwritten notes?
It works with a clear photo of a page of notes or a textbook: it finds the main idea, or the one you ask about. The neater and straighter the photo, the better it reads.
Which languages can it explain in?
Eleven: English, Arabic, Urdu, Hindi, Spanish, French, Portuguese, German, Italian, Russian and Polish. The narration, captions and labels are all in the language you choose, even if the diagram itself is in English.
How long is the video?
As long as the picture needs: under a minute for a simple figure, up to about a minute and a half for a detailed one.
Is it free?
You can try it free with a Google sign-in. Students and teachers who sign in with a school email (.edu, .ac.uk, .edu.pk and the like) get ContentRoof Pro free; see the page for educators.
What if the video gets something wrong?
You can edit any line of the narration in the studio before you download, and the video follows your words. If the picture is unclear, a sharper photo usually fixes it.
Updated 2026-11-14