I turned a PDF into a video in under 5 minutes — here's the AI tool that made it happen
Here's what happened when I turned this week's Tom's Guide AI newsletter into a video.
Argil is an AI-powered tool that turns written content into short, engaging videos in just a few clicks.
Although this tool is $39/month for the classic tier and $149/month for the pro tier, users can try it for free. Althought those tokens go really fast, so you'll probably get more like a few hours than a full week's worth to try the tool.
Fairly intuitive, you simply upload your content or paste a link, and Argil uses generative AI to identify key points, summarize them visually and match them with relevant stock footage, animations or avatars.
You can customize the tone, pacing and style, then export the result in vertical or horizontal formats for platforms like TikTok, Instagram, YouTube Shorts or LinkedIn.
It's a game-changer for creators and casual users who want to repurpose content without spending hours editing video. You upload a document or paste in your article, choose your style and format, and Argil handles:
Get instant access to breaking news, the hottest reviews, great deals and helpful tips.
We all know attention spans are shorter than ever. Some people don't want to scroll through a 1,200-word piece, even if it's packed with useful info.
Video offers another way to deliver the same value, especially on platforms like YouTube Shorts, Instagram Reels and TikTok.
Argil cuts the work down to just minutes.
For my test, I uploaded a PDF of this week's AI newsletter. It is first-person, structured and had a clear narrative — ideal for visual storytelling.
Once uploaded, I selected a professional, energetic tone with dynamic transitions and subtitles. The AI automatically trimmed the content and suggested visuals to match.
Within minutes, I had a 90-second video ready to go — no editing software required.
I'll start with the issues I had first. There weren't a lot, but they were enough to give users a heads up.
First, there is an option to use yourself as an avatar. However, the process was not as easy as what I've experienced with Synthesia.
Unlike Synthesia, a video made with my iPhone and uploaded was not the correct format. I tried several times until I finally uploaded the video to ChatGPT and asked it to format my video for Argil. That felt like a step that could have been avoided since most people are probably making videos and uploading them from their phone.
Second, if you decide to choose a different avatar once your video has been previewed, you have to manually go frame by frame to change the avatar. This was another time suck that I would have rather avoided.
The tool also blurs out the face of the avatar during the preview stage, which is annoying.
But where Argil impressed me, is how easy the tool was to use. It also kept the core message of my text intact while trimming away unnecessary fluff.
I especially appreciated the ability to export in multiple formats; portrait for Instagram Reels and landscape for YouTube, which made it easy to repurpose the video across platforms.
That said, not everything was perfect. Some scene transitions felt a bit generic, the tone and voice felt robotic and the body movements were extremely repetitive. Occasionally the AI missed subtle nuances or tone, requiring a few manual edits on my part if I had the opportunity (and tonkens!) to go back and edit.
Still, for something that took less than 10 minutes to produce, the final result was more than impressive.
If you're a content creator looking to transform blog posts into video, a marketer aiming to boost SEO and reach on social media or a writer building a visual portfolio, Argil is a no-brainer.
It's a fast, simple way to give your existing work new life.
While it may not be flawless, it's absolutely good enough to start using today, especially if you want your work to show up in more places with less effort.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
a few seconds ago
- Yahoo
Why Millennials Making $300K Don't Feel Like They're Wealthy, According To a Personal Finance Expert
Eryn Schultz is a certified financial planner and the founder of Her Personal Finance, a website designed to help high-earning women take charge of their financial futures. Shultz recently made a post Instagram addressing high-earning millennials, in particular: 'According to 2023 Census data, a $300K-per-year household puts you in the top 5% of millennials,' wrote Shultz. However, she went on to explain that the top 5% of millennials reported not actually feeling wealthy. So why is this? Schultz elaborated further. Check Out: Read Next: Cost of Housing According to Schultz, homes in major metropolitan areas typically cost upward of $1 million. The cost of housing for millennials has rapidly outpaced inflation and wage growth. Cost of Child Care According to Schultz, childcare costs roughly $2,000 per month…per child. If millennials have two children, that's a whopping $48,000 per year out the door before other kid essentials like food, clothes, diapers, toys and strollers are even taken into account. (Costs are often this expensive because, prior to grade school, there's no government-sponsored child care.) Discover More: Interest Rates Interest rates on home and auto loans are currently 6.5% and up, resulting in exceptionally high monthly mortgage and car payments. Credit card interest is even higher, meaning that carrying credit card balances can trap people in a dangerous cycle of debt. Comparison Trap It doesn't help that the top 5% of millennials typically hang out with the top 1% to 3%, which skews their perception of wealth and makes them feel positively middle class — even though they aren't. What Tips Does Shultz Recommend for Mapping Out Your Money? For the top 5% of millennials, it may be difficult to differentiate between real factors pinching their wallets and the perception that they aren't doing as well as their wealthier counterparts. This is why Schultz recommends taking pen to paper and mapping out your money to see how you're doing. Track three basic numbers: what percentage of your income goes to housing, what percentage is/will be going to child care and what, if anything, is being saved for the future. 'Sometimes seeing these money maps helps people realize how great they're doing,' wrote Schultz. 'Other times, we identify places where they want to shift.' More From GOBankingRates 3 Luxury SUVs That Will Have Massive Price Drops in Summer 2025 4 Affordable Car Brands You Won't Regret Buying in 2025 7 Things You'll Be Happy You Downsized in Retirement This article originally appeared on Why Millennials Making $300K Don't Feel Like They're Wealthy, According To a Personal Finance Expert Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Business Journals
2 minutes ago
- Business Journals
Journal Profile: Convention Center leader Trisha Tatro gleaned life lessons from the softball diamond
It's shaping up to be a momentous year for this Austinite. Each week we shine the spotlight on an influential Central Texan via our Journal Profile series, which aims to get well beyond someone's LinkedIn page or online bio. This week, we sat down with Trisha Tatro, director of the city department that oversees the Austin Convention Center, which is being demolished and rebuilt in a $1.6 billion redevelopment.
CNBC
3 minutes ago
- CNBC
'What should I do with my life?': A Harvard-trained career expert tells us exactly how to answer
You are you, right? Seems straightforward. But are you the you you want to be? The one living the life and pursuing the career you should be? Suzy Welch knows from experience that many people aren't. Not yet. She's spent over 15 years developing and testing a methodology to help people discover their "authentic purpose," based on: Welch calls it "Becoming You." Through her course at NYU Stern School of Business, workshops, and private sessions, she's seen thousands of people learn about themselves in hopes of answering the question: "What should I do with my life?" CNBC Make It put "Becoming You: The Proven Method for Crafting Your Authentic Life and Career" on our first book club shortlist because, as Welch writes, "most of us struggle with this our whole lives." If you haven't had a chance to read, or could use a quick recap before Wednesday's discussion in our private LinkedIn group, here are a few key takeaways: Welch divides her book into three parts accordingly: Your values are "your authentic wants, needs, and desires. Your deeply held beliefs about how your life — and life in general — should be," Welch writes. Welch spent years, as part of her PhD research and beyond, "identifying, testing, validating, and codifying" what she considers the 15 "core human values." They include, for example: The Values Bridge assessment Welch created "reflects the distance between your current life and the one you should be living, and would if you could," she writes. "The hard part is what to do next: figuring out how to build that bridge to the future." You might think you already know what you're good at, but "identifying your aptitudes almost always does take work," Welch writes. First, she explains, it's important to understand that aptitudes aren't skills or competencies, which we acquire and practice through education or training. "Aptitudes those things. They're the inborn faculties that make us good or better at certain skills, competencies, and areas of expertise." Welch identifies eight cognitive aptitudes, all of which fall on a spectrum. They include, for example: She also highlights four personality traits she believes are particularly important in the process of "Becoming You," including "wonderment," which is all about curiosity and currency, as in being current about what's going on in your job function, industry, and more. Knowing your values and aptitudes isn't enough. Welch often sees her students struggle. "What kind of work calls them emotionally and engages them intellectually, they wonder, and is it tenable as a life and lifestyle they desire?" So the third part of the process is about figuring out their interests and the corresponding opportunities — "the jobs, companies, and industries that make up the world of work today" and "the economic trends on the horizon." If you think of values, aptitudes, and economically viable interests as intersecting circles, that spot at the center where all three overlap is your purpose, or what Welch calls your "Area of Transcendence." Finding it is the ultimate goal of the "Becoming You" methodology. "One of the hardest things to know in life is ourselves," Welch writes. But the methodology is "deeply personal," and "for Becoming You to work, it cannot be performative," she writes. "The process requires radical honesty with yourself." This is one of the reasons she uses so many assessments, exercises, and challenges in the "Becoming You" process, many of which she includes as appendices in the book. They're meant to help you go beyond the superficial answers. "It can be fearsome, humbling, and occasionally embarrassing to admit who we are. But we truly do need to know so that we can set out on the journey toward who it is we must become." Welch, who writes that she hates platitudes, might nevertheless agree with these two: People change. Things change. Becoming You "is not intended as a prescription, a one and done," she writes. It "is meant to be a forever thing, a way of thinking and sorting things out that you return to at every crossroads, time and again." Want to talk about it? Request to join our LinkedIn group, and come talk with us and Welch on Wednesday, July 30, at 10 a.m. ET, at our next CNBC Make It Book Club discussion. In the meantime, you can also read Welch's recent articles, including on signs you're living a "B+ life" and the No. 1 question you should ask in a job interview that "cuts through the BS." Any questions for the author? Email them to us in advance at askmakeit@ using the subject line "Question for Suzy Welch." Hoping to get ahead on the next book? Our August pick is "Rich AF: The Money Mindset That Will Change Your Life" by Vivian Tu. Have suggestions for future picks? Send them to us at askmakeit@ using the subject line "Make It book club suggestion."
