Channelsmithby MIKODES
Episode
A real episode · no hosted demo yet

A documentary studio for YouTube. Run it as your business.

Channelsmith takes a channel from an idea to an uploaded video: sourced research, a fact-checked script, maps, document scenes and credited footage, narration, a render on your own server, titles, thumbnails and Shorts. Run it for your own channels, for an agency's clients, or sell plans and credits through your own Stripe. A person approves every upload.

Watch an episodeRead the docsBuy source code

No hosted demo yet. Everything below comes from a real test episode; studio screenshots follow after the redesign.

  • Documentary and explainer videos
  • for YouTube channels
  • source code you host
  • 14 docs pages
SafariFile Edit View HistoryMon 9:41
test episode · lighthouses-3m49.mp4
A frame of a Channelsmith test episode: storm waves breaking over red boats, a lower third and a word-timed caption

One real episode

Researched, written, rendered.
This is what came out.

A test episode made end to end by Channelsmith on 2026-11-11: 3 minutes 49 seconds, 1080p, 6 chapters. Nothing here was edited by hand.

Chapters 1 to 2 of 6, 0:00 to 1:09, re-encoded for the web. The narration voice is synthetic; Channelsmith sets YouTube's altered or synthetic content disclosure on upload.

Titles it proposed

  1. How Lighthouses Told Ships Exactly Where They Were
  2. Lighthouse Flash Patterns: How a Lamp Spells Its Name
  3. Before GPS, Every Lighthouse Had a Signature

Chapters in the description

  • A Light With a Name
  • Fire on the Hill
  • Reading Towers by Day
  • The Glass That Bent Light
  • How a Lamp Spells a Name
  • After GPS

Originality report · 8 of 8 checks pass

  • Original narration35 of 35 scenes carry your own narration (523 words), written for this video.
  • Script fills the videoAbout 142 words per minute over 3.7 minutes: the narration carries the whole video.
  • Designed scenes, not only stock footage54% stock footage, 46% designed scenes (maps, documents, charts…) made for this video.
  • No repeated shotsEvery shot and scene appears once.
  • Facts with sources11 of 11 paragraphs state researched facts, from 6 sources listed in the description.
  • Footage credited17 of 19 footage credits are in the description, every one whose licence asks for it; the other 2 are public domain or CC0 and need no credit (they are under the description, to paste into the pinned comment if you like).
  • AI disclosure setThe "altered or synthetic content" disclosure is on and the description says the voice is synthetic.
  • Chapters6 chapters; the first starts at 00:00, as YouTube's chapter rules require.

All 8 checks pass. This is a self-check against YouTube's published policies, not a prediction: YouTube reviews channels itself and no tool can guarantee monetisation.

Thumbnail option 1 of 3, proposed by the package step for the test episode
Thumbnail option 1
Thumbnail option 2 of 3, proposed by the package step for the test episode
Thumbnail option 2
Thumbnail option 3 of 3, proposed by the package step for the test episode
Thumbnail option 3
Footage credits and sources, as Channelsmith wrote them into the description

Footage

  • "Latarnie-morskie-w-Polsce-05" by Borys Kozielski · page
  • "Viking Sky (ship, 2017) and GNV Cristal (ship, 1989)" by Christian Ferrer · page
  • "Visible light spectrum of a candle flame" by Drkirstyross · page
  • "Juhannuskokko Imatra 2016 3" by MKFI · page
  • "Bodie Island Light house From A Distance" by Jamie Shultz · page
  • "Cape May Lighthouse September 2020 002" by King of Hearts · page
  • "Cape hatteras lighthouse img 0529" by Henryhartley · page
  • "A storm at Pors-Loubous" by Henri Camus · page
  • "Lighthouse lens - geograph.org.uk - 514903" by James Yardley · page
  • "NOAA Legends- RADM Evelyn Fields" by noaa · page
  • "Philip Galle - Lighthouse of Alexandria (Pharos of Alexandria) - 1572" by Philip Galle · page
  • "Fresnel lighthouse lens diagram" by Adolphe Ganot · page
  • "Oregon Coast storm from Yaquina Head Lighthouse (27948706519)" by BLM Oregon & Washington · page
  • "Cape Blanco Lighthouse Video B Roll (10846006126)" by BLM Oregon & Washington · page
  • "Point Reyes Lighthouse Restoration Project: Partially-painted Clockwork Mechanism Case - June 15, 2019" by NPS Photo · page
  • "Admiralty Chart No 675 Port Burburra, Published 1828" by Lieutenant John Septimus Roe · page
  • "Alexandria, Landscape, 1905" by Archivio fotografico Museo Egizio di Torino - online catalogue · page
  • "Qaitbay citadel in Alexandria 05" by Aimty17 · page
  • "Argand Lamp" by Creator:Messenger Company · page

Sources in the description

  • Fresnel Lens (U.S. National Park Service) · page
  • The Fresnel Lens - Cape Hatteras National Seashore (U.S. National Park Service) · page
  • Lighthouse of Alexandria (Wikipedia) · page
  • Lighthouse (Wikipedia) · page
  • Light characteristic (Wikipedia) · page
  • An Aid-to-Navigation - Cape Hatteras National Seashore (U.S. National Park Service) · page

The frames, thumbnails and video on this page contain this footage; each file is used under the licence named here.

What every episode gets

Sourced, checked, credited.
Before anyone presses Publish.

The Research step of the test episode in the studio: the brief, the summary and facts with their numbered sources

Research, script, fact check

Facts tied to sources the AI actually retrieved with web search. The script names the facts it uses; the fact check marks every claim before voice and render are paid for.

Map scene from the test episode: a stretch of the North Carolina coast with two pins

Scenes, maps and credited footage

Per-chapter storyboards: maps drawn on your server from Natural Earth data, timelines, comparisons, profile and document scenes, and licensed clips with their credits.

The Publish step of the test episode in the studio: privacy, schedule slots, captions, the approval box a person ticks and the Upload button

Package, Shorts, publish after review

Titles, a description with chapters and credits, thumbnails and vertical Shorts. The originality report runs before upload, and a person presses Publish.

Business plan

Three ways to run it.
One install.

The studio is the product; the business around it is yours. Nothing here is a forecast of what it earns.

    Who runs it

    • Your own channels: sourced documentaries and explainers for the YouTube channels you run
    • An agency: a workspace per client, client review links, your own invoices
    • A service: self-serve sign-up, plans and credit packs paid into your own Stripe account

    Where the money comes from

    • Credits per stepEvery step has a credit price you set; a failed step refunds itself.
    • Monthly plansCredits, length, resolution, 4K, translation, review links and API access, charged by your Stripe.
    • Credit packsOne-off Stripe Checkout for a workspace that runs out.

    Running costs A Linux server (2 CPU cores and 4 GB of memory per render, 40 GB of disk to start) and your own Anthropic, ElevenLabs and Google Cloud accounts; Stripe and Resend when you sell. Each provider bills you; none of it is in the purchase.

    What it needs.
    And what it will not do.

    Designed scenes, licensed footageNo generated video and no AI avatars. Footage comes only from Pexels, Pixabay, Wikimedia Commons under allowed licences and your own uploads.
    A person publishesEvery upload needs someone to press Publish. The originality report is a self-check; YouTube decides about channels and monetisation.
    Google's audit for public uploadsUploads from a Google API project that is not audited stay private. Unlisted, public and scheduled uploads need Google's audit, which takes weeks.
    A real serverNode.js 22 with Chrome and ffmpeg, or the Docker image, behind https. Shared hosting does not work. Measure render speed on your own server first.

    Documentation

    Install to first episode.
    Every step written down.

    14 pages, from install and keys to YouTube publishing, credits, backups and the API.

    Documentation

    Start

    Make videos

    Sell

    Operate

    Connect

    Help

    Buy source code

    The whole studio as source code.
    Your name on it.

    • Full source code, yours to rebrand and run
    • Documentation — 14 pages, also online
    • Node.js 22 and TypeScript server, the React studio, the operator console, the renderer, Dockerfile, REST API, webhooks and an MCP server

    Installation & customization

    Want it installed on your servers, rebranded or extended? The team that built it does that — write to us.

    Request installationTelegramE-mail

    Channelsmith · source code

    Not on sale yet

    Notify me when it is live

    Not on sale yet: the price and where it is sold are still open. Hosting and Anthropic, ElevenLabs, Google Cloud and Stripe usage are not included.

    Talk to us

    Ask the people who built it.

    Telegram is fastest and it reaches the person who built this, in English. Describe what you need and you get an honest answer about what it takes. The source code is not on sale yet.

    Telegram · fastest

    Talk on Telegram

    E-mail

    For installation and customization quotes.

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