Turn PDFs into Videos with NotebookLM

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You spend hours compiling reports, course notes, or research—but when it’s time to share insights, your audience tunes out walls of text. Visual learners and busy stakeholders want information, not information overload. And creating explainer videos? That usually means hiring designers or spending your weekend in editing software.

But what if you could turn any resource—PDFs, research, market reports—into a polished explainer video in minutes, complete with custom narration and visuals? NotebookLM’s new Video Overview feature does exactly that. Let’s see how it works in the real world.

How We Created On-Demand Explainer Videos from Any Source

We put ourselves in the shoes of a course creator and small business owner, juggling video lessons, PDFs, and YouTube content. Our goal: quickly generate a shareable, visual summary from dense materials—without the usual production headaches.

Why NotebookLM Video Overview Works

✅ Transforms any source (PDF, research, YouTube, notes) into a video explainer—no editing skills required

✅ Customizes narration & visuals so you control complexity, tone, and key focus areas

✅ Summarizes long documents into concise, visual stories, saving hours on manual review

✅ Enables easy sharing & downloading—perfect for teams, clients, or course audiences

✅ Boosts business efficiency by making insights accessible to both visual and auditory learners

How We Did It

Here’s how we used NotebookLM’s Video Overview to create a professional explainer video from dense course and business materials. You can follow these steps whether you’re summarizing a financial report, training guide, or your latest research.

1. Upload Your Sources

We started by uploading a mix of documents: a Google Gemini course outline, YouTube transcripts, and supplemental notes. NotebookLM supports up to 50 sources per notebook, so you can consolidate all relevant material in one place.

2. Access the Video Overview Tool

On the right side of the NotebookLM interface, we found the “Video Overview” option. A single click opens the tool—no separate software or plugins needed.

3. Customize Your Video

Clicking the pencil icon let us tweak key settings:

• Language: Defaulted to English, but customizable for global teams.

• Target Use Case: We could specify, for example, “Help me review for a quiz” or “Focus on market trends.”

• Focus on Specific Sources: With multiple uploads, we could direct the tool to use only our YouTube content or a single PDF—ideal for targeted overviews.

For our first run, we left fields blank to see the default output. For more tailored videos, we added prompts like “Explain this for a beginner in marketing” or “Highlight competitor analysis.”

💫 Level Up

Organize Research & Insights with Google NotebookLM

AI is transforming how professionals handle information—don’t get left behind! The newly updated Google NotebookLM Course is your shortcut to faster, smarter research and airtight organization. We’ll walk you through building a personalized system for managing documents, extracting insights, and collaborating—all powered by Google’s latest AI.

What you’ll be able to do:

• Upload, organize, and analyze PDFs, audio, websites, and more in one secure AI workspace

• Summarize documents and generate actionable notes or study guides with a click

• Ask tailored questions and instantly extract insights from your own data

• Combine NotebookLM with industry-leading AI tools (like Gemini or Descript) for next-level projects

• Ensure privacy and fact-check your insights for reliable, professional results

From chaos to clarity—this is how you take control of your information advantage.

4. Generate the Video

One click on “Create Video Overview” and NotebookLM got to work, scanning all chosen sources. Processing took just a few minutes, even with large files—far faster than any manual method.

5. Preview, Rename, & Share

Once ready, the video appeared in our workspace. We previewed it, renamed it for clarity, and used the share feature to send it directly via email or download for later use. Didn’t love the result? Regenerate with new settings in minutes.

6. Iterate for Different Audiences

We repeated the process for three scenarios:

• Course companion video: Summarized a 2-hour course into an 8-minute explainer, perfect for visual learners.

• Business report: Converted a long financial report into a digestible video focused on market trends.

• Beginner explainer: Simplified dense research on influencer marketing for a newcomer audience, emphasizing clarity and engagement.

This workflow can cut hours (or days) of production time—no video skills, no outsourcing, just instant business value.

Other Use Cases

Video Overview isn’t just for course creators. Its flexibility makes it a powerful tool across business functions. Here are a few ways entrepreneurs and teams can benefit:

💡 Marketing: Turn whitepapers or campaign results into shareable video briefs for clients

🛒 Sales: Summarize product specs or case studies for quick customer education

🎓 HR & Training: Convert onboarding manuals into engaging explainer videos for new hires

📈 Consulting: Distill complex client reports into easy-to-understand visuals

🎓 Academic & Research: Present findings or literature reviews as video summaries for wider audiences

💡Bonus Pro Tips

Refine Your Prompts: The more specific your prompt (“Highlight key trends in Q2 report” or “Explain like I’m new to finance”), the better the output fits your audience.

Mix & Match Sources: Combine PDFs, YouTube transcripts, and notes for richer, more comprehensive videos.

Iterate Until It’s Right: Don’t hesitate to regenerate your video with new settings—each version takes just minutes to produce.

⏭️ What’s Next

Next Tuesday, we’re back with another How-To that unlocks a new, time-saving AI workflow.

Expect something practical, creative, and worth testing out the same day. Keep an eye on your inbox — you won’t want to miss it.