Longform YouTube Creator Automation – AI Script-to-Video System (n8n)
Turn simple ideas in a Google Sheet into fully rendered long-form YouTube videos on autopilot.
This n8n workflow connects Google Sheets, OpenAI GPT-4o, json2video, and YouTube so you can run an entire faceless YouTube production line without touching a video editor.
Once installed, you just add a topic, angle, and status (“for production”) in your master Google Sheet. The automation grabs that row, sends your prompts to GPT-4o to generate a scene-by-scene structure (voice lines plus detailed visual prompts), builds a json2video project, waits for rendering to finish, downloads the final file, uploads it directly to your YouTube channel, and then updates the same row with the final video URL and publishing status. If anything fails, it writes a clear error log back into the sheet so you always know what happened.
This is perfect if you want to scale faceless or educational channels to dozens of uploads per week, but never want to manually render videos, upload them, or track what’s live. Everything is orchestrated inside n8n with scheduled triggers, wait nodes, and a clean Google Sheets control panel so you stay in control while the system does the heavy lifting.
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What this workflow does
1. Reads production queue from Google Sheets
• Connects to your content sheet and pulls the first row where production_status = "for production" so you can manage your queue in a simple spreadsheet. 
2. Generates long-form script and visual plan with GPT-4o
• Sends your topic, outline, or prompts to the OpenAI Chat Model node (gpt-4o) to produce a structured JSON with:
• Voiceover text per segment
• Matching image prompts for each scene
3. Builds and sends json2video project
• Packages the script and prompts into a json2video project via HTTP Request.
• Initiates rendering of a full long-form video based on your AI-generated structure.
4. Waits for render and fetches final video
• Uses Wait + HTTP Request nodes to poll the json2video API until the movie is ready.
• Downloads the final video file via its final_output URL.
5. Uploads directly to YouTube
• Pushes the rendered file to your connected YouTube channel using the YouTube node.
• Uses values from the Google Sheet (idea, caption) for title and description so your metadata stays in sync. 
6. Logs result back to Google Sheets
• Updates the original row with:
• Final video URL
• Publishing status set to done
• Optional error log if something broke mid-flow.
7. Handles scheduling and error tracking
• Can be launched via manual test or via a schedule trigger (daily/weekly queue processing).
• Dedicated “Error Log” path writes any failures into the sheet for quick debugging.
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Tools and integrations included
• n8n – workflow engine and orchestration
• Google Sheets – content queue, metadata, and status tracking
• OpenAI GPT-4o – scriptwriting and scene-by-scene visual prompt generation 
• json2video API – AI video rendering from structured JSON project files
• YouTube (OAuth2) – direct upload of final long-form video with title and description 
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What you get
• Fully configured n8n JSON workflow: “Long form YouTube video”
• Google Sheets mapping for: idea, caption, status, final_output, error_log, publishing_status, and more
• Integrated GPT-4o prompt schema for generating narration and visual prompts
• json2video request template ready for your own styles and templates
• Built-in status handling: Wait nodes, Switch logic, and Error Log path
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Requirements
• Active n8n instance (self-hosted or cloud)
• Google Sheets OAuth2 connection
• OpenAI API key with access to gpt-4o
• json2video API key and project template
• YouTube OAuth2 credentials connected to your channel
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Perfect for
• Faceless YouTube channel owners who want to publish long videos without editing
• Agencies offering “done-for-you” content production for clients
• Creators turning written frameworks or Google Sheet ideas into full cinematic videos
• Automation builders who want a proven long-form video pipeline they can resell or customize