Manual product video production does not scale. A catalog of 500 SKUs means 500 individual production jobs — or it means using Codex to automate the whole pipeline.
This page covers how to use Codex to read your product catalog, generate a video for each product, and organize the outputs — all in a single session, without a production team.
If you have not set up video generation in Codex yet, start with How to Generate Video with Codex.
Why Codex + video makes sense for e-commerce
Product videos drive conversion. Studies consistently show that shoppers who watch a product video are more likely to add to cart — and short AI-generated clips are now good enough to move the needle.
The business case for automation is simple: a catalog of 500 SKUs needs 500 videos. A production team cannot do that economically. A Codex session running AnyCap can.
The pipeline
The full pipeline has four steps — from reading your catalog data to publishing the output:
- Read product data — Codex reads your CSV, JSON, or API output for each SKU
- Generate video prompt — constructs a tailored AnyCap prompt from product name, category, and description
- Generate video — AnyCap's Seedance 2 renders a short product clip for each SKU
- Upload and organize — AnyCap Drive stores outputs, named and organized by SKU
import csv, subprocess
with open('products.csv', 'r') as f:
reader = csv.DictReader(f)
for row in reader:
prompt = f"short product showcase video for {row['name']}, {row['category']}, clean white background, smooth 360 rotation, professional e-commerce lighting"
subprocess.run([
"anycap", "video", "generate",
"--prompt", prompt,
"--model", "seedance-2",
"-o", f"videos/{row['sku']}-product-video.mp4"
])
Choosing the right model
For e-commerce product video automation, Seedance 2 is the right default — consistent output quality across large batch runs, reliable enough to automate without per-clip review.
| Use case | Best model | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Standard catalog (100+ SKUs) | Seedance 2 | Consistent quality, reliable batch behavior |
| Prompt testing on new catalog | Seedance 2 Fast | Fast feedback before committing to full render |
| Hero or featured products | Kling 3 | Cinematic treatment, longer clips |
| Product photo animation | Kling 3 i2v | Naturalistic motion from still images |
| Premium lifestyle content | Veo 3.1 | Highest single-pass quality |
Building the prompt template
A well-constructed prompt template is what keeps batch output consistent across hundreds of SKUs. The function below builds a clean, production-grade prompt from any product row:
def build_product_prompt(row):
return (
f"professional product video for {row['name']}, {row['category']}, "
"clean white background, smooth motion, e-commerce production quality, "
"no text overlays, 6-second duration"
)
Running the full catalog
For large catalogs, add skip logic and progress tracking so the pipeline can resume if interrupted. The loop below handles any catalog size with rate limiting built in:
import csv, subprocess, os, time
os.makedirs("videos", exist_ok=True)
with open('products.csv') as f:
products = list(csv.DictReader(f))
for i, row in enumerate(products):
sku = row['sku']
output = f"videos/{sku}-product-video.mp4"
if os.path.exists(output):
continue # skip existing
result = subprocess.run([
"anycap", "video", "generate",
"--prompt", build_product_prompt(row),
"--model", "seedance-2", "-o", output
], capture_output=True)
print(f"[{i+1}/{len(products)}] {sku} — {'done' if result.returncode == 0 else 'ERROR'}")
time.sleep(1)
Storing and sharing outputs
Once generation is complete, upload the full output folder to AnyCap Drive with a single command. From there, videos can be linked directly in your CMS by SKU.
anycap drive upload videos/ --folder "product-videos-2026-Q3"
The video below shows a complete catalog run in a live Codex session — prompt construction, batch generation, and Drive upload in sequence.
FAQ
Can Codex read from a database or API? Yes — replace the CSV reader with your data source.
What length works best for product videos? 6–8 seconds for standard clips. Switch to Kling 3 for 10–15 second lifestyle videos.
How many videos can Codex generate in one session? As many as your catalog has. The loop scales to any size with rate limiting and skip logic.
The bottom line
If you have a product catalog and no product videos, the fastest path is a Codex session with AnyCap — not a production team. Set up the prompt template once, run the pipeline across your SKUs, and store the outputs in Drive for CMS integration.
→ Add video generation to Codex — install AnyCap, free to start