How to Build a $10k Website in Minutes With AI Video + Claude Code

Nate Herk just dropped a video that made me rethink what's actually possible with AI web design right now. He builds these luxury, video-driven websites — the kind that feel like a high-end agency spent months on — and does it in minutes using Seedance 2.0 for AI-generated video and Claude Code for the actual site build.

I use Claude Code every single day for my own projects, so seeing someone push it this far into the design space genuinely impressed me.

Sites like this used to cost hundreds of thousands of dollars and take months. Now you can do it in an afternoon.

The Workflow: Image → Video → Website

Herk's process is surprisingly simple once you see it laid out:

1. Generate a reference image using an AI image model (he uses Nano Banana 2 on Kie.ai)
2. Turn that image into a video using Seedance 2.0, also on Kie.ai
3. Feed the video into Claude Code and tell it to build a website around it
4. Iterate on the design by giving Claude Code reference screenshots from design sites
5. Deploy via GitHub + Vercel

In the video, Herk demonstrates this by building an architecture firm website. He starts with a blueprint sketch image, has Seedance animate it into a 10-second looping video where the sketch transforms into a real building being constructed with text that reads "Turn your ideas into reality," and then the video zooms back out to the blueprint.

The result is a hero section that loops seamlessly — no cuts, no jarring transitions. It looks like something a production studio would charge five figures for.

The Seedance Prompting Trick

One thing Herk does that's really smart is he uses a Claude Code skill specifically for writing Seedance prompts. A skill is basically a natural language instruction file that teaches Claude Code how to do something specific.

His skill is optimized for 10-second seamless loop videos — the kind where the first and last frames match so it can play endlessly on a website without the user noticing a restart.

He loads the same image as both the first frame and last frame in Seedance, which forces the AI to create a video that starts and ends at the same point. That's the secret to the seamless loop effect.

Pro tip from the video: Make sure your video length matches what the skill is optimized for. Herk initially generated a 15-second version and a 10-second version and found the 10-second one was better paced. At 720p on Kie.ai, a 10-second video costs about 410 credits vs 625 for 15 seconds.

Claude Code Does the Heavy Lifting

Once he has the video, Herk drags it into his project folder and tells Claude Code to build the website. But what I liked is how he approaches the prompting:

• He uses plan mode first — this lets you talk through what you want before Claude Code starts building anything. It asks clarifying questions about the business name, color palette, target feel, and sections.
• He installs the frontend design plugin (which is literally the same one I use) to give Claude Code better design taste
• He keeps his initial prompt loose: "fill in the copy, fill in the design, just make the video the hero"

The first pass gives him a solid professional site with a navbar, stats section, and practice areas. Not perfect, but a strong starting point.

The Reference Image Hack

This is the part that really levels things up. Herk goes to design inspiration sites like Dribbble and Awwwards, finds an architecture website he likes, screenshots it, and drags it into Claude Code with one simple prompt: "Make everything under the video feel a little bit more like this style."

Claude Code redesigns the lower sections to match that reference aesthetic. Herk says the result picked up geometric shapes, background typography elements (the firm's initials), and a more editorial layout — all from a single screenshot reference.

I've done similar things with my own sites and it works shockingly well. Instead of trying to describe a design in words, just show Claude Code what you want it to look like.

Getting It Live: GitHub + Vercel

Herk covers the deployment flow which is worth noting for anyone new to this:

1. Tell Claude Code to create a private GitHub repository and push your code
2. Go to Vercel, import that GitHub repo, and hit deploy
3. Your site is now live on a real URL

The magic is that Vercel syncs with GitHub automatically. So when you make changes locally in Claude Code and push to GitHub, your live site updates in 30-60 seconds. It's essentially a one-command deploy pipeline.

Herk also makes a good point about being careful what you push to GitHub — no API keys or passwords in the repo, especially if it's public.

What I'd Add to This Workflow

Herk's workflow is focused on the creative side — video-driven hero sections that feel premium. What I'd layer on top is the conversion architecture. A beautiful site that doesn't convert is just art.

So if I were building this for a real client:

• I'd add a clear CTA above the fold (even with a video hero, you need a button)
• I'd build out the sections below with social proof, case studies, and a lead capture form
• I'd use Claude Code's ability to add scroll-triggered animations to keep the engagement high as people move down the page

Herk actually shows a version of this where the video progresses as you scroll (instead of auto-playing). He did this with an Apple Watch style site where scrolling reveals different angles. He says Claude Code just extracts the video frames and maps them to scroll position — which is a technique that normally requires a specialized developer.

The Bottom Line

The barrier to building premium, video-driven websites just dropped to basically zero. If you can describe what you want and drag in a reference image, Claude Code and Seedance 2.0 can handle the rest. The real skill now isn't coding or design — it's knowing what a good site should feel like and being able to communicate that clearly.