--- title: How to Use Cozy Clay 3.0 for Free 3D Previs in AI Video url: "https://goremy.ai/blog/articles/cozy-clay-3-free-3d-previs-pinocchio-ai-video" author: Luis Chavez-Mattos editor: Luis Chavez-Mattos editor_title: Director, Product published: "2026-10-24T13:20:06.649Z" updated: "2026-10-24T13:20:06.649Z" topic: AI Image, Video & Audio description: Cozy Clay 3.0 is a free, open-source 3D previs tool for AI video. Learn how to install it with Pinocchio, connect an agent, and control the camera. --- # How to Use Cozy Clay 3.0 for Free 3D Previs in AI Video > Cozy Clay 3.0 is a free, open-source 3D previs tool for AI video. Learn how to install it with Pinocchio, connect an agent, and control the camera. Edited by Luis Chavez-Mattos, Director, Product ยท Published 2026-10-24 ## What is Cozy Clay 3.0 and how do you use it for free 3D previs? Cozy Clay 3.0 is a free, open-source 3D previsualization tool built specifically for making 3D scenes that feed into AI video models. You install it through Pinocchio (also free), and it runs locally in your web browser. You block out a scene with clay-style characters and objects, set camera moves, and use the result as a guide for AI video, without waiting on a long Blender render. ## TL;DR - Cozy Clay is **free, open source, and made for AI video previs**, not general-purpose 3D work. - The easiest install route is **through Pinocchio**, a free launcher for open-source image, audio, and video tools. The download takes a while. - Cozy Clay runs **in the browser on your machine**, so you don't need a strong GPU. - A built-in **agent panel connects to OpenAI Codex or Anthropic models**, so you can describe a set and let the agent build it. - Camera control is **right-click plus mouse, or WASD**. It's easy to miss at first. - Raw 3D previs can produce **stiff AI video**, so treat the 3D scene as a guide rather than a final look. ## Why use a previs tool instead of Blender? The "Blender to Seedance" workflow has become popular. You build a rough 3D scene, render it with your camera move, and feed that render to a video model such as Seedance or MiniMax to get a polished shot with the exact blocking you wanted. People are experimenting with the same idea in Cinema 4D. The pain point is Blender itself. Renders take time, and if you aren't fluent in Blender, the result may not match what you had in mind. One creator tried re-rendering the opening of *A Touch of Evil* this way. The camera move came close but wasn't exact, there was some drift in the sync, and the render took a long time. Cozy Clay removes most of that friction. You aren't chasing a beauty render. You only need clear blocking, a believable camera path, and enough information for the video model to read the shot. ## How do you install Cozy Clay through Pinocchio? Cozy Clay has a few install paths. The route recommended in the source material is Pinocchio. Pinocchio is a free app that makes it easy to download and run open-source models and tools, covering video, audio, and image. Steps: 1. Download and install Pinocchio. 2. Find Cozy Clay in Pinocchio's list of available tools and install it. 3. Wait. The download takes a while, so plan for that before you sit down to work. 4. Launch it. Cozy Clay opens in a browser tab, served locally from your machine. If you don't want to click through Pinocchio yourself, you can ask a coding agent to handle the install for you. The creator said it's pretty fast. That assumes you already have an agent set up. Because the tool is browser-based, you don't need to worry about GPU requirements. It should run on nearly any machine. I don't have official specs to quote, so check the project page if you need exact requirements. ## What can you do inside the scene? The default scene gives you clay-style characters. Everything in it is a real 3D object, so you can grab and move things by hand. There's a rigged character you can pose and position if you want manual control. It isn't fully rigged in the sense of a production character, but it's enough for blocking. You can also animate inside the tool. Find an angle you like, set your keyframes, and build the move from there. ## How does the agent panel work? If you'd rather not build everything by hand, Cozy Clay includes an agent automation panel. You connect one of these: | Option | What you need | |---|---| | OpenAI Codex | A regular ChatGPT subscription | | Claude models | An Anthropic API key | With Codex connected, you're effectively chatting with Codex through the Cozy Clay interface. You describe the set, and the agent builds it in the scene. In the demonstration, the creator asked for a small private investigator set and got one back quickly. Then you refine it by hand or by asking for changes. A practical way to work is to let the agent do the first pass (furniture, props, character placement), then take over manually for fine adjustments to positions and camera. ## How do you control the camera? This tripped up the creator for a minute, so it's worth stating plainly. To move the camera in the viewport: - **Right-click and drag** with the mouse to look around. - **W, A, S, D** to move through the space. If the camera doesn't respond to a left-click drag, that's why. Once you find the angle you want, you can animate the move. The camera move is the main thing a video model will try to follow, so spend your time here. ## How do you avoid stiff results in the AI video? A flat clay render can push a video model toward flat, stiff motion, because the model is trying to honor what it sees. The creator flagged a tip for getting around this, but the portion of the source I have cuts off before it's explained, so I won't guess at the specifics. General approaches worth testing, which are my suggestions and not claims about Cozy Clay: - Use the 3D scene for **layout, framing, and camera path**, and let your prompt carry style, lighting, and performance. - Grab **still frames from key moments** in your scene and use them as reference images, rather than relying only on a rendered clip. - Keep the clay look from becoming the target. Describe materials, wardrobe, and mood in the prompt. - Compare a few runs. Small prompt changes can shift how closely the model sticks to the 3D guide. ## Is Cozy Clay worth trying? If you already use the Blender-to-video-model workflow, yes. The creator describes it as a free, open-source 3D previsualization tool. It's fast to set up a scene, it runs on modest hardware, and the agent panel helps if 3D software isn't your strength. It won't replace Blender if you need precise, production-grade assets or complex animation. It's a previs tool. Its job is to get you the shot you want, quickly, so an AI video model can take it from there. ## Frequently Asked Questions ### Is Cozy Clay 3.0 really free? Yes. It is described as a free, open-source 3D previs tool, and Pinocchio, the launcher recommended for installing it, is also free. If you connect an agent, that part depends on your own ChatGPT subscription or Anthropic API key. ### Do I need a powerful GPU to run it? No. It runs in a web browser on your local machine and should work on basically anything, according to the creator's experience. The heavy lifting of generating video happens later in whatever AI video model you use. ### Which AI models can I connect to the agent panel? OpenAI Codex works through a regular ChatGPT subscription. Claude models work with an Anthropic key. The agent builds and edits the scene from your text instructions. ### Why won't my camera move? Cozy Clay uses right-click with the mouse to move the camera, or the W, A, S, D keys. A normal left-click drag won't do it, which catches many new users. ### Can I skip Pinocchio? There are other ways to use Cozy Clay 3.0, but Pinocchio was described as the best one. You can also ask an agent to run the Pinocchio install for you.