Fable 5.2 in Copilot Cowork can turn a single written brief into a finished animated explainer video. I gave it one brief at maximum effort and it came back with a 70-second film at 1920x1080 and 30 frames per second, a muted version, a storyboard, a voiceover script, an HTML player and the source files, from one prompt with no follow-ups.
The run cost 3,022 Copilot Credits, about US$30 at pay-as-you-go rates, and it ran in the background while I got on with other work. The full brief is further down this page, along with what each part of it is for.
What did Fable 5.2 make from one brief?
The brief asked for a 70-second explainer on the difference between Copilot Chat (Basic) and M365 Copilot (Premium), with Work IQ as the reason the answer changes. Cowork split the job into six steps and ticked each one off: write the script and storyboard, build the animation, compose the music and sound effects, render the film, check the frames, motion and facts, then deliver.
Here’s what came back in the task’s output panel:
| File | What it is |
|---|---|
| same-question-different-answer.mp4 | The finished film: 70 seconds, 1920x1080, 30 fps, with sound |
| same-question-different-answer-muted.mp4 | The same film with no audio, ready for a voiceover |
| storyboard.md | Every beat with its timestamp, the picture, the words on screen and the sound |
| voiceover-script.md | A script timed to each beat, for me to record myself |
| same-question-different-answer.html | A landing page that plays the film, with sound on and off |
| same-question-different-answer-source.zip | The HTML, CSS, SVG and JavaScript the animation was built from |
The brief asked Fable 5.2 to build the film as code, in HTML, CSS, SVG and JavaScript driven from one timeline, then render it to MP4. The source zip came back alongside the two finished films.
It’s one run, so treat it as one data point. I didn’t iterate on it, and I didn’t run the same brief on another model to compare.
How do you use Fable 5.2 in Copilot Cowork?
Fable 5.2 is rolling out to eligible users in Copilot Cowork and Copilot Studio from 11 November 2026. Availability varies by region and organisation, and admins manage access in the Microsoft 365 admin center.
- Open Copilot, switch to Cowork and start a new task.
- In the compose box, open the model picker (it defaults to Auto) and choose Fable 5.2.
- Set the effort level next to the picker. I used Max. The default is Medium, and higher effort is slower and uses more credits.
- Paste your brief and send it.
If Fable 5.2 isn’t in your list, it hasn’t reached your tenant or your admin hasn’t enabled it. Organisations inside the EU Data Boundary only get GPT models in Cowork. Microsoft’s Cowork FAQ also notes that some models, Claude Fable among them, require data retention, and Cowork shows a note and a banner while one is selected.
Cowork is billed per task in Copilot Credits on top of a Microsoft 365 Copilot licence. My Copilot Cowork pricing guide covers the rate and what other models have cost me.
The full brief
Copy it, keep the section headings, and swap your own idea and facts in under them.
Make a 70-second animated explainer video: "Same question. Different answer."
You own this project end to end: concept, script, animation code, sound, render and checking. Finish the whole thing in this turn. Don't stop to ask permission for steps this brief already covers, and give me a one-line update as each stage completes.
THE IDEA
One question is asked twice: "What did we decide about the Q3 budget?" First with Copilot Chat (Basic), then with M365 Copilot (Premium). The question is a single dot of light, and the film follows that dot the whole way in one continuous shot.
- Basic: the dot goes out to the public web and comes back with a tidy, generic answer about budgeting. Correct, but it knows nothing about your work.
- Premium: the dot travels through Work IQ and comes back with the actual decision, who made it, in which meeting, and the file it lives in.
The viewer should finish understanding one thing: the licence difference is Work IQ, and Work IQ is why the answer changes.
FACTS (use only these; do not add prices, dates or features)
- Without the Microsoft 365 Copilot add-on licence, your label is Copilot Chat (Basic) or M365 Copilot (Basic). Copilot is grounded in web data, plus files you upload.
- With the licence, your label is M365 Copilot (Premium). Copilot reasons over web and work data through Work IQ: meetings, emails, chats, files and more.
- Work IQ is the intelligence layer that personalises Copilot to you and your organisation. Three layers, shown in this order as the dot passes through:
1. Data: your emails, files, meetings and chats.
2. Context: memory and a semantic index, so it understands how you work, who you work with and what matters.
3. Skills and tools: so it can act, not only answer.
- Work IQ is permission-aware. It only uses what you already have access to. Give this its own beat.
- Premium also adds agents such as Researcher and Analyst, and priority access. One short beat near the end, no more.
- Spell them exactly: Copilot, SharePoint, Work IQ, Copilot Chat (Basic), M365 Copilot (Premium).
STRUCTURE
Hook in the first 3 seconds (the question typed, then "Same question. Different answer."). Basic takes about 12 seconds. Work IQ takes at least half the film. End on one line: "The difference is Work IQ." Hold the end card no longer than 2 seconds.
LOOK
- Cream paper background #F2EEE3, near-black ink for text and line work, lime #F1FF2E used only as a highlighter behind key words and as the dot's glow. Never lime text.
- Inter only. Large type, six words or fewer on screen at once.
- Restrained and editorial. No emojis, no cartoon characters, no stock icons, no Microsoft logos or product screenshots. Draw everything as simple line shapes.
- Australian spelling in all on-screen text.
MOTION
- One continuous camera move. Every change is a transformation of what is already on screen, never a hard cut or full-screen wipe.
- One thing happens per frame. Words and shapes land on the beat.
- Something is always moving. No frozen frames, no empty screens.
SOUND
- Compose a quiet original music bed and soft sound effects in code, synced to the visual beats. No silent stretches.
- No synthetic voiceover. The film must make complete sense with the sound off.
- Write a voiceover script, timed to each beat, for me to record myself.
CONTENT RULE
Every email, meeting, file and name shown is invented and generic. Do not use anything from my tenant, my files or my calendar.
BUILD AND CHECK
1. Write the script and a beat-by-beat storyboard with timings, then proceed without waiting for me.
2. Build it as code (HTML, CSS, SVG and JavaScript) at 1920x1080, 30 fps, with every animation driven from one timeline so it renders frame-accurately.
3. Render to MP4 (H.264, with audio). If you cannot render video here, deliver one self-contained HTML file that plays the film at exactly 1920x1080 with a start button, and say so plainly.
4. Before delivering, capture frames at the opening, every transition, the midpoint and the final frame, and look at them. Fix overlapping or clipped text, blank or flashing frames, anything unreadable, and any moment where nothing moves. Check every fact on screen against the FACTS list.
DELIVER
The MP4 (or HTML fallback), a muted version, the voiceover script, and the source files. Finish with a short note on what you checked and anything you could not do.
Write the facts before you ask for the film
Fable 5.2 handles the production. What it can’t supply is what the film should say, and that’s where your knowledge of the subject goes. Most of the brief above is decisions I’d made before I opened Cowork.
- One idea, stated as what the viewer should understand. “The licence difference is Work IQ, and Work IQ is why the answer changes.” Write yours in one line before anything else.
- A closed list of facts. An explainer about licensing is exactly where a model will helpfully add a price, a date or a feature it half remembers. “Use only these; do not add prices, dates or features” stops that, and the build step makes it check every fact on screen against the list.
- A content rule. Cowork can reach your mail, files and calendar through Work IQ, within your permissions. For anything you’ll publish or show a client, tell it in plain words that every email, meeting and name on screen is invented, and that nothing comes from your tenant.
- Timings and limits. About 12 seconds for Basic, at least half the film on Work IQ, six words or fewer on screen, end card held no longer than 2 seconds. Those limits keep each frame readable with the sound off.
- A check before delivery. The brief tells it to capture frames at every transition and fix clipped text, blank frames and moments where nothing moves. Cowork listed that check as its own step before it handed anything over.
Think about what you explain over and over at work: a policy change, a new process, a licensing difference nobody can keep straight. Anything that moved used to go to a specialist with a budget and a wait.
Pick one. Write its idea in one line and its facts as a list, then use the structure above for the rest.
What did it cost, and what would I change?
The task used 3,022 Copilot Credits. At the pay-as-you-go rate of US$0.01 a credit that’s US$30.22, less if your organisation has a pre-purchase plan. Maximum effort is the most expensive setting, so a lower effort level would likely cost less, though I haven’t measured by how much on this brief.
Fable 5.2 is the best model I’ve used for visual work. Before you rely on it for something you’ll publish, I’d do three things.
Check every fact on screen yourself. The brief tells Fable 5.2 to check its frames against the facts list, but read them anyway before the film goes to anyone.
Budget for a second pass. Mine was a single prompt with no changes. A more prescriptive brief, or a round of edits on the storyboard, should tighten it, and each round adds credits.
Keep the muted cut. A film that makes sense without sound works in a meeting or a LinkedIn post, and you can add your own voice later from the timed script.
My guide to Copilot Cowork covers what it is, how to set it up and what other jobs have cost me, and the new Copilot interface shows where the model picker sits.
Frequently asked questions
Can Copilot Cowork make videos? Yes, with a capable model and the right brief. My brief asked Fable 5.2 to build the animation in HTML, CSS, SVG and JavaScript and render it to MP4, and it came back with a finished 70-second film at 1920x1080 and 30 frames per second, a muted copy and an HTML page that plays it.
Why can’t I see Fable 5.2 in Copilot Cowork? It’s rolling out to eligible users from 11 November 2026, availability varies by region and organisation, and admins choose which models are enabled in the Microsoft 365 admin center. Organisations inside the EU Data Boundary only get GPT models in Cowork.
Can I add my own voiceover? Yes. Ask for a muted version and a voiceover script timed to each beat, as the brief above does. Record the script against the muted MP4, and use the storyboard’s timestamps to line your voice up with each scene.
