Editing the script and scenes
The Script tab (Tab 02) in the Video Studio is where you refine the story before rendering. You can open an edit panel for any scene, add new scenes, or remove scenes you don't need.
For an overview of all three studio tabs and the approval flow, see The Video Studio: tabs and approvals.
Opening the scene edit panel
Click the Edit scene button on any scene card to open the scene's edit panel. The panel stays open until you save or close it — changes accumulate into a working copy and are only written to the server when you click Save.
Fields you can edit
Field | What it controls |
|---|---|
Narration | The voice-over text read aloud in this scene. Directly sets scene length (see below). |
Dialogue | Lines spoken by specific characters. Each line has a speaker and text. Add, remove, or reassign lines in this scene. |
Action / Description | What is happening in the scene — used by the AI to compose the visual. |
Setting / Location | The environment for the scene (indoor, outdoor, specific place from your location list). |
Characters present | Which characters appear in the scene. Speakers added to a dialogue line are included automatically; silent characters must be added manually here. |
Per-character avatar | The specific look (avatar) to use for each character in this scene. |
Starting frame / Ending frame | Continuity anchors — a short description of what the camera sees at the very beginning and very end of the clip. Helps the AI maintain visual continuity between scenes. |
Clip model / Duration mode | The AI model used to render this scene's video clip, and whether clip length is automatic (based on word count) or pinned to a specific number of seconds. |
How scene duration works
Scene duration is not set manually — it is calculated automatically from the word count of the narration and dialogue.
The calculation uses a natural narration pace of 1.4 words per second (roughly 84 words per minute). A 1-second breathing buffer is added after the last spoken word so the next scene's transition doesn't feel abrupt.
The result is clamped to a hard 4-second floor and a hard 15-second ceiling:
Word count | Approximate scene length |
|---|---|
0 (silent) | 4 s (minimum) |
~5 words | ~4–5 s |
~10–15 words | ~8–12 s (soft target range) |
19 words | ~14.5 s (hard maximum text budget) |
20+ words | Scene text is trimmed to 19 words before rendering |
Soft target: aim for 10–15 words of narration + dialogue per scene for a well-paced 8–12 second clip. Scenes above 19 words are flagged with a warning in the editor and the narration is trimmed automatically at render time to fit within the 15-second ceiling.
To make a scene longer, write more narration. To make it shorter, reduce the word count. You cannot type a specific duration into a field — the only exception is the Duration mode picker in the edit panel, which lets you pin the clip to one of the clip model's fixed length options (for models that support it) instead of using the automatic word-count calculation.
Adding scenes
There are two ways to add a scene:
- Add Scene button (top-right of the scene list) — opens a dialog where you pick where to insert the new scene: at the beginning, after a specific scene, or at the end. The new scene copies the neighboring scene's setting, characters, and model selection — narration and dialogue start empty.
- Inline + button — a + icon in each scene card's toolbar adds a new scene right after that card, with the same copy behavior as above.
The default script generation produces up to 8 scenes. You can continue adding scenes beyond the generated count, but keep in mind that each additional scene increases the total render cost.
Removing scenes
Click the trash icon on a scene card to delete that scene. A confirmation dialog appears before anything is deleted — scene deletion is permanent and cannot be undone.
Editing while a scene is rendering
The Script tab is always editable, even while scenes are rendering. Specifically:
- You can open any scene's edit panel, change the narration, dialogue, or any other field, and save — regardless of whether that scene's render is in progress.
- If you save edits to a scene that is currently rendering, those changes will be used the next time you render that scene. The in-flight render uses the script version that existed when it started.
- While a scene is in-flight, the scene card shows a Rendering… badge. Two actions are blocked for that scene during this window: Delete and Re-Render. All other edits are available.
- Once a scene finishes rendering, the badge clears and the Re-Render button becomes available again. You can then re-render it with your updated text.
Scene order
Scenes are ordered by position. The position is fixed when a scene is created. To place a scene in a specific spot in the story, use the Add Scene dialog and choose the position at insertion time. Scenes cannot be dragged to a new position after creation.
Approving the script
After reviewing and editing scenes, click Approve Script in the review banner at the top of the Script tab. This saves the script, generates reference images for characters and locations, and unlocks the References and Video tabs.
Related articles
- The Video Studio: tabs and approvals — overview of all three tabs and the approval gate
- Rendering scenes — credit costs, partial renders, and re-rendering individual scenes
- Story Video credits and costs — how render credits are calculated from scene duration and word count
Updated on: 25/06/2026
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