Articles on: Story Videos

Rendering scenes — per-scene vs Generate All

Once you have scenes in your script, you can turn them into video from the Video tab. There are two ways to render: one scene at a time or Generate All to kick off a batch.


On a new video, each scene needs its storyboard first. If a scene's storyboard frames aren't ready, pressing Render (or Generate All) opens the Generate storyboard dialog — titled Storyboard first — for the scenes that need frames, instead of rendering. If you ask Sidekick to render, it tells you the storyboard comes first and shows one card with the storyboard cost for those scenes. Nothing is charged for the render. Generate the frames (50 credits each), check them on the Storyboard tab, then render again. Videos created before this change render without that step. See Storyboards.


For credit costs and the pre-charge / reconcile model, see Story Video credits and costs. For the Script / Storyboard / Video toggle and the rail, see The Video Studio: Script, Storyboard, and Video. For editing scenes before you render, see Editing the script and scenes.



Rendering a single scene


An unrendered scene is rendered from its tile on the timeline: click the tile and choose Render, which shows the estimated credit cost for that scene based on its own Model and Time selectors — see Choosing a model and scene length. A scene that already has a clip is re-rendered from the SCENE tab in the Tools rail: click the scene on the timeline and choose Re-Render Scene (see the SCENE tab). A scene carrying more reference images (including storyboard frames) than its chosen model supports is blocked from rendering until you reduce the references or switch models. Confirm the cost in the dialog, and that one scene is queued.


When to use per-scene renders:


  • You want to preview one clip before committing to the whole video.
  • You edited a scene after a full render and need to re-render only that scene.
  • You have just enough credits for one scene and want to top up before doing the rest.


What to expect while a scene renders:


  • The scene tile shows a progress indicator with the current status (queued, rendering, or uploading).
  • The estimated credit hold (~1,500 cr for a 720p scene at the 10-second estimate) is deducted immediately when you confirm.
  • Once the clip finishes, the charge is reconciled to the actual footage length — you're refunded the difference if the clip is shorter, and a small additional amount is charged if it runs longer (bounded by the difference between the 15-second maximum and the 10-second estimate).
  • If the render fails for any system reason, the pre-charged credits are refunded automatically within a minute or two.


Re-rendering an already-rendered scene: Re-Render Scene queues a fresh render. The current clip is kept as a previous version you can go back to at any time (see Render History below). You are charged for the new render.



When a scene fails


A scene that fails shows a red FAILED tile on the timeline. Click it to see the reason and two choices:


  • Retry — queues the scene again. The tile switches to the queued state straight away, and the render runs with the scene as it is now. Retry is for temporary errors; if the reason says the scene was rejected, change the scene first — an unchanged scene is rejected again.
  • Edit Scene — opens the scene in the Script tab so you can change the text first, then re-render.


The credits held for a failed render are refunded automatically within a minute or two. Three failures have their own handling:


  • The model refused the scene because of the characters' faces. Some models won't animate reference art that shows a face — see Choosing a model and scene length. When that happens the scene is retried automatically on Seedance 2.5 before anything is reported as failed, so you normally just get a clip.
  • The scene's text was blocked by the content policy. This is checked before you are charged: the message names the scene and the reason, nothing is taken from your balance, and you can edit the scene and render again. See Content policy.
  • The video model's own safety filter rejected the scene. This is a second, separate check: a scene can pass ComicInk's content check and still be turned down by the video model, which judges the scene's dialogue, description and reference images together. The tile reads "The video model's safety filter rejected this scene", and the credits are refunded. What to do:
    • Reword the scene first — the spoken lines and the description. Insults aimed at a group of people, slurs (even censored ones like "s-hole"), and sexual or graphic wording are the usual triggers, and a parody of a real public figure makes the filter stricter.
    • Don't replace a character image that already rendered your other scenes. If the same character worked in ten scenes and fails in the eleventh, the difference is that scene's text, not the art.
    • Don't keep retrying it unchanged. The verdict is the same every time.
    • Ask Sidekick. Open Sidekick and ask why the scene failed — it can see the recorded reason, point at the line most likely to have caused it, and rewrite it for you.
    • The Details line under the message includes a short reference code in square brackets. You don't need to understand it; include it if you contact support.



Render history: going back to a previous render


Every render of a scene is kept. Re-rendering, AI Extend, and a restore all archive the clip they replace, so nothing you paid for is lost.


To see them: click the scene on the timeline, open the SCENE tab in the Tools rail, and choose Render History. Each previous render is listed with a preview, the model it used and what it cost.


  • Restore any version to make it the scene's current clip. Restoring is free — no credits are charged. The clip you are replacing is archived too, so a restore can itself be undone.
  • Delete a version you don't want to keep.
  • You can't restore while that scene has a render in flight; wait for it to finish.



Generate All


Generate All renders all your unrendered scenes in one batch. The button is in the Video tab header and shows the total estimated credit cost for the batch.


Which scenes are included


Generate All only renders scenes that do not yet have a finished clip. Scenes you have already rendered — with a visible clip — are skipped. Scenes that are currently rendering as individual per-scene renders are also skipped (they are already in progress and charging separately).


The greedy-prefix affordability rule


When you click Generate All, the system checks your credit balance against the cost of each unrendered scene in scene order. It renders the longest consecutive run of scenes from the beginning that your balance can cover — stopping permanently at the first scene whose cost would exceed your remaining balance.


For example, if you have 8 unrendered scenes and can afford scenes 1–5 but not scene 6, the batch renders scenes 1–5. Scenes 6–8 are not rendered and are not charged. To render the remaining scenes, top up your credits and run Generate All again (or render them individually).


This means Generate All never partially charges a scene and never skips ahead to a cheaper scene later in the list. It always starts from scene 1 and works forward in order.


Credit deduction in a batch


Credits are not deducted all at once at the start. Each scene's credits are deducted individually as that scene's render job is submitted. Scenes render a few at a time — if a scene fails, its credits are refunded and the batch continues with the next scene.


Stopping a batch mid-run


While Generate All is running, a Stop button appears in the Video tab. Clicking Stop cancels scenes that have not yet started rendering — they are not charged. Scenes already sent to the AI render to completion and are charged normally.


Running Generate All again on a partially rendered video


After a partial batch (stopped, or some scenes failed), you can click Generate All again. Only the remaining unrendered scenes are included — already-rendered scenes are skipped so you are never charged twice for the same scene.



Every scene needs a cast member


A clip is rendered from your characters' reference art, so a scene renders only the characters listed in its cast — naming someone in the description or narration is not enough on its own. If no scene in the video names a character, there is nothing to render from and the render is refused before it starts (you aren't charged).


If you hit that, the message tells you which of the two problems it is:


  • "No characters with a usable image yet" — you have no character with finished art. Create a character and generate its portrait.
  • "…is ready to render, but no scene names one of them" — your character and its art are fine; the scenes are what's empty. Add them to the scenes' cast.


Sidekick can do the second one for you — ask it to add the character to the scenes and it will set each scene's cast. When Sidekick writes a script for you from scratch, it attaches the cast as it writes, so this doesn't come up.


Frequently asked questions


Can I run Generate All and also render individual scenes at the same time?


Not for scenes that are unrendered. If a Generate All batch is in progress, the per-scene Render button is disabled for any scene that hasn't rendered yet (the batch is already handling those). You can, however, re-render a scene that has already finished — that per-scene render runs alongside the batch without conflict.


What if my balance changes while a batch is running?


Credits are deducted atomically, one scene at a time. If your balance drops mid-batch so that the next scene's cost can't be covered, that scene and any later ones are not rendered. Already-completed scenes are not affected.


I clicked Generate All but only some scenes rendered. What happened?


Either your balance covered only those scenes (greedy prefix), or some scenes failed and were refunded. Check your credit balance and the scene tiles for any error indicators. If scenes failed, you can re-render them individually or run Generate All again after topping up.


Does re-rendering a scene cost the same as the first render?


Yes — each render is priced the same way: by scene duration at the active rate. Re-renders also use the pre-charge / reconcile model, so the initial hold is the same ~1,500 cr estimate and the final charge settles to the actual clip length.




Updated on: 04/10/2026

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