The Video Studio: tabs and approvals

Every Story Video is edited inside the Video Studio, a three-tab workspace:

You can jump between tabs at any time — but the References and Video tabs start locked until you approve the script. The lock tooltip reads "Approve the script first."

For a quick overview of the whole flow from creation to export, see Getting started with Story Videos.

Tab 01 — Video

The Video tab is the final destination: it holds the timeline, scene-by-scene previews, and all the controls for rendering and sharing.

What you can do here:

Actions live in the tools rail down the left side of the Video tab (a collapsible icon strip that expands to labeled rows, with a search box at the top — type "upscale" or "1080p" to jump straight to Publish, for example):

• Generate All Scenes — starts a batch render of every unrendered scene. A credit-cost confirmation appears before any charges are applied. The button shows the estimated credit cost.
• Re-render a single scene — each scene tile has its own Render button so you can re-do just one scene without touching the others.
• Add music and captions — rail actions open the music library and the auto-caption workflow.
• Publish or export — when scenes are rendered, use the rail to publish a shareable link or download an MP4 (1080p upscaling is offered in the Publish dialog).

Render-in-progress indicator: A progress strip in the tab rail shows how many scenes have rendered (for example, "3 of 8 scenes rendered") while a batch is running. You can click Stop at any time — scenes already sent to the AI finish and are charged; scenes that haven't started yet are skipped at no cost.

Tab 02 — Script

The Script tab is where the video is born. It opens automatically whenever a new video is created or any time the video is not yet ready for rendering.

What the tab shows

• A scene list — each card shows the scene's description, narration text, setting, and any characters speaking in it.
• The scene count and a brief instruction once the script finishes generating: "N scenes. Review the script below — when you're happy, hit Approve Script to unlock the next stages."

Editing scenes

Click Edit scene on any card to open an edit panel with fields for description, narration, setting, characters present, and per-character dialogue lines. Changes are saved when you confirm the edit. You can also add a scene using the Add Scene (+) button in each scene card's toolbar (it adds a scene right after that card).

The Approve Script gate

At the top of the Script tab, a review banner appears once the script is fully generated. It contains the Approve Script button. Clicking it does three things in sequence:

1. Saves the script — all scene data is finalized.
2. Generates reference definitions — the studio derives character, asset, and location definitions from the script. A brief "Setting up characters and scenes…" overlay appears during this step.
3. Kicks off reference-image generation — image jobs are queued for every character, asset, and location in the script. You are automatically taken to the References tab.

The References and Video tabs remain locked (greyed out) until Approve Script completes.

Editing during and after rendering

The Script tab is never fully locked. You can continue editing scenes while a batch render is in progress and after the video is fully rendered.

• During a batch render — the tab stays editable. Individual scene cards show a "Rendering…" badge while their clip is queued or in-flight; you can still edit those scenes, but Delete and Re-render are unavailable until the render finishes. Scenes that have already rendered or have not started are fully editable.
• After the video is fully rendered — the tab is still fully editable. You can update narration, dialogue, or settings and then re-render the affected scenes to bring the video back in sync.

There is no banner that locks or disables the editor.

Tab 03 — References

The References tab shows three sections — Characters, Assets, and Locations — each listing every entity that appears in the script, with a reference image tile for each.

What happens here

After you click Approve Script, the studio queues image-generation jobs for all three sections in parallel. Tiles fill in as images arrive — you can watch them generate in real time.

Each tile shows the entity name. If an image fails to generate, the tile shows an error state with a regenerate button.

Adding or editing references: You can regenerate any individual image, add new characters or assets (they carry over from your comic), and add custom locations using the Add Location button. If you add a reference after approving the script, the studio automatically re-queues image generation for the new entry the next time you visit this tab.

The reference-approval step

Once all the reference images have generated, a Review reference images dialog opens automatically. It shows all characters, assets, and locations side by side so you can check consistency before rendering.

The dialog has two actions:

• Update images — closes the dialog and returns you to the References tab so you can regenerate any image you're not happy with.
• Generate video → — confirms the references and takes you to the Video tab. A Generate All Scenes cost-confirmation modal opens immediately so you can review the credit cost and kick off the batch render.

Once you confirm references, the tab shows an Approved badge at the top.

How the full flow fits together

Script tab (auto-opens)
  ↓  Review scenes · Edit if needed
  ↓  Click [Approve Script]
  ↓  Reference images generate in background

References tab (auto-navigated)
  ↓  Watch tiles fill in
  ↓  Review dialog auto-opens when all images are ready
  ↓  Click [Generate video →]

Video tab (auto-navigated)
  ↓  Credit cost confirmation
  ↓  Click Confirm → scenes render
  ↓  Export or publish

Jumping between tabs

You can click any unlocked tab at any time. The Script tab auto-saves edits on blur, so switching tabs does not discard work. The Video tab's "Edit" button on a scene tile takes you directly back to the Script tab with that scene's edit panel pre-opened.

Next steps

• Editing the script and scenes — deeper guide to scene editing, adding scenes, and dialogue.
• Rendering scenes — credit costs, partial renders, and re-rendering individual scenes.
• Exporting your video — aspect ratios, downloading the MP4, and publishing a share link.

Updated on: 09/07/2026