From one paragraph to a finished short: the StoryDirector workflow

Most short films begin as a paragraph: a person, a place, something that changes. The work is getting from that paragraph to a sequence of scenes that plays as a film, and then refining it until it plays the way you meant.

StoryDirector organizes that work into seven stages: set your creative intent, develop the writing, prepare the people and world, direct the scenes, choose the takes, refine the film, and save and deliver. This guide walks through each one with the decisions you make along the way. Numbers below reflect the product at the time of writing (October 2026); check the current interface before relying on a specific limit.

1. Set your creative intent

Start by choosing the format, visual style and tone. These establish the project's direction and shape everything prepared and generated afterward. At the time of writing, format, visual style and tone are fixed once the story is created, and an existing story cannot be restyled. If you later want the same premise in a very different look, you would start a new story. Make this choice on purpose.

Then pick how you want to begin:

• Idea mode takes a premise and a target duration. The premise can be up to 1,500 characters, and the duration choices run from one to four minutes. That duration is a writing target, not a guaranteed final runtime.
• Short story mode takes your own prose and dialogue.
• Director mode takes a more structured creative brief.

Short story and Director modes currently accept up to 8,000 characters. A scene or an excerpt from a script works well as input; this is not a full-screenplay import.

Here is an illustrative premise of the kind that suits Idea mode:

A night-shift baker in a small town finds a handwritten order slipped under the door, for a cake she has not made since her mother closed the shop. She bakes it before dawn and waits to see who comes to collect it.

It is short, but it has what a short film needs: one main character, one primary location and a visible change between the opening and the ending.

2. Develop the writing

Next, shape the action, named cast, locations and spoken lines. Use stable names, make location changes clear, attribute each line of dialogue to its speaker and name any prop that matters visually. Where editorial suggestions are offered, treat them as suggestions to review, not required changes.

A useful brief answers: who is this for, how long should it run, what is the central action, where is the emotional turn, who is in it, where does it take place and how does it end.

3. Prepare the people and world

Before any footage is generated, the preparation review shows the cast, sets, props and story beats drawn from your writing. This is the best place to fix a mistake, before you spend credits on footage, because generation direction is built from what you approve here.

• Cast: review identity candidates, refine appearance and wardrobe, and approve. Identities can be generated or come from photos used with permission, and they are saved to a cast library for reuse in other stories.
• Sets: generate or upload a set image and use an alternate angle where available. Later scenes in the same story can return to it.
• Props: name the important objects and check their reference images.

References guide the output; they do not guarantee an identical face or object in every frame. Approving the review compiles the direction and moves the story into its production workspace, where each scene stays editable.

4. Direct the scenes

For each scene, inspect the direction, references, duration, model options and continuity settings. You can replace the engine's scene brief with your own direction, and the system still supplies reference and continuity context around it.

At the time of writing, the model options include Seedance 2.5 (480p and 720p in this workflow) and Wan 3.0 and Wan 3.0 Prime, which can offer higher native resolutions depending on the model. Models differ in availability, reference support and audio behavior, and scene reference uploads currently require Seedance 2.5, so check the render console for the models, resolutions and quote available for your scene. Scenes are generated in units of 4 to 30 seconds, so a longer scene can need several units.

Continuity is a choice per scene. A scene that continues the same moment can carry the prior frame and context forward; a scene that moves somewhere new can start fresh or return to an established set. Confirm the quote, then render. Cost varies with model, resolution, duration and settings, so the on-screen quote is the number to work from.

5. Choose the takes

Watch the results and compare versions. Generating another take gives you an alternative; it becomes the scene's footage in the film only when you select it. Review the whole motion rather than a single frame: faces through turns, hands, props and the first and last moments of the scene, where it will meet its neighbors.

6. Refine the film

This stage is where a sequence of generated scenes becomes a film, and it is where most of the craft happens.

• Add a moment. A custom scene is one you write and add before or after existing material, 4 to 30 seconds at the time of writing, with the cast, props and set you choose. Use it for an establishing view, an insert or a missing transition.
• Rearrange. Move scenes earlier or later, or hide one to exclude it from the cut without discarding it. Moving does not regenerate footage, so check the joins afterward.
• Revise one section. Select a segment, describe the change and attach a reference with a stated role. Focused edits currently run on Seedance 2.5, need an eligible Pro or Studio workflow and a 4 to 30 second segment, and are quoted separately. Start the selection where the object first enters the shot, and expect that some edits need another attempt. The source and earlier versions remain available.
• Work on dialogue. Rewrite dialogue creates a new reading of replacement text, for changing wording or pronunciation. Voice only converts existing speech into a character voice you upload with the speaker's permission, and keeps the recorded words, including any mistakes. Both tools are available on eligible paid plans. Both change audio only; neither regenerates mouth movement, so consider the visible performance before accepting new wording.
• Finish picture and sound. The timeline supports timing and speed, held frames, crop and reframe, color, transitions, text, image overlays and captions. Where cinematic sound separation is available for your footage, dialogue, effects or ambience, and music can be handled on separate lanes with levels, fades, ducking and loudness controls. Separation can leave bleed or artifacts, especially with overlapping speakers or dense action sound, so listen in context.

7. Save and deliver

Saving an edited scene creates a new version. When the order, visibility and selected takes are right, rebuild the final cut. That creates a saved film version, and later scene changes do not rewrite it. Earlier versions can remain available.

Export is a separate step from saving or selecting. Current export options include the edited MP4; 16:9, 9:16, 1:1 and 4:5 reframes; a GIF of the first 15 seconds; WAV audio; and a JPEG poster frame. A read-only share link plays the story's active film version, so confirm which version is active before you send it.

If a particular scene needs more resolution, an eligible Pro or Studio user can upscale one saved scene of up to 60 seconds to 720p, 1080p, 2K or 4K. That is scene upscaling, separate from the resolution of the assembled film.

What the workflow asks of you

The pattern across all seven stages is the same: make a decision, see the result, keep what works and revise what does not. The tools handle generation and assembly; the choices about cast, place, order, takes and what to fix stay with you, and they stay visible and editable as the film develops.

Where to go next

The complete workflow guide covers these stages in the product, and story to video shows how writing becomes scenes. For revision and assembly, see selected-section editing, voice and dialogue and the editing and final cut guide. At the time of writing (October 2026), the Free Director plan covers story development, direction, review and prompt export. Generating video and images, making selected-section AI edits and assembling a final cut need a paid plan, and generation and edits use credits. Current plans are on the pricing page.