Documentation
Instructions
Everything from your first render to advanced multi-scene storyboards. Quick links below.
Looking for one specific option rather than a walkthrough? How to use explains all 78 of them.
Your first render
1. Open the Creation Studio
Sign in and click Create in the top nav. Old /canvas links land here too — the Studio replaced the retired editor and covers the same brief-to-video flow more reliably.
2. Pick your format
Choose Music video, Ad creative, Short video, Square post, Commercial, or Product photos. The format sets the aspect ratio for you (9:16 for shorts, 16:9 for commercials, 1:1 for square posts), so you don't have to spell it out in the brief.
3. Brief the director
Describe what you want in plain English — e.g. "A cinematic drone shot sweeping over a fog-covered mountain range at golden hour, 4K HDR". The director picks the right engine from 21 engines, across 2 providers. Each Generate button shows what it costs in credits and dollars before you click.
4. Watch it render, then download
The job card shows which provider and model the director picked, with live progress. Finished renders drop in inline and are saved to your Generations log — nothing to drag or arrange.
Make a UGC ad with an AI actor
1. Open UGC ads
It's in the sidebar under Create → UGC ads. This is the creator-style talking-head format that performs on TikTok, Reels, and Shorts. It writes the script — filming it is a separate step in the Creation Studio (step 6), so budget two stops, not one.
2. Describe the product, or just paste its URL
Switch to "Paste product URL" and give it a link: it reads the page and pulls the name, benefits, audience, price, and product images, then writes around what's actually there. Everything it extracted shows in a card first, so you can correct it before generating. Or stay in "Describe it" mode and type the product yourself.
3. Pick a format and a framework
Six creator formats — Testimonial, Unboxing, Before / After, Demo, Honest review, Storytelling — crossed with three copywriting frameworks: PAS, AIDA, and Problem → Solution. Pick a length too: 15, 30, 45, or 60 seconds. Generate script costs 2 credits.
4. Test angles instead of guessing (optional)
Hit Batch angles for 5 or 10 scripts in one go, each attacking a different angle — pain-point, social proof, curiosity, cost-of-inaction. 1 credit per variant, and anything the model doesn't deliver is refunded automatically. Expand each card to compare hooks.
5. Cast an AI actor
Open AI actors (sidebar under Create, or "Pick an AI actor" from a finished script) and filter 48 photorealistic spokespeople by gender, age range, and look. "Add to my cast" saves one as a Character — so Character Lock and lip-sync treat it exactly like a face you'd uploaded.
6. Film it in the Creation Studio
Copy your script first — then hit "Film it with lip-sync". That opens the Creation Studio on the Commercial format, but it does NOT carry the script or your actor across yet: paste the script in, pick your cast member, and generate. Hedra Character-3 does the lip-sync (14 credits). All in, a scripted-and-filmed ad is about 16 credits: 2 for the script, 14 for the lip-sync.
Write marketing copy in Copy Studio
1. Open Copy Studio
It's in the left sidebar under Create, and on your dashboard. You need a Brand Kit first — every generator writes in your brand's name and voice, so it refuses to run without one.
2. Pick what to write
Eight generators: Email sequence (3–5 emails), Cold email (plus two follow-ups), Press release, YouTube script, TikTok hooks (ten, each labelled with its pattern), Objection handler, Testimonial request (an email plus a short SMS/DM), and App Store listing.
3. Describe it, then generate
Type or dictate a sentence or two about what you're promoting and who it's for — up to 1,500 characters. Press Generate, or Cmd/Ctrl+Enter from the text box. Each generation costs ~2 credits (~$0.06), and a failed one is refunded automatically.
4. Fill the brackets before you publish
Copy Studio never invents testimonials, quotes, statistics or dates. Where the copy needs one, you'll see a placeholder like [customer name] or [spokesperson quote] — replace it with the real thing. App Store fields arrive already trimmed to the store's limits: 30 for title and subtitle, 170 for promo text, 100 for keywords.
5. Copy or download
Every section has its own Copy button. Copy all puts the whole result on your clipboard, and Download .txt saves it as a plain-text file you can paste into your email tool, CMS or App Store Connect.
Make a product ad with the Video Ad wizard
1. Open Video Ad
It's in the left sidebar, and inside the Editing Bay. Use this instead of the Creation Studio when you want a finished ad about a specific product rather than a single clip — it writes the script, picks the shots, renders them and cuts them together.
2. Give it the product
Paste a product URL and it reads the page for you, or skip that and upload product photos with a name and a one-line pitch. Add who it's for and the tone you want — "Weekend hikers, 25–40", "Energetic · outdoorsy". The more specific the audience, the less generic the script.
3. Choose the format, voice and captions
Pick 9:16, 1:1 or 16:9 — that sets the aspect ratio for every shot, so you don't restate it. Choose a voiceover (Ava and Bella are US female, Adam US male, George UK male), whether captions are burned in, a music mood, and the call to action with the URL it should point at.
4. Review the storyboard BEFORE anything expensive renders
This is the step that makes the wizard worth using. You get the full storyboard — every scene, its narration and its visual — with the credit cost of rendering it, and nothing is generated until you approve. If a scene is wrong, edit it here. Fixing a shot in the storyboard costs nothing; fixing it after the render costs the render.
5. Approve, then download
Approving renders the scenes, adds narration and captions, and assembles the cut. Progress shows per scene, so a long ad is not an opaque wait. The finished file lands in the result step and in your Projects.
Turn a topic into a long-form narrated video
1. Open Documentary
Documentary Mode is for length the other tools don't cover — brand explainers, a webinar turned into video, or YouTube content for a client. Where the Studio makes a clip and the Video Ad wizard makes an ad, this makes something you'd actually sit through.
2. Describe the topic, not the shots
Write what the video is about and who it's for — e.g. "The history of shipping containers and how they rewired global trade — for a logistics brand's YouTube channel". It writes the script from that. You are briefing a researcher and a narrator here, not a camera.
3. Set the runtime
The slider sets the target length, and the page tells you what that means before you spend anything: how many scenes it will break into, roughly how long it will take to render, and what it will cost in credits. Longer is not just more expensive — it is meaningfully longer to render, so pick the length you actually want.
4. Add a visual style (optional)
One line is enough — "Warm archival, muted palette". It carries across every scene, which is what stops a twenty-minute video looking like twenty unrelated clips.
5. What comes back
A finished long-form video: script, narration, matching visuals, subtitles and the edit, assembled. It renders scene by scene in the background, so you can leave the page and come back — the work continues without the tab open.
Publishing to YouTube without publishing blind
1. Connect the channel first
YouTube Studio is a Pro and Ultra feature. Once you're on one of those plans, it publishes to a channel you have connected — the Channels bar shows how many of your plan's slots are used, three on Pro, ten on Ultra, and the Connect button goes dark once they are all taken. Disconnect one you no longer publish to, or upgrade, to add another.
2. Describe the video, not the shots
One or two sentences about the subject and who it is for. Pick the channel, a length (5, 8, 10 or 12 minutes) and a narration voice. The button tells you what the video will cost and says plainly that the charge happens when you approve the script — not when you press it.
3. Gate one: read the script
It researches the topic and comes back with a brief, its sources, and the narration broken into scenes. Every line is editable, and nothing has been charged yet. Approving is what takes the credits and starts the render; discarding here costs nothing.
4. Gate two: watch the cut
When it is finished you get the video to play, the Shorts it cut, two thumbnails, three drafted titles, a description and tags. Change anything, pick a publish time, and approve. If the video used AI-generated images, the screen says so — YouTube will label it as altered or synthetic content. A Short can fail on its own without touching anything else — the long video still uploads and publishes normally, and a failed Short cannot currently be re-cut from here.
5. Upload, and the one thing that can pause it
The upload runs on our servers and shows its progress. If the channel's connection dies partway — you revoked access, or disconnected it — the video pauses instead of publishing anywhere else. Reconnect that same channel and press Resume; it picks up from the byte it stopped at, at no extra cost. Reconnecting a different channel will not resume it — by design, an upload can only continue on the channel it started on.
6. Custom thumbnail needs a verified channel
Your chosen thumbnail is set right after the video finishes uploading. YouTube only allows a custom thumbnail on a phone-verified channel — if yours isn't, the video still goes out on schedule with YouTube's own auto-generated thumbnail instead, and the upload screen shows a warning telling you to verify at youtube.com/verify. Nothing else about the release is affected.
7. Why it's private, and when you'll see how it did
Every upload goes out as private with your chosen publish time attached, and YouTube normally flips it to public automatically at that moment. Until Google finishes verifying this app's YouTube upload access, though, YouTube forces every video we upload to stay private regardless of that scheduled time — that's a Google policy on unverified apps, not a stuck setting in your account. Once a video is live, its views, likes and comments are checked once a day, so a freshly published video reads "Not measured yet" rather than 0 until the next check runs.
Make a feature-length film with Studio Long-Form
1. Unlock it
Self-serve films are for Ultra members who have proven their look in a short: finish a multi-scene project, or a few videos. Open Studio Long-Form (/long-form, linked from Pricing). If anything is missing, the page tells you exactly what.
2. Describe the film and set the length
Give it the concept and style, and drag the length up to 20 minutes. Add cast members to keep the same faces in every shot (Character Lock).
3. Check the cost before you start
The page shows the credits and the render time before anything is charged. Films are priced per 5-second shot, and Character Lock shots cost more. If your balance is short, it tells you how many more credits you need.
4. It renders in the background
Start the film and leave: it renders on our servers at the aspect ratio you picked, and you can follow progress under My films on the same page. Any shot that fails to render is refunded automatically.
5. Need longer, or white-label?
Films over 20 minutes (up to 2 hours), or managed delivery with human QA, go through the managed Studio Long-Form service. Apply on the same page and we quote it.
Install it as an app on your phone or computer
iPhone and iPad
Open the site in Safari, tap Share, then Add to Home Screen.
Android
Open the site in Chrome and tap Install app (or ⋮ → Install app).
Mac and PC
In Chrome or Edge, click the install icon at the right of the address bar. The app opens in its own window.
Shortcuts
Press and hold the app icon (right-click on a computer) to jump straight to Short video, Commercial or Product photos.
If you go offline
Generating needs a connection. If you drop offline you'll see an offline screen with a Try again button, and anything you already saved is safe.
Finding your work again in Projects
Everything you've made, in one list
Projects is the list of what you've created — ads, documentaries, storyboards, studio sessions — newest first, with a thumbnail. If you've lost a render, this is the place to look before making it again.
What the status means
Draft is started but not generated. Generating is still working — you can close the tab, rendering happens on the server. Complete is finished and downloadable. Archived is put away without being deleted.
Deleting is permanent
The delete button asks first, and then it is gone — the project and its generations, not recoverable from here. Download anything you want to keep before deleting. If you only want it out of the way, archive it instead.
Setting up your Brand Kit
Go to Settings → Brand Kit
Create a kit per brand or per campaign. The director auto-applies the default kit (marked with a star) to every prompt.
Upload a logo
Drag in your logo (PNG or SVG, < 10 MB). It gets stored in your user-scoped blob namespace — no other user can access it.
Set primary + secondary colors
Hex codes (e.g. #0066FF). The director references these in prompts so renders stay on-brand.
Write your voice prompt
Free-text describing your brand voice — "professional, warm, energetic" or "playful but trustworthy". This shapes ad copy when relevant.
Upload a character reference
For product brands: the hero product shot. For personal brands: a spokesperson photo (used by Hedra for lip-sync). Optional but improves consistency across renders.
Bring Your Own Keys (BYOK)
Why BYOK?
Track spend directly on your fal / Hedra / OpenAI account, use your own provider quota, or stay within your team's enterprise contract.
Settings → API Keys
Paste each provider key. Keys are encrypted with AES-256-GCM (per-user IV) and decrypted only at dispatch time. Click Test to verify each key works.
Generation precedence
On Pro and Ultra, if you have a BYOK key for a provider, the system uses it. Otherwise (and always on Free and Plus) the system uses our default key and bills you in credits.
Credits, plans, and billing
What costs what
Image: 2 credits · Video: 20 credits · Lip-sync: 14 credits · Director brief: 2 credits. Audio split is free.
Free trial & monthly allowances
Free is a one-time trial — enough for a single 10-second Director video (no credit card, no monthly refill). Paid plans refill every renewal: Plus ($29) 800 · Pro ($79) 2,400 · Ultra ($199) 7,000 credits (no rollover). When the trial is spent, upgrade to keep creating.
Failed renders
If the provider returns an error, your credits are auto-refunded. You only pay for renders that actually started. In a long-form film, each failed shot is refunded on its own. If an automatic refund ever can't go through, our team is alerted with the amount and puts the credits back.
Manage subscription
Settings → Subscription → Manage. You'll be sent to the Stripe Customer Portal to upgrade, downgrade, change billing, or cancel.
Multi-scene Director
Storyboards beyond a single shot
The Director can produce 3-30 scene storyboards from a single brief, with consistent characters and style across scenes.
Two modes
Music-video mode (timed to a song duration) and Ad mode (timed for a target aspect ratio + duration). Switch via the mode selector.
Lip-sync integration
Enable Lip Sync in the Director and the spokesperson scenes will route through Hedra Character-3 with your Brand Kit's character reference.
Generate & share a lead funnel
Generate a landing page
Open /funnel and describe your offer. An AI builds a complete landing page for you — headline, copy, and call-to-action — tailored to the campaign you brief.
It publishes to a public link
Each funnel goes live at a public /p/{slug} link. Open it in any browser or send it straight to your audience — no extra hosting or setup needed.
Share it anywhere
Drop the link in an ad, an email, a social post, or a DM. Anyone with the link can view the page.
Capture leads
The page collects visitor leads and email addresses for you. Optionally attach a lead magnet so visitors get something in return for signing up.
Reply to mentions with the engagement agent
It's opt-in
The engagement agent is off by default. Turn it on in Settings → Engagement when you want help responding to people who mention you.
It drafts replies to real mentions
The agent watches for genuine mentions of your brand and drafts a suggested reply for each one. It works best on X, where mention data is richest.
Nothing sends without your approval
Every draft waits for you. You review, edit, and approve each reply before it goes out — the agent never auto-sends on your behalf.
Rate-limited for compliance
Replies are rate-limited to stay within platform rules and keep your account in good standing, so the agent paces itself rather than blasting responses.
Troubleshooting
Render stuck on "Rendering"
Most providers terminal within 2 minutes. If it stays in progress past 5 min, refresh — the job tracker polls server-side and will reflect the latest state.
An old Canvas link doesn't work
The tldraw canvas was retired — the blank/black canvas was a snapshot-persistence bug, and the Studio replaces it. Any /canvas link now lands in the Creation Studio, and every past render is still in your Generations log.
Provider key fails
Settings → API Keys → Test. If a key returns 403, the provider account is locked or out of balance. Top up at the provider's billing page, then test again. For fal, grab the key from fal.ai/dashboard/keys.
Charged but plan didn't upgrade
Stripe webhooks usually process within 60 seconds. Refresh once. If it persists, contact support with your Stripe receipt for manual reconciliation.
Connect your socials & turn on autopilot
Connect your accounts
Go to Settings → Social connections and connect LinkedIn, X, Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, TikTok, or Bluesky. Each provider runs through its own OAuth flow (Bluesky uses an app password) — approve the permissions and the account shows up as connected.
How the weekly autopilot works
Once a week a CMO agent reads your Brand Kit and drafts a strategy for the week, then a Writer agent turns that strategy into ready-to-publish posts. The weekly autopilot covers your text-and-image channels: LinkedIn, Facebook, X, Instagram, and Bluesky.
Pick your cadence
Choose how many posts the autopilot produces per week — 7, 14, 30, 70, or 140. Higher cadences fan out across your connected channels. Set it once and the schedule keeps running.
Tune it with thumbs up / down
Give each generated post a thumbs up or thumbs down. That feedback feeds back into next week's strategy and writing, so the autopilot drifts toward the angles and tone you actually approve.
Choosing a Facebook / Instagram Page
If your Facebook or Instagram account manages multiple Pages, use the "Posting to" dropdown to pick which Page each post publishes to. The selected Page is remembered for that connection.
YouTube & TikTok are on-demand
YouTube and TikTok are not part of the weekly autopilot. They're for on-demand video publishing — when you've finished a Director film, you can push that video to your connected YouTube or TikTok account directly.