Video draft
See your video before it's made
Talk the idea through with the Director and watch a draft play in the chat, in seconds: the hook, the beats, the words on screen and the voice-over, in your brand. Change it in a sentence. Make the real video when the draft feels right.
A draft, playing
The idea, moving, in the time it takes to read it
This is a draft as the Director writes it in the chat: five beats of a 14-second Hook, each with its words on screen and its voice-over line, in the brand's colours and font. It isn't a rendered file. Your browser plays it the moment the reply arrives, so trying another opening costs one sentence.
Definition
What is a video draft?
A rough version of your video that plays at the real pace: every beat with its words on screen, its voice-over line and your brand's colours and font, before any shot is made. It takes seconds, so you can try several directions and keep the one you believe in, then make the real video from it.
Storyboard
Video draft
Finished video
In Demo Editor
Two drafts before a single shot is made
Draft the direction
Ask Director
Talk the idea through with the Director. When it suggests a video, a draft plays under its reply: the hook, the beats, the words on screen and the voice lines, in your brand. Ask for a change and the next reply brings a new draft. When one feels right, Create video starts it.
Check the storyboard
The video page
When the Director writes the storyboard, it plays as a draft right under the countdown, with every transition and sound tagged in the caption. Play it and the countdown stops. Press Add feedback at any moment to tell the Director what to change in that shot, then Create video when it's right.
Change the direction in a sentence
Every ask brings a new draft in the next reply, and the earlier ones stay in the chat to compare. Settle the angle, the length and the order of the beats while each try costs seconds, not a render.
- “Open on the pain, not the logo”
- “Cut it to 20 seconds”
- “Make it a Demo of the export flow”
- “Fewer words on screen”
- “End on the pricing page”
- “Try it landscape for LinkedIn”
Frequently asked
Questions about video drafts
What is a video draft?
A rough version of your video that plays at the real pace: every beat with its words on screen, its voice-over line and your brand's colours and font, before any shot is made. It takes seconds, so you can try several directions and keep the one you believe in, then make the real video from it.
How is a video draft different from a storyboard?
A storyboard is a page of still frames, and you imagine the timing. A draft plays. You see how long each beat holds, whether the words can be read in time, and whether the hook lands in the first two seconds. Those are the things a storyboard hides and a finished video makes expensive to change.
Where do I see drafts in Demo Editor?
In two places. In Ask Director, when the Director suggests a video, a draft plays under its reply, and every change you ask for brings a new one. And on the video page, the storyboard plays as a draft the moment it is written, right under the countdown: playing it stops the countdown, and Add feedback at any moment tells the Director what to change before the video is made.
Does a draft use up one of my videos?
No. Drafting in Ask Director doesn't start a video: one starts only when you press Create video. The storyboard's draft on the video page is part of the video you already started, and changes you ask for before you press Create video are free.
How close is a draft to the finished video?
The order of the beats, how long each one runs, the words on screen, the voice-over lines and the brand look carry over. What comes later is the motion design, the voice itself and, for a draft in the chat, the captures of your product.
How do I change a draft?
Say it in the chat, the way you'd brief a person: "open on the pain", "cut it to 20 seconds", "end on the pricing page". The Director replies with a new draft. The earlier ones stay in the chat, so you can play them side by side.